Blogspot - Companion Animal Psychology

The Train for Rewards Blog Party is now live with posts from many talented bloggers exploring the topic of reward-based training. Check it out here . Then share your favourite posts on social media. And share a photo of your pet on social media with the hashtag #TrainforRewards. The blog party is hosted by Companion Animal Psychology. Thank  you to everyone who is taking part, whether by blogging or sharing your pet's photo on social media.

Do you use rewards to train your dog or cat (or other pet)? Show you support reward-based training by posting a photo of your pet below. By popular request, this post is part of the #Train4Rewards blog party hosted here at Companion Animal Psychology. Add your pet’s photo, then share on social media with the hashtag #Train4Rewards. An InLinkz Link-up The photo link-up is open until 8am Pacific time on Saturday 16th June, when the full list of Train for Rewards posts is available. How to add the photo: Click the link and follow the instructions. You will have up to 50 characters for your pet’s name. If you make a mistake, you can delete the entry and start again. Entries are moderated so at certain times of day there may be a delay before your pet’s photo appears. You have to give your email address, but it will not be used except if needed to communicate about the photo link-up. You can read the privacy policy here . You have to sign up separately if you want to subscribe to Comp...

What are the best treats to use when training your dog? From the right size and nutritional composition to what dogs love best, this is a user-friendly guide to the best dog training treats. Photo: Rattanawan Thubthed / Shutterstock Whether you’re new to training or a seasoned pro, using the right treats is an important part of dog training because you have to be able to motivate your dog . Food is a commonly-used reward in dog training for a reason – it works. We often use food in operant conditioning, when we’re training a dog to do a behaviour. This is positive reinforcement (for more on why food makes a great reward, see the ultimate dog training tip ). The best training treat in one situation is not always right for another dog in another training scenario. This article looks at what to consider and then lists my favourite dog training treats. Things to Consider When Choosing Dog Training Treats There are several things to think about when choosing treats to use in training. Your...

The 2018 Train for Rewards blog party celebrates reward-based training of dogs, cats, and other pets.  Join in the fun, find new bloggers to read, and share a photo of your pet on social media with the hashtag #Train4Rewards. The blog party celebrates what we can do with reward-based dog training, encourages people to use rewards in training their pets, and inspires people to improve their technical skills and understanding of how reward-based animal training works. Take Part in Train for Rewards Read the blog posts, comment on them, and share your favourite posts with the hashtag #Train4Rewards Share a photo of your pet dog, cat, rabbit, ferret, horse, etc... on social media with the hashtag #Train4Rewards Afterwards, reward yourself for participating with a piece of cake, some chocolate, a glass of wine, a walk on the beach, or whatever makes you happy.  An InLinkz Link-up See the invitation and rules .

Taking the animal’s perspective, and other highlights from the Train for Rewards blog party. Recently, 28 other blogs joined me in the Train for Rewards blog party to celebrate what we can do with reward-based training of our companion animals, and to encourage people to give it a try. There were some truly brilliant posts. Thank you to everyone who took part and helped to make it such a success for the second year in a row. It’s no surprise that most posts were about dog training, but cat training and the training of a pet pig also featured this year. And there were some common themes. Animal welfare The benefits to animal welfare when we use reward-based training methods instead of aversive techniques was a common theme. Changes in how we think about animal welfare – to include positive experiences instead of just trying to reduce the bad – have implications for how we train animals, Kat Littlewood writes . She says, “positive reinforcement is a ‘modern’ approach to learning and tr...