Bolt and Company Animal Behavior

08/11/2022

More tackroom trash to treasure! I have so much "aversive" stuff I haven't used for horses in ages that turns out to be very useful for positively training dogs! (This is why I never throw anything out of my tackroom! 🤣)
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRydnEVK/?k=1

she turned my lunge whip into a flirt pole, my crop into a target stick, wow I hope don't get flagged for this caption.

08/03/2022

I owe a significant portion of my deciding to become an animal trainer to THIS Harry Potter behind the scenes bit. It was on the special edition DVD I got for my birthday in 2007.
My favorite part is totally when Robbie Coltrane who plays Hagrid talks about how much he hates acting with animals. 😂😂😂
Enjoy, I just found it again and it's just as magical as it was 15 years ago!!!
https://youtu.be/tv0k2ML-Sow

Ben Shepherd takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the 'Harry Potter' set. He shows us inside Leavesden Studios where most of the production and filming ta...

07/27/2022

It's not often I post a longer video, especially one showing me learning (struggling) with my own animals, but just so my followers and clients know that it's not always perfect...
(And I will post more full length sessions when I have a phone that doesn't require me to to delete 85 pictures before the camera works again)
Here's a full unedited 4 minutes of me combining obstacles with Eve. She did absolutely everything I asked, but sometimes I asked for something different than what I thought I was asking! Especially at the weave pole entry. I mess up A LOT in this video, but she's foot perfect. She was willing to guess what I meant, not what I said, and we got there, thanks to her.
Animals are like computers - they don't always do what you wanted them to do, but they always do what you told them or programmed them to do.
She's only 8 months old and I'm a newbie at agility, and she still makes up for my lack of experience with her innate talent and intuition, and I think that's a pretty good testament to our relationship.
(Also her just being the smartest animal I've ever had the pleasure to interact with, let alone call mine.)
❤❤❤❤❤

07/23/2022

Best dog ever doin best dog ever stuff! Her FIRST session with the 10' tunnel! If I can catch up in agility handling knowledge a fraction of what she's got in talent, we'll be going places!

06/14/2022

My arm is very sore.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdw1W5wC/?k=1

my wrist is very sore from this.

06/11/2022

I'm the actual worst. 🤣 Do not watch horse movies OR historical fictions with me unless you're prepared for a dissertation!
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdTRv41m/?k=1

with never watch horse movies with me, I'm the actual worst.

06/05/2022

Get to vs. Got to is really important. For human and animals.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdcYnpyd/?k=1

05/26/2022

The curse of knowledge hurts a lot of trainers. This video explains why I'm pretty good at getting through to newbies.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdWYMb3j/?k=1

for trainers and pet parents alike, I see you, and I feel you

05/22/2022

Can't describe how proud of and impressed I am with this puppy! She's only 7 months now, and she knows so much! This is us working on some things she already knew with food rewards, switching to toy rewards. As you can see, she was very enthusiastic about it!
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdtcwH6V/?k=1

playing with toy drive! so proud of her!

05/15/2022

Google is a hell of a thing!
Do ya feckin resarch.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdsGgpX4/?k=1

do your research

05/11/2022

It's very cute, because I have good taste. But it's not JUST cute. It's life saving and necessary. Why not be cute if you can!

05/11/2022

For those days when you don't feel like "training," but the dog is in need of some kitchen etiquette. You can also use my "get out" training video if you don't want them in the kitchen at all! But if you'd like them to be able to hang out while you cook and just don't want them getting your dinner before you do, this is a useful skill to have!

05/03/2022

My Lil Scamp turned 1 whole entire year old yesterday! He was born on my Grandma's birthday! He had a blast eating his cake and getting treats out of his pinata.
(No, I don't get out much 🤣)

04/28/2022

Having a blast at the ranch with Eve. What dog people call "flirt poles" are slightly larger cat fishing pole toys with a tug toy on the end. They are great for getting a dog's energy out by chasing something. Horse lunge whips are basically the same thing but longer, more durable, more flexible, (same price or cheaper) and more fun! Grab one at your nearest feed store and thank me later!

