Lemon's Hope Sanctuary

10/30/2024

Pretty sure they’re talking about how great things are going to be when Kamala Harris wins the election.

10/02/2024

Gradually getting to know each other. ❤️

09/28/2024

Evening sounds at the sanctuary.

09/26/2024

It’s rainy here today. The sheep went straight up to the horses’ run in, where there also happens to be tasty hay to munch. Also, that day when the lady put hay over the fence and Gina walked around with it on her back for awhile 🙂

*Pictures taken on a much nicer day.

09/23/2024

We added a pile of sand to the “track” of our horse, sheep and goat area, mostly thinking the horses might roll or rest in it. But the one who seems to get the most out of the new substrate is Lemon the goat, who rubs and rests in it the most frequently of any of the animals. 🤷‍♀️

08/29/2024

Ceus for Training Matters' popular Animal Trainers Retreat are being awarded. We have been approved for 25 for trainers through CCPDT (Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers), 17 through KPA (Karen Pryor Academy), and 10.5 through PPAB, the accreditation board of The Pet Professional Guild. IAABC Ceus are pending.

Early bird discounts are still available!

A weekend of support, collaboration, education, recreation and rejuvenation in beautiful southern Vermont.

08/18/2024

Fall is the in the air. After a mostly hot and humid summer—very unlike Vermont—there’s a chill in the air already.

08/17/2024

A first close meeting of Angel and Henri went very well.

08/13/2024

Long faces looking cute. ❤️

08/11/2024

Some recent pics. H & C like eating the hay directly from the bales, lol. Hope enjoys a back scratch and Angel gets snacks from a dog feeder toy.

08/09/2024

Taste test with the new resident horses, Henri and Chance. One says, “yay!!” The other says, “nay!”

08/05/2024

It's almost a month away from this mini-conference with some of the best in dog training whom we've featured in recent posts about the topics they will address. We will have a flash sale one month out from the event, which is September 7. If you've been waiting to register, take advantage of the sale price on August 7! Ticket sales end September 4.

This one-day event is a mini-conference featuring talks by multiple trainers who base their work in applied behavior analysis.

08/03/2024

We're excited to host Mary Hunter, MS, of Behavior Explorer and Stale Cheerios, a website about positive reinforcment-based animal training, at our one-day conference in September, Training With Love + Science: Essentials of ABA for Dog Professionals. The conference is co-hosted by Training Matters and School For The Dogs NYC.

Her presentation, PORTL in action: Your PORTL to understanding more about how dogs learn, will demonstrate the tabletop training game, the Portable Operant Research Teaching Lab. The game was developed to improve training skills and knowledge about how animals learn in players, all while having fun.

From her talk description: "In this session, Mary Hunter and Hannah McGee will introduce you to PORTL (the Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab), a table-top shaping game that is played with a collection of small objects and a clicker. PORTL provides a safe and fun learning environment where you can practice your teaching skills and learn more about how behavior works.

After a short introduction to PORTL, you’ll get to watch several live PORTL games. Mary and Hannah will show you how they take a complex behavior, design a shaping plan, and make adjustments while teaching.

You’ll leave this session with some new ideas and strategies that will help you improve your training, whether in PORTL or with your animal learners."

In the meantime, you can watch this video about PORTL.

Link to the conference is in the comments.

PORTL is a tabletop game that provides an interactive environment for learning about behavior principles and investigating behavioral phenomena. It is played...

08/03/2024

There is so much that is beautiful and delightful about Vermont for visitors: great food, beautiful vistas, fun outdoor activities, arts, music, consignment shopping, flea markets, funky Main streets to stroll. This is a lovely picture of a corner of Brattleboro by Vermont.com. Those attending Training Matters' workshops outside downtown Brattleboro have all this to explore. Next workshop, our popular Animal Trainer's Retreat, is in October. Link in the comments.

08/03/2024

It’s looking and feeling like summer here. But the best part of this picture is Henri peeking out over the Queen Anne’s Lace. 🤣