The Domestic Animal

In addition to Valentine's Day, it is also Pepper's 18th birthday today! In honor of the important occasion, here's a video I shot last week of one of his delightful performances. He sings, he dances, he acts silly. Time to send this triple threat to Juilliard. Happy birthday, Pepper! #Pepper #africangrey #africangreyparrot #birds #birdlovers #birdsoffacebook #birdsitter #petsitter #birthdayboy #valentines #valentinesday

Here we go! My long stay with the parrots is upon us. This video is from the overnight we had last week when they both still seemed super excited to have me there. This was after breakfast and Pepper was the most talkative I've ever seen, going through an extensive repertoire of impersonations, words, whistles, and sound effects. As I was filming Pepper, Loki seemed like he was feeling left out from the attention, so I offered him a rope I was holding to step up and join the fun. He's not as talkative, though you'll see he throws in a whistle for the camera. One of the ways I like to connect with birds is by parroting them back or offering my version of the sounds I know they make, which you'll here in this video. After this, we hung out for a while and then the birds went easily into their cages so I could go take care of other animals for awhile. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, and I felt super optimistic about an easy day with the lads. When I returned, I was momentarily terrified when I saw Loki's cage empty but seemingly locked up. Soon I discovered him playing on Pepper's cage. What a relief! But how did he get out of his locked cage?! Loki had pushed out his paper tray and climbed out through the narrow space between the bottom bar and the bottom of the drawer! As far as I could tell, nothing else looked amiss and everyone was safe. I fashioned a block for the drawer after that. African greys and other medium to large parrots are notorious for keeping their humans on their toes with their cleverness and mischief. #Pepper #Loki #africangrey #africangreyparrot #birds #birdlovers #birdsoffacebook #birdsitter #petsitter #parrots #parrotlife #shenanigans

Here's a video of a later training session with Ripley working to build up the food toy retrieval behavior. You'll notice that she is getting less frustrated and offering fewer unrelated behaviors. By the end of the video, the criteria have been elevated to 1) locate the orange food toy in a different room after I say, "Toy," 2) pick up the orange toy, and 3) bring the food toy anywhere in the room where I'm standing. Since I don't work with Ripley on a regular basis, I expect this behavior to lose some sophistication the next time we have the opportunity to work on it. So I will do a few reps with more relaxed criteria before ramping up again and continuing to the finished behavior. I also want this behavior to be adaptable, so we will practice it with different start and finish locations, as well as making sure she understands that the behavior applies to bringing the toy up and down the stairs. #Ripley #pitbull #pitbulllife #pibble #pibblelove #pibblelife #pibbling #dogsoffacebook #dogtrainer #dogsitter #petsitter #dogtricks #dogtraining

Here's the first video of two that I took of working with Ripley on training a new behavior. What I ultimately want is for her to go find her orange food toy anywhere in the house and bring it to me wherever I am so I can fill it with her meal when I say, "Toy." Here we are using her dinner as reinforcement for building the behavior I want to see. Now, Ripley isn't as fast at solving training puzzles like Ares is, so I have to work with what she's able to give me and figure out what I can do to produce a behavior that's closer to what I'm looking for. The first challenge was getting Ripley to put her open mouth on the toy, which we worked on before this video. She wanted to just target the toy repeatedly, so we had to get her away from thinking that was the final behavior. Then I had to figure out how to get her to put the toy in her mouth when I wasn't holding it. An idle toy on the floor didn't work but tossing it towards her body did. Then we moved to picking it up from where it was already laying inertly. You can see in this video that the learning process for this behavior is pretty frustrating for Ripley. She's also offering a lot of unsolicited behavior that's easier for her in case that works. When that doesn't work, she tries something else until it does work. This is very good for a dog's brain. If everything we learned was easy to learn, it wouldn't work out our brains as much. It also helps us build the skills of resilience and perseverance. This kind of learning is an excellent way to reduce the risk of dementia for humans and dogs. Positive reinforcement training also releases oxytocin in the human trainer and the canine learner, which is great for everyone's mood and social bonds. #Ripley #pitbull #pitbulllife #pibble #pibblelove #pibblelife #pibbling #dogsoffacebook #dogtrainer #dogsitter #petsitter #dogtraining #dogtricks #newskills #trainingismedicine #coregulation

