Stress-Free Dog Training: A Chat with (The Original) BATwoman

This week’s Animal Cafe podcast is exciting for two reasons. It marks the debut as a team member of Kelly Gorham Dunbar, co-founder and executive editor of DogStarDaily — the best dog training/behavior site on the planet — as well as a contributing editor at Dogtime.com. And her first guest is a rock star in…

Training Tuesday: A BAT Landmark

Frankie and I haven’t done much Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) with Crystal Saling and her wonder dog decoy, Winnie, lately because it’s either been raining — which means scary thunder and lightning — or too hot to spend much time outside. But we managed a get together this past Sunday and saw quite a bit…

Training Tuesday: BAT Calming Signals, Some Visuals

As part of the continuing series on Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT), a system created by Grisha Stewart that trainer Irith Bloom has been kind enough to explain to me — and you –on the last several Training Tuesdays,  here’s a video that Irith put together. It demonstrates calming signals, discussed in our last post on…

Training Tuesday: Batboy Forever

This is the conclusion of the formal interview that I’ve been conducting with trainer Irith Bloom about Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT), which was created by Grisha Stewart. The first week we covered the basic theory and techniques. In the second, we got into some more esoteric issues like “negative punishment,” which turns out not to…

Training Tuesday: Batboy Continues

Forgive me. I needed to get this video out of my system and since I don’t have any serious footage to accompany this week’s post on Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) it seemed like the perfect fit. *** BAT was created by Grisha Stewart, and is being discussed here by her fellow trainer and BAT expert…

Training Tuesday: Batboy begins

As I mentioned last week, my trainer Crystal suggested that Frankie and I try Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) — not only because it’s a good technique but because it’s a good fit with Frankie’s diabetes. That is, although the technique can include food rewards, it doesn’t rely on them. I wanted to learn more about…

Training Tuesday: Bat Boy!

What’s with the fledgling superheroes, mammals that turn bugs into guano, or baseball go-fers, you may be wondering. I’m talking about B.A.T — Behavior Adjustment Training, the new, non-cave related frontier where Frankie’s continuing education is taking us. As I’ve no doubt mentioned: Our trainer, Crystal, is a science geek and is always interested in…

The Dog Food Debate: Opening Up a Can of Worms

I don’t mean the title of this post literally, though fresh worms would be an improvement over the ingredients contained in  some dog food. But a discussion on Twitter — if you can call a series of 140-character bursts a discussion — spurred me to venture into the arena. When it comes to dog food,…

Embracing Sadness: Our Irreplaceable Pets

I wondered why I was feeling gloomy as the 4th of July approached. Then I remembered: It was Frankie’s designated birthday. And a new dog, no matter how great, can’t erase the pain of loss.

Saying Good-Bye to Frankie: The Gift of Knowledge

Right now — and this is subject to change at any moment — I feel like I have been given a gift. I have been told by a hospice vet that it’s time to say good-bye to Frankie, but not that there is a sense of absolute urgency.  Frankie may be confused but he is…