This is a placeholder text
Group text
by ocoey on 27 January 2009 - 21:01
The Kayce Cover’s seminars are definitely NOT worth the time or money. The theory and method can certainly be useful but her teaching lacked....and I personally found the noise grating (ggggggggggggggggg....OMG!). We were asked to sign a release form at the start of the seminar. If you read the fine print she owned all the images taken at the seminar. The whole thing was taped. The behaviours she demonstrated were half luck! I found her to be condescending,. At one point my friend was told if she couldn't keep up it wasn’t her (Kayce’s) problem!!! She slammed what she termed the Keeler method (at least get the name right! She meant Kohler) for things that weren’t even Kohler! There are so many things in the Kohler method I would not do, no need to make things up! The friend I was with asked for tactics to deal with her male aggressive dog. Though he was not a completely out of control monster we were seated at the end to remove pressure from the dog ...fair enough. On day 2 a big hoppla was raised because of the remarkable progress he had made .... he was laying in the same area as other dogs receiving a massage! Oh the miracle, NOT! Keep in mind she asked us to sign a release form saying she owned the images. Thankfully I didn't sign the form......
by Micky D on 27 January 2009 - 22:01
by justcurious on 27 January 2009 - 23:01
He also says when using his teaching method with a dog you must keep an open mind, train 5 fundamental sounds and follow 10 mandatory rules.
the 5 Fundamental Sounds are:
1) Stand Up
2) Come Here
3) Stay Here
4) Pick It Up
5) Hold It
The 10 Mandatory Rules are:
1) Observe Your Dog*
2) Gain Mental Control Over Your Dog - Create a "Mental Leash" instead of relying on a physical leash
3) Compliment & Reward Properly
4) Learn the Dangers of a Dog's Physical & Mental Reflexes**
5) Work within Your Dog's Physical Limitations
6) Use Mental instead of Physical Approaches for both Training & Punishment
7) Know for Certain Before Judging the Reason for Your Dog's Actions
8) Use Multiple Word Commands to Stimulate the Dog to Think
9) Use the 5 Fundamental Sounds to take Your Dog from "Knowing Nothing" to "Beginning to Understand", which then opens the door to education.
10) Use Common Sense as Your Guide
* Eisenmann says you ought to spend a long time only observing your dog and this should be done in silence. Personally I find this challenging because I love talking to my dogs so I'm a bit of a chatterbox
You Should Know Your Dog's:
- Intelligence
- Willingness
- Level of Confidence
- Sense of Humor
- Boredom Threshold
- Breed Specific Behavior
Once you have really observed and learned who your dog is (this may take a week or more) only then introduce the dog's name. Use no other commands until the dog is responding to his/her name 100% of the time. What you want is for the name to come to mean: "stop what you are doing and pay attention to me". Once the dog's name is eliciting this response then start teaching the 5 Fundamental Sounds. I personally find SATS & Dunbar both very easy and fun ways to train these 5 sounds plus many others.
** One way Eisenmann differs from many current theories that are employing the alpha/pack perspective is that he see "packs" as a "reflex" (one of a number of reflexes) and something we do not want to encourage. I find this very helpful in understanding just how differ this is from methods that are almost 'common knowledge'. Just because dogs are "pack animals" does not mean they must live within this mentality. ... Con't ...
by justcurious on 27 January 2009 - 23:01
Eisenmann ends the pamphlet with a note to the educator. He says in order to educate one must first be educated; and knowledge of these sounds and rules is only a primer. Also to have true success you must first accept a few things as true: 1) This method is a valid theory, 2) Every dog has the capacity to learn, and 3) Our dogs' failure to learn or limits to learning are only due to our own lack of knowledge.
by justcurious on 27 January 2009 - 23:01
by justcurious on 27 January 2009 - 23:01
by ocoey on 27 January 2009 - 23:01
Thank you Justcurious.
Our dogs' failure to learn or limits to learning are only due to our own lack of knowledge.....so true. I often say if my dogs hand a different handler they have no problem winning!
by Langhaar on 28 January 2009 - 10:01
I said what I meant to say a click can be a terminal marker or a bridge/keep going marker. But you need to see this in action.
I had a handler place with Ivan when he was in the UK last year and he recommends a "keep going" signal; I use the word "lovely" for my dog.
by ocoey on 28 January 2009 - 11:01
Yes, Justcurious as I said I agree that the theory and method can certainly be useful. I am a big fan of the IB or keep going signal. Glad that the perception modification (I had forgotten the name) worked for you. IThat says good things about you as a trainer (and the reverse for me LOL!!). Although I have used massage on my dogs at times to be perfectly honest the way 'perception modification' was presented in the seminar as a huge load of crap!
Langhaar: I'm sorry I must have confused what you said. You said the "clicker can be used as a keep going marker" I find this interesting as I have only seen the single click used as terminal marker. Those that i have seen (including Kayce) used a longer sound for the IB.
by justcurious on 28 January 2009 - 16:01
here's an article written by kayce describing her method of perception modification (pm) i believe she has rewritten it and tweeked it since the writing of this article but this will give you a good idea of just pm is - it far more than massaging - hth
http://www.synalia.com/articles/trainPMemotion.html
Cover's Formula for Perception Modification and Cycles:
A Tool for Empowering Animals to Manage Their Emotions
Perception Modification: The process of changing an animal's perception of an event or stimulus, as evidenced by his changed response to the event or stimulus when compared to a previous baseline. This is most effectively done through a conditioning process where the event/stimulus is paired with a conditioned reinforcer or punished in order to transfer the value of the reinforcer or punisher to the event/stimulus. (Cover, "An Introduction to Bridge and Target Trainng Technique, 1990, revised 2000) [This definition is also cited in the IMATA Glossary , Hurley, J and Scaramozzino, J, 1998]
You can think of this process as one of breaking an aversive (or scary, or overly exciting) challenge/distraction into tiny pieces, pairing each piece with reinforcers, and then reassembling the behavior once the tiny parts have been transformed in the animal's perception. The result is that the animal does not just ignore or tolerate events that were previously aversive, they often learn to really enjoy the things previously feared (hated, etc). Similarly, you can change things that were previously attractive to neutral or aversive things, by careful management of consequences (contingencies).
Cycles: A process of introducing a challenge to an animal, bridging, releasing the challenge, bridging and then having a rest equal to the duration of the challenge introduction (or longer, if the animal's condition warrants). The goal is to keep the animal in a relaxed, non-reactive state at all time, or in an alert state, focused on its trainer, but ignoring the challenge. (Cover, 2002)
Basically, this is a formula for changing an animal's perception of a stimulus, item, event, etc.
Take whatever animal needs coping skills, and put him in a relaxed position.
Take a few minutes to put this relaxation on cue - I often use deep massage, but often just focusing on the animal will serve excellently.
During the exercises, the animal's job is to stay calm and focused on you.
If possible, work with a co-trainer to introduce the problem. This person will start beyond the perimeter at which the problem produces a reaction from the animal. He will then bring the problem one step in, (bridge), one step out (bridge) and then (VERY importantly) rest - for an amount of time equal to the trial, or longer, as required for the animal to return to baseline calmness.
Next trial, two steps in (bridge), two steps out (bridge), rest...
Next
Contact information Disclaimer Privacy Statement Copyright Information Terms of Service Cookie policy ↑ Back to top