Lisa White DVM

02/28/2021

New webinar this week! I'm excited for this one.

Built by Karen Pryor Clicker Training

02/28/2021

I love Doggie Drawings by Lili Chin...this is a great one about cats. No boring toys!

A collaboration with cat behaviorist, Dr. Mikel Delgado! And starring my newly adopted cats: Mambo (black longhaired kitty) and Shimmy (grey & white tuxedo kitty).

10/07/2020

Clicks and treats to Petco!

09/29/2020

A story about the power of Pavlov.

We have a long haired barn cat at the barn where I board my horse. If I don't keep his coat trimmed to the length of a short haired cat, he turns into one giant mat.

This cat knows that when I trim him, he gets to eat canned food. (We started super slow and under-threshold, of course) Now, every time he sees me with clippers, or hears clippers...he comes running.

This weekend I was using clippers on my horse's leg feathers...I ended up with a very excited cat on my lap.

09/16/2020

Looking for something new to train/shape? How about taking oral meds?

09/02/2020

I forgot to post a pic for Dog Day last week. Though every day is dog day at my house!

Tobias and Finch

08/28/2020

I'll still be presenting...attendees will just get to watch from their couches!

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic APDT has decided to cancel the in-person 2020 Annual Conference and move to hosting a virtual conference. Please check our website at https://apdt.com/apdt-conference-2020/ for dates, cost and session information.

08/28/2020

But...what did the fox say???

A fox in a Berlin suburb was caught stealing shoes in the neighbourhood, having amassed a hoard of 100 slippers, sandals, and running shoes.

07/29/2020

It all goes back to ABCs; love this post.

B is unlikely to occur without A, and unlikely to recur without C.

Hmmm... what are those ABCs again?

Well, B is for Behaviour.

A is for Antecedent - things about the context and situation that bring the behaviour about. Motivational state, props, cues.

And C is for Consequence - what the animal gets out of doing the behaviour. Getting something desirable, or getting away from something uncomfortable.

And B, Behaviour, is unlikely to occur without the A, the Antecedent, and unlikely to recur without the C, the Consequence.

Let's unpack that.

Without some stimulus or event that indicates that a specific behaviour pays off in the current context, such as a shift in motivational state, the presence of certain stimuli or cues, the animal is unlikely to perform that behaviour.

Why should he?

Because nothing about the situation tells him that behaviour would pay off.

And animals evolved not to waste energy, but rather to conserve it. To do the right behaviours at the right time.

What can we learn from this? Well, that most behaviour pays off in some way or another. If the animal is doing something that annoys you, it's because something in the environment informs him that behaviour will pay off.

Or if he's not doing the behaviour you desire, it might be because he doesn't understand that the opportunity is there. He might not perceive the A, the Antecedent, indicating that behaviour will currently pay off.

Without the A, the B is unlikely to occur in the first place.

But, and here's the vital part: without the C, the behaviour is unlikely to recur in the future.

After all, the reason why he did the behaviour in the first place was because he wanted to get something out of performing the behaviour. And he's reading the environment in order to understand when behaviour pays off - and when it doesn't.

So, he might respond to a cue, an Antecedent, once or twice thinking it will lead to an expected desirable outcome.

But if it doesn't, if behaviour doesn't pay off after a specific A, he will likely stop showing that particular behaviour in that particular context.

The behaviour will extinguish.

In order for behaviour to recur, the animal must get what he wants from doing the behaviour.

What can we learn from that? Well, that if your animal is consistently doing a behaviour, he's getting something out of doing that behaviour. The key to understanding problem behaviour is most often to understand the C, the Consequence, maintaining the behaviour.

And conversely, if he's not doing a behaviour, he doesn't think the outcome of performing it is valuable (or he doesn't understand that a valuable outcome is available for that behaviour).

B is unlikely to occur without A, and unlikely to recur without C.

05/12/2020

If conferences are safe in October; I'm super excited to be presenting at this year's APDT conference (Finchie will stay home)

Watch as Dr. Lisa White discusses how veterinarians and trainers can work well together.

02/22/2020

Learning only happens with a clear and calm brain.

When you are emotional or upset it is very hard to think rationally or clearly as your body and mind is stressed. In this mode you can’t learn, process and digest what’s going on around you. 💔🤯

🌟- If someone acted aggressively to when you when you are emotional, you would act aggressively back
🌟- If you saw a trigger (something that upsets you) if you’re already stressed, it will make you more emotional
🌟- This is why I always say if you’re emotional stop, take deep breaths to slow down and walk away if needed

💫- This is the same with our dogs 🐕
💫- If your dog is already fearful or stressed or (insert behaviour) and you act aggressively towards them, you are now increasing their insecurity, affecting their ability to learn, breaking the human-animal bond and increasing fear and aggression as your dog creates negative associations with you, the punisher
💫- If your dog is already fearful or stressed and sees a trigger at a distance they can’t cope then they won’t be able to learn or process information. This is why Grisha Stewart Dog Training & Behavior BAT course teaches you distance learning so your dog can cope and learn where they’re not overtly emotional
💫- If needed, help your dog take deep breaths by removing them from things that make them emotional and teach them where they can take deep breaths and learn how to slow down

01/31/2020

Dog noses are pretty amazing.

Our canine buddies can do more than play fetch. Turns out dogs' incredible sense of smell is a secret weapon in medicine.