Blog | kccollege

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Apr 11
2 min

What would you most like your dogs to be?

When I came back from a meeting last night, my husband relayed a conversation he had with someone from our neighbourhood on the beach yes...

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Taryn Blyth

Apr 11
3 min

Why I don't recommend the "Carrot Game"

There are many videos doing the rounds at the moment of people playing "catch the carrot" with their dogs. This "game" where a carrot (or...

28,651 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn Blyth

Mar 19
7 min

Socialising your puppy during Covid-19?

I have delayed writing this post, because I think it is a bit of a minefield and I don’t really feel like being blown up with everything ...

196 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn Blyth

Mar 11
6 min

Dogs as Personal or Home Protection?

I was asked to write about this subject, as it is something that comes up fairly frequently in the South African context, where crime is ...

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Taryn Blyth

Feb 11
3 min

If a mother dog snaps at her pups, why can’t we use “corrections” to train?

A video that I saw a while ago is doing the rounds again on social media. I often just try and ignore these things, as the points made ar...

1,241 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn Blyth

Feb 3
3 min

You cannot reinforce fear, but you can reduce it

I have written several posts on why you cannot reinforce fear (because fear is an emotion, not a behaviour), but it really became very cl...

29 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn Blyth

Jan 27
1 min

It Doesn't Really Hurt, it just...

Whether it is a discussion about shock collars, citronella sprays, prong-collars, choke chain corrections, “bonking” a dog on the head wi...

47 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn Blyth

Jan 24
4 min

What do Trainers mean by teaching "Optimism"? Is this really a thing?

You may have heard trainers talking about creating “optimism” in dogs through training and games. This may sound like a strange concept a...

559 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn Blyth

Jan 17
6 min

Why it is NOT just about Observable Behaviour

A while ago, on the support group page of a training course I was enrolled in, another trainer posted a question looking for advice about...

1,208 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn Blyth

Jan 10
3 min

Group Classes are Not Always the Answer

As the New Year gets underway, we have many enquiries coming in for classes for adolescent and adult dogs. It's really great that people ...

153 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn Blyth

Jan 2
2 min

Build that Reinforcement History!

Behaviour that is reinforced grows stronger. That's pretty much what we base training and behaviour modification on as positive reinforce...

266 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn Blyth

Dec 22, 2019
2 min

All habits are hard to break! A quick argument for better management:

For over 10 years we have been hanging our bathroom towels on the pipes sticking out of the geyser - simply because we had no towel hooks...

116 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn Blyth

Nov 18, 2019
4 min

Relationship First

We always ask on our intake forms for both adult and puppy classes: What do you hope to get out of attending training? We ask this, becau...

93 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn

Oct 19, 2019
3 min

The importance of food delivery placement in Positive Reinforcement Training

How to set up your learner for success! 😊 How and where we deliver reinforcement makes a difference in the learning process and can help...

90 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn

Sep 16, 2019
6 min

I am going to say it again- Emotions Matter

Something I read recently has been bothering me and I think it is important enough to address, even though it may be a confusing subject....

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Taryn

Aug 21, 2019
3 min

Rate of Reinforcement - why is this such a big deal?

A client was asking me about another dog in the class they attend who is doing so well in training that it stands out obviously to anyone...

290 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn

Aug 5, 2019
4 min

Learning to listen

We are all learning all the time and our dogs can be great teachers if we are willing to listen. A while ago, Cruz ran into a sand dune a...

35 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn

Jun 19, 2019
5 min

Fix or Fulfill?

I wanted to write one more post on why the idea of “Fixing” dogs is problematic. I have already written about why, as trainers or behavio...

30 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn

Jun 10, 2019
5 min

Dogs are not Blank Slates

Last week I posted about why there are no guarantees when it comes to working with behaviour problems and I would like continue this, but...

14 viewsWrite a comment

Taryn

Jun 7, 2019
2 min

Training Success?

How do I define training success? Is it winning a competition? Is it having a dog that responds to every cue first time or executes every...

7 viewsWrite a comment

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Taryn Blyth

Kommetjie

Canine

College

What would you most like your dogs to be?

Why I don't recommend the "Carrot Game"

Socialising your puppy during Covid-19?

Dogs as Personal or Home Protection?

If a mother dog snaps at her pups, why can’t we use “corrections” to train?

You cannot reinforce fear, but you can reduce it

It Doesn't Really Hurt, it just...

What do Trainers mean by teaching "Optimism"? Is this really a thing?

Why it is NOT just about Observable Behaviour

Group Classes are Not Always the Answer

Build that Reinforcement History!

All habits are hard to break! A quick argument for better management:

Relationship First

The importance of food delivery placement in Positive Reinforcement Training

I am going to say it again- Emotions Matter

Rate of Reinforcement - why is this such a big deal?

Learning to listen

Fix or Fulfill?

Dogs are not Blank Slates

Training Success?

Taryn Blyth