04/19/2022

This is what a border collie puppy should look like at the end of the day, even if you live in an apartment. She's been the biggest pain in my ass since I got her on Christmas Eve (name relevant), and also the smartest, most amazing animal YES ANIMAL INCLUDING HORSES, I have ever had the privilege to work with. Before her i would 100% maintain that horses were smarter than dogs, but she came along and made me question everything I'd ever known. She's gonna take me to Westminster and maybe Crufts. She's just a baby, and my life for the next few months will be socializing my future champion, and making sure I do her justice. Smartest animal. I. Have. Ever. Owned.

03/30/2022

Part 3. Frustrating the animal during training is never my intention, but it's important to know how it affects them, and what that may mean for behavior modification.

03/30/2022

More rambling on how frustration relates to anticipation and drive.

03/26/2022

I'm really loving the positive reinforcement community on tiktok! A new trainer asked "does frustration really build drive?" And I had a long enough answer, it took 3 videos! Here's part 1!

03/22/2022

Proofing the down stay with (20 weeks today!) Eve! Can you see which D's I'm proofing here?.. It's actually all 3! I'm working on me being farther away or in another room for Distance, she'd been laying there for somewhere between 5 and 20 minutes straight before I took the first pic which shows Duration, and the third one is settling next to another dog on your blanket for Distraction.
(Insert joke here, but) you can only have one D at a time. As you advance your animal's training, you overlap them, then combine all 3 in daily life! Happy training!

03/21/2022

Show me one picture of your pet being a gorgeous top model, and then one of them being very unattractive.
1st Lil Scamp posing and slaying with THOSE EYES😍, 2nd him asleep 20 minutes later with THOSE TEETH? 😬😬😬

03/06/2022

This is from a few years ago, but I wanted to share it as it explains a lot about my approach to behavior modification!

"Often in training, what looks like the problem isn't the problem. Separation anxiety is typically a side effect of a horse's lack of confidence in themselves. This mare lived with her mother well into adulthood and was never kept anywhere by herself, thus never developing the ability to cope with her environment alone. She'd also probably had someone bully her into something scary, and therefore the second she got worried, she'd go into fight mode, similar to what you'd call defensive aggression in dogs. Liberty work has been a great cure for both of these things! She's had a chance to choose whether or not she participates, and trust that I won't force her, and also do things by herself without relying on another horse or human.
We start off our sessions letting her loose in the arena (where she can't see other horses) and we have buckets with treats in each corner. Before she has a chance to worry, she's on a treasure hunt. This keeps the seeking part of her brain active so the panic part can't be. Then we do groundwork with no ropes. Circles, yields, backing, sticking to me, etc. And if she leaves to go hunt for weeds in the corner of the arena, I take it as a sign that it's working! It means she doesn't need me to hold her hand all the time, and she's learning that not only will people not fight her, but that the world's not such a scary place, and she can brave it all by herself.
Some people might have thought to just fight her through her explosions, leave her somewhere by herself until she ran out of energy, and hope that it would help, provided she didn't hurt herself in the process. But that's putting a bandaid over the symptom, not treating the real issue.
The common, quick solution to behavior problems, especially when they act out in fear, is to teach them a certain behavior is not allowed. But the kindest, safest, and only long term strategy is to build the animals's trust and confidence, and teach them that the behavior is not necessary."

03/02/2022

Does your dog (or horse!?) take off the second you unclip the lead? This game is for you! Make your clip sound a second clicker, and they'll never run off again!

02/27/2022

You know what? One day, she's gonna be a national champion! It's just that at this moment, she's a 4 month old trying to eat trash off the kitchen table.

02/25/2022

My silly puppies and their opposite opinions of snow!! What do your animals think of this weather?

02/13/2022

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

02/11/2022

https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdBdharC/

We just got a tiktok, come follow us!

3 Followers, 20 Following, 4 Likes - Watch awesome short videos created by Alex and Scamp and Eve

02/10/2022

Don't worry if you give in to puppy dog eyes, I tried but they won.

02/10/2022