Action video of Nero, Tibby, and Cal. #Nero #blackcat #blackcatsrule #Tibby #Tiberius #siamesecat #siamese #appleheadsiamese #sealpoint #Cal #Caligula #tonkinese #tonkinesecats #tonkinesekitten #teenager #adolescentcats #champagnesolid #catplaytime #catsplaying #catsplay #catsoffacebook #catsitter #petsitter

Ripley's got a new trick! This came about because she loves jumping for a high Touch on walks, so I figured we'd make it its own cue. She hasn't figured out the verbal cue yet, though she's got the hand signal okay. She's pretty good at getting that dense pitbull figure up in the air! #Ripley #pitbull #pitbulllife #pibble #pibblelove #pibblelife #pibbling #dogsoffacebook #dogtrainer #dogsitter #petsitter #jumpingdog #dogtricks

This is a video from Rudy's second trip to Starr King Open Space. He was much more relaxed this time, and his stress signs are subtle if you don't know him well. Notice how he's almost completely disconnected from me emotionally. I communicate with him and he doesn't engage. This is very unusual for Rudy. He's also pulling me the whole time, and he's only still when he's trying to go in a direction we're not going in. He can't take in much of the environment except by sniffing, probably because to do so would be too overwhelming. You can see his fast respiration, and the way his facial muscles curve tightly into a look of concern instead of ease. When offered basic kibble, he considers it and refuses it (he would still take Rawbble). The fervor with which he's pulling is less than it was during our first trial. Overall, he was more relaxed at the park to begin with, though the difference in comfort between start and end was less dramatic. He was also much more shut down in the car on the way home. You might ask why I'd bother to continue taking Rudy somewhere that stresses him out. The first answer is to broaden his horizons as his current universe walking in his neighborhood is pretty small (and full of trash that he likes to compulsively consume). The second reason is because learning to adapt to novel environments is good for him and will build his resiliency over time. The third is because Rudy has shown that he can acclimate to new environments with repeated exposure, and once we're through this hard part I expect him to have a lot of fun exploring this space that's easy to get to from his home. #Rutabaga #Rudy #jindo #jindodog #jindomix #rescuedog #rescuedogsrock #rescuedogsrule #rescuedogtraining #dogsitter #petsitter #dogtrainer #anxiousdog #dogsoffacebook #potrerohill #StarrKing #dogpark #stressrecovery #newhorizons

This video might get muted because of the music in the background, but it doesn't need sound anyway. On Wednesday morning, I caught the boys having a sweet moment of tenderness. Luckily this went on long enough for me to grab this video. #Pepper #Loki #africangrey #africangreyparrot #birds #birdlovers #birdsoffacebook #birdsitter #petsitter #brotherlylove #brotherlybond

One more cute video of the #twins playing. #Ripley #Bud #pitbull #pitbullmix #pibble #pibblelove #pibblelife #pibbling #dogsoffacebook #dogtrainer #dogsitter #petsitter #bestfriends #bffs #dogplay #dogfriends

The #twins are back together this weekend! This is shortly after getting back from their first walk of the #slumberparty together and their first opportunity to play. I didn't even have a chance to take off their leashes before they dove in. We're doing two nights for the first time this trip, and I think they're going to have a great time. #Ripley #Bud #pitbull #pitbullmix #pibble #pibblelove #pibblelife #pibbling #dogsoffacebook #dogtrainer #dogsitter #petsitter #bestfriends #bffs #seeingdouble

Ares is learning a new trick. I'm asking her to Hold an item gently until I tell her to Drop It. We started with my nitrile glove. After this we tried a paper towel. She's such a smart girl. What will we try next? #Ares #germanshepherd #GSD #gsdlife #dogsoffacebook #teenager #adolescentdogs #dogtrainer #dogtricks

A little training video (before my phone ran out of storage) of working on Sit/Stay. Bonnie has the Sit part down but not the Stay. The two problems most people make when training Stay is that they start with expectations of duration that are too high and with too many distractions. Here we're working in a quiet indoor environment and I start only with a few seconds of duration without any movement from me. Then I added me simply getting up on my knees from sitting back on my heels. That's it! From here, I'd add the step of rocking back on my feet but not yet standing up. For a puppy with so little impulse control, it's important to make tiny increments without doing too much that might naturally prompt her to break the position. This sets the puppy and the trainer up for success with less frustration. #Bonnie #BonBon #blackpoodle #poodle #poodlepuppy #poodlegram #poodlelove #poodlelife #dogsoffacebook #dogtrainer #dogsitter #petsitter

Remember Kachia who was so terrified a few months ago that she got herself trapped trying to hide behind the hot water heater? Well this is what she usually acts like. Super snuggly and happy. We still don't know why she was so stressed during the fall trip, though she appears to be back to her usually affectionate self. #Kachia #browntabbycat #tabbycat #tabby #tabbycatsrule #tabbylife #tabbycatlovers #shycat #catsoffacebook #cattrainer #catsitter #petsitter

Ares has been recovering from an injury, so we had to come up with some low-intensity ways to exercise that massive brain of hers. Here's the new leg weave trick we're working! #Ares #germanshepherd #GSD #gsdlife #dogsoffacebook #teenager #adolescentdogs #dogtrainer #dogtricks

The post-walk party yesterday! Once I started talking to him, Sutro kept jumping up on my leg so it was difficult to capture their free activity on video. I think you get the idea, though, that it was no big deal and like they had known each other for ages. #Jeero #Sutro #frenchbulldog #frenchie #frenchielife #dogsoffacebook #poodlemix #minpinmix #terriermix #reactivedogs #reactivedogtraining #dogtrainer

Rudy gets dressed! When I first started working with Rudy, he felt conflicted about harness time. He felt EXTRA excited to go for a walk, though he didn't really like having a harness shoved over his head. So he would often grab the harness with his mouth, run away with it, and then prance around out of reach with it for a few minutes. So I trained him to dress himself, which is my preferred way for dogs to get dressed. I apply this same method to muzzle training. This preserves the dog's autonomy and consent. It has the added bonuses of speeding up gear time and being super cute! #Rutabaga #Rudy #dogsoffacebook #jindo #jindodog #jindomix #rescuedog #rescuedogsrock #rescuedogsrule #rescuedogtraining #dogtrainer

Hobbes as Cinderella seeing if the slipper fits. It certainly matches his fur coat! #Hobbes #orangetabbycat #tabby #tabbycat #catsoffacebook #tigercat #housetiger #strangerdanger #friends #catlove #cattrainer #catplay #gingercat #catsitter #petsitter

Hobbes having so much fun he makes the camera lose focus...twice! #Hobbes #orangetabbycat #tabby #tabbycat #catsoffacebook #tigercat #housetiger #strangerdanger #friends #catlove #cattrainer #catplay #gingercat #lesliaisonsdangereuses

In honor of National Cookie Day (does Facebook just make these things up?!), here is Rigby showing off both his enthusiasm and his goofiness for the promise of cookies. #Rigby #rhodesianridgeback #rhodesianridgebacklovers #ridgebackworld #ridgebacklife #dogsoffacebook #reactivedogs #reactivedogtraining #strangerdanger #guarddog #lionhunter #pandemicpuppy #touch #NationalCookieDay

Rigby trotting in his snood. I cannot handle his cuteness. #Rigby #rhodesianridgeback #rhodesianridgebacklovers #ridgebackworld #ridgebacklife #dogsoffacebook #reactivedogs #reactivedogtraining #strangerdanger #guarddog #lionhunter #pandemicpuppy #snood