March 15th, 2010
By Eric Letendre
Last Thursday night the lovely Rachael and I went to see the great Leon Redbone with her parents at a funky little bar in Northampton, MA.
If you don’t know, Leon was the voice of the snowman in the movie “Elf.” He also sang “It’s Cold Outside” with Zooey Deschanel in the movie. Leon is very unique and puts on a great show. If you ever get the chance go check him out.
Anyway, as I was watching him on stage I remembered what Frank Sinatra said about preforming, he stated:
“Anyone who needs anything more than a light and a microphone is a punk.”
Leon goes on stage with a guitar and a microphone and everyone’s eyes are glued to him through out the entire performance.
I guess I was thinking about that because one trainer that really changed the way I trained was Dr. Ian Dunbar. Before learning from him training was all about collars, leashes, harnesses, etc. Dr. Dunbar was the first trainer I ever saw that trained dogs with out a leash or collar. It was amazing and I changed the way I trained forever.
When I first started training dogs it was an adversarial relationship. Corrections, punishment, and harsh tones. Dr. Dunbar’s methods taught the owner and the dog to work more like a team.
Dr. Ian Dunbar has been a huge influence for dog trainers and owners all over the world. He has tirelessly promoted positive training methods for years. Please leave your comments below.
Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States and has been training dogs for over 20 years, teaching regular, average, every-day owners all over the world how to get the training results they want as fast as possible. Eric is also the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Improve Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
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Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States. For more than 20 years, he has been developing dog training "hacks" that have worked for dog owners all over the world. Eric operates from a home office or a laptop while traveling and draws on his experience and passion for dog training to show others how to develop a dog that is truly “Man’s Best Friend”.
Eric is the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Hack Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
Brilliant! I totally agree with what he says.
Thanks to Eric Letendre for the link.
My most important question is that what should be that reward? If my dog chases a squirrel, or wants to chase a squirrel, there is no meat or liver or any other kind of reward that stops him from chasing the squirrel. I can say yeah, sit down, good boy, then you can go and chase the squirrel and that would be a really great reward for him, but maybe then he would be lost and could not find the way home again. And if I have to go to the woods to walk with him every day and there are a lot of rabbits or squirrels, then I have to find out a reward that is more prescious for him than chasing the prey… but what would it be?
LOVE him! Would love to hear more of his talks as well. Thanks for submitting the link!!
Thank you for sharing. I would like to hear more about operant and respondent behaviors and
operant and respondent conditioning along with examples of each. Have a great day! “Cheers”
Please let me know where I can access more videos or if he has a book or video available for purchase. What a wonderfully sensible outlook to training! I can only strive to be as calm and aspire to be a better trainer.
@ Kay: I’m a trainer and advancing my study to animal sciences. Here’s his website, this has great info, videos and books. Good luck! http://www.siriuspup.com/about_founder.html
Yep. Dog training works on kids too. I was training my Great Pyrenees when I was a helper at my kid’s preschool. The parents couldn’t understand how their kids would do what I asked them too, and wouldn’t do what they asked them too. thanks for sharing.
THANK YOU so much! This guy is awesome — a great speaker and fabulous ideas.
Great teaching for how to treat dogs and humans! Brilliant! Everything is so simple and we just can see how simple it is, sometimes!
Lovely philosophy for life, not just dog training! When we got our Aussie, I had not owned a dog for 15 years and wasn’t really sure where to start. We did not have training facilities in our area so I got tips from the breeder and got on-line. Thank goodness for Dr Ian and Eric! Now our dog is quite well-known throughout town and I am known as Copper’s Mom — nobody knows me but my dog has made a huge impression on everyone he meets. We made sure to socialize him thoroughly and we worked with his ‘triggers’ to develop rewards and direct his training. It was the best thing that we ever did for ourselves and our dog. Dr. Dunbar and Eric LeTendre ROCK!
I’ve seen this video before, he’s an incredibily talented speaker. Keeping someones interest for 14 mins is not easy believe me lol.
Excellent speaker on a subject we all hold dear. Thanks for the link1
I enjoyed this video, and while I found the general philosophy and technique worthwhile, I still need more work on practical applications. I have two dogs, both rescues. They are both four and a half now. Of my two dogs, one is very submissive and eager to please, and he has been easy to train using only positive techniques and reinforcement. The other one is much more independent-minded, and while she’s always great in the house, she is much harder to control outside. She responds well to treats and such things inside and can learn new things easily that way. But outside, she is very easily distracted and trying to get her attention can be a challenge.
He is 100 % correct. This NEEDS to be taught in school begining in the very earliest years. But how do we get “them” to teach it? If we teach parenting skills or just plain human relating skills, pets would also benefit.
INTERESTING AND INFORMATIVE. THANKS FOR THE LINK
I loved this video! Thank you so much!! All trainers should see this.
I actually did things backwards. I raised my 3 boys first THEN got my first dog. hehe I truly believe what was said here and it’s how I do things naturally. My dog’s a 2 yr old rescue and I’ve had her for 6 months. Since I didn’t know anything about having a dog I started with what I did know: House rules, good nutrition (especially since she was in such bad shape), exercise and lots of love. This is pretty much what I still use with my teenagers =) I love the part where you use what they want as their reward. I had read something like that before from Eric so I’ve actually been using that the past couple of weeks. Since she’s a lab fetch is her favorite game and she’ll do anything to get me to throw her toys. Works great and everyone’s happy!
@Kurt – Bailey is very distracted as well and her trainer has me ‘desensitizing’ her by introducing distractions slowly. We are working in the back yard right now (with cheese as a reward since it keeps her attention). We are practicing heel, walking on a loose leash & basic obedience commands. I also bring her to the pet store (there are 2 we visit regularly so she’s comfortable with them). I pick one section of the store, walk the aisles for a while until she is comfortable, then we start our ‘serious’ training. So far she’s making great progress. Good luck.
The lecture was awsome!If only it would be so easy in real life too!!!!
My dog is a 2 yo Golden Retriever.He gets distracted very easily by other dogs and does not respond to ‘come’.At home, I use the door bell and when it rings, then he comes inside thinking there is someone at the door.He is aggressive towards male dogs, not all of them but most of them.He was attacked and bitten(not very seriously) when he was only 5 mo by two pittbulls.Can the memory of this explain his behaviour towards other male dogs?He is now chemically fixed, but his aggression towards male dogs hasn’t decreased that much.I use 99% of the time only positive reinforcement in his training.But if the neighbour’s rottweilers are outside, it doesn’t matter if I lure him with the best food, or with a friendly voice,he does not come.He prefers to run and ‘fight’ along the fence with them.And then, I ring the doorbell and he comes.
there is an interesting website of Ian Dunbar:
http://www.dogstardaily.com. You can find all kinds of things: puppyclasses, problemsolving, articles…its one of my favorite websites.
Gerda
Kim–thanks for your suggestions. Although I’m familiar with the idea of desensitizing dogs to distractions, I haven’t done much with it yet, outside of various classes I’ve taken her to. Still it wouldn’t hurt to do more practice in the yard. (On the other hand, she is so familiar with the walks that we normally take around our neighborhood, that at least now the distractions aren’t quite as bad on those walks as they used to be.) She is part Labrador or part Golden, probably with some pointer mixed in, as well, and who knows what else, but she seems to have a high prey drive and she loves being social with other dogs.
Amazing, just like the Amazing Dog Training Man!
)
Thank you for the video Eric!!
Wow, Dr. Ian Dunbar is not only a good trainer but awesome at communicating how to do it. It reminds me of what I learned from some really great horse trainers: “the slightest change, the smallest try”. In other words you are rewarding for these tiny attempts toward your desired behavior. Obviously teaching a puppy to sit you may not need this philosophy, but it comes into play when we start training to do more complicated things.
Thanks Eric, loved it!
I enjoyed seeing how training was done and brought fourth. Training dogs and kids in a positive manner can have some good results ! Thanks for bringing that to our attention !
Wow, Dr. Ian Dunbar is not only a good trainer but awesome at communicating how to do it. It reminds me of what I learned from some really great horse trainers: “the slightest change, the smallest try”. In other words you are rewarding for these tiny attempts toward your desired behavior. Obviously teaching a puppy to sit you may not need this philosophy, but it comes into play when we start training to do more complicated things.
Thanks Eric, loved it!
Wow, Dr. Ian Dunbar is not only a good trainer but awesome at communicating how to do it. It reminds me of what I learned from some really great horse trainers: “the slightest change, the smallest try”. In other words you are rewarding for these tiny attempts toward your desired behavior. Obviously teaching a puppy to sit you may not need this philosophy, but it comes into play when we start training to do more complicated things.
Thanks Eric, loved it!
[...] Noted veterinarian and dog trainer Dr. Ian Dunbar offers a few of the "million different ways" to t…hard Saul Wurman has created extraordinary gatherings about learning and understanding. EG is a rich extension of these ideas – a conference that explores the attitude of understanding in music, film, television, radio, technology, advertising, gaming, interactivity and the web – The Entertainment Gathering Dr. Ian Dunbar is a veterinarian, animal behaviorist, and writer. Dr. Dunbar received his veterinary degree and a Special Honors degree in Physiology & Biochemistry from the Royal Veterinary College (London University) and a doctorate in animal behavior from the Psychology Department at the University of California in Berkeley, where he spent ten years researching olfactory communication, the development of hierarchical social behavior, and aggression in domestic dogs. Dr. Dunbar has written numerous books, including How To Teach A New Dog Old Tricks, the Good Little Dog Book and a series of Behavior Booklets: separate educational booklets on each of the most common pet behavior problems. Additionally, Dunbar has hosted eleven videotapes on puppy/dog behavior and training, including SIRIUS ® Puppy Training, Training Dogs With Dunbar and Every Picture Tells A Story. All his videos have won a variety of awards. [...]