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  • Q

    http://www.michaelbaugh.com/?p=248

    Really interesting blog about positive reinforcement training :) I would love to hear some of your thoughts!

    Andrea Walters

    Quercus Basenjis

    NW Ohio

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  • T

    Yeah, I still lurk around here. So much good advice!

    I can't help but reply to this. I started my B-mix out with a supposedly "positive only" trainer for his first class. Really, it was positive rewards and positive punishment, and made my dog more reactive. I think he also picked up on my discomfort with screaming at him, yanking the collar, etc. After the conclusion of that class (I regret not trusting my instinct and just quitting), I joined this forum, in hopes to understand my dog better because I saw that he was not responding to traditional training methods.
    I also found this video:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWSJVwZybwo
    We started with that, and now my dog knows at least 20 commands/tricks. Our relationship is 1000% improved, even if he still has some quirks. This youtube trainer (channel name Kikopup) has videos for teaching everything, and how to do it with no intimidation. In my horrible collar correction class, I had a dog heeling, head down, eyes glazed over. Who really wants that???? I now have a happy, tail-wagging, heels-before-I-ask dog because he associates heeling with rewards and praise.
    Sorry for the huge post, I just had to bump this up.

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  • S

    ToughAndPrissy, glad you found something that helped your b learn as well as bond to you. Welcome!

    Sharron Hurlbut

    BRAT, basenji rescue

    Evergreen basenji club

    Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue

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  • P

    This a very interesting article, Andrea. I'm not a professionla trainer and only have little experience in the field of professional dog trainers here. Those I do know mainly use positive reinforcement but I also know some old school trainers who while professing to now use positive reinforcement do rather confuse the two.

    I love and totally agree with his statement that 'training is not something we do to our dogs: its something we do with them'. This I think sums up completely the way we need to train our Basenjis for the best results.

    Toughand Prissy, thank you for posting that excellent video link.

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    Edward, Positive reinforcement methods like clicker training work wonderfully with basenjis. All four of my basenjis are clicker trained. I guess you could even consider Sophie to have started before birth since I was clicker training her mom while she was pregnant with the litter. The purpose of the clicker is to mark the behavior that you want so you could also just use a word like "yes" or "Yay" or "good dog" followed by a treat. I use clicker training to train a variety of behaviors such as sit, down, attention, name response, stay, stand, go to mat, front, point, hand targeting, and the list goes on. I also use it in agility training.
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