Truly Force Free – TFF What’s Your Cue?
Could It Be Medical?
If you are sick or don’t feel well does your behavior change? I know that mine does! I can be slower, grouchy, spacey or short tempered. If our behavior changes when we are not well, why would it surprise us when our animal’s behavior changes when they are not well. […]
Embracing Mistakes
Anytime we are learning a new skill we are likely to make mistakes. Making a mistake is a very valuable part of the learning process. Unfortunately, society has taught us that making mistakes is a bad thing. It is not uncommon for a person to feel embarrassed, ashamed or stupid because they made a mistake. The idea that we will be perfect and never make a mistake is absurd. Often the fear of making a mistake will deter a person from trying new things. Now consider how we treat dogs when they make a mistake when they are learning? […]
Fast is Slow – Slow is Fast
Recently I came across this phase “Fast is Slow and Slow is Fast” and I was not really sure what it meant until I found myself saying it to my agility students. We were working on a new skill and one of my students was racing through the exercise and his dog kept making mistakes. I had him slow down so they dog had time to think and the dog did the exercise perfectly. Suddenly I understood “Fast is Slow and Slow is Fast”. I realized that it was similar to “Slow and steady wins the race”. When I explained my newly learned phrase to my class, we all laughed but soon it became a common theme when the dogs made a mistake. […]