Lemon's Hope Sanctuary

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. 🤣

08/01/2024

Louis and Gina enjoying their feeder toys.

07/31/2024

Some recent scenes at the farm.

07/24/2024

When I bring Angel in for the evening, I usually have some surprises for him to discover. One favorite is PB powder mixed with pumpkin and spread on these hanging green balls. He also often gets herbal tea or herbs from the spice cabinet in one of his water buckets.

07/14/2024

Two topics that have come up at this conference are functions of behavior and working with the individual. These topics will be explored in some depth in our mini conference in September c0-hosted by Training Matters and School For The Dogs NYC. Act now to take advantage of early bird discounts.

Photo of Dr. Emily Levine and Dr. Daniel Mills on stage with the title slide of Dr. Mills' presentation in the background. Photo by Grainne Levine.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/training-with-love-science-essentials-of-aba-for-dog-professionals-tickets-926288432637

07/09/2024

Some recent pics as the horses have adjusted to eating more grass and to spending time on the track setup that will be their new home. The sheep and goats are getting used to their new farm pals, too.

07/01/2024

A first hand graze in the field. The horses were very anxious the first two days they were here, but they have settled now. ❤

06/28/2024

They’re home!

06/14/2024

These handsome, elderly boys will be joining us on the farm soon. There will be more nice equines for folks to do things with at our workshops. I hope being on our “track” will also help them improve their body condition.

These two have been my “personal” horses for years, but the truth is they were rehomed with me when their previous owners could no longer keep them. I’ve had them in boarding but that is no longer financially viable. And since my husband built the big shelter last summer, we have a place to put them. The transition for all the animals promises to be eventful, but I imagine we’ll get ot sorted in not too long.

06/11/2024

Many of you know that farm dog Winnie was badly quilled by a porcupine last week. He is recovering somewhat slowly, still limping around and wearing his cone. Angel, who barely notices the dogs most of the time, was quite alert to Winnie wearing his cone tonight. 😆❤️

06/11/2024

Sara and I have been talking about how we can help change the picture of board and train for dogs. Instead of sending dogs off to live with a trainer who relies on aversive tools to change behavior we want to show owners in real time, how professional trainers respond to dogs in order to make behaviors we want to see, more likely to be repeated.

Owners (or trainers who are interested in learning more about ABA and how to address problem behaviors) can spend time with us at the lovely Lemon's Hope Sanctuary in southern Vermont. It's the best vacation idea ever. A gorgeous location, learning about training, and hanging out with your best friend. We can accommodate 1-2 teams of owner & dogs on the property for a fun immersion program that includes woods walks and downtown cafes. Introduce your dog to kayaking or stand on tops. Get a private lesson in agility. It's a great head start program for puppies, and a way to learn to navigate the waters of adolescence, or just spend quality time with your dog and get some basic skills on board such as coming when called, loose leash walking, crate training, whatever your dog needs.

What do you think? Know anyone who'd be interested?

06/01/2024

The animals had visitors today. The elder girl organized fundraising efforts this year and the family will be volunteering here over the summer. They were particularly smitten with Angel, who was doling out kisses in between smiles. ❤️

05/30/2024

Skies over the sanctuary and a visitor to it.

05/17/2024

More scenes from the visit from Our Sisters’ School. The students decorated nail aprons turned treat pouches to take home with them. “Useful swag,” as Debbie says.