(no subject)
My @#$@#$#@$ Bad Parrot had a crazy moment yesterday and flew over and bit me hard on the ear. (Bad Parrot is Icarus, the stinker sitting on my shoulder in my icon picture.) It didn't bleed, but bruised badly enough that it was slightly uncomfortable to sleep on that side last night.
I know it was because I didn't give them enough attention this past week, and because we ran out of their usual homemade veggies-grains-and-beans diet and have been feeding them only pellets for the last couple of weeks, but still, it sucks to have one of your pets bite the @$#@$ out of you out of the blue (or so it felt).
Must make more bird food and do more training sessions with the birds. Sigh. At least the other parrot's crazy moments are much more predictable (NEW PEOPLE OMG) and thus easier to manage.
In happier news, I am totally, completely in love with teaching dog classes. I've got four running right now (well, one just ended on Saturday), and they are the best part of my whole week. I wake up on Saturday mornings thinking, "Oh boy, I get to go to work today!" I guess this is what people mean when they say "If you find a job doing what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." It's work, don't get me wrong, but I certainly don't do it for the money.
In Basic Manners class on Saturday, one guy saw me demo something with his dog and asked afterwards, "There was one time where she did it right, but you just petted and praised her instead of rewarding her with the toy. Is that what we're working toward?" I explained variable schedules of reinforcement, and always rewarding "average or better" behavior. As an example, I said, "You don't want your dog to think, 'Hey, why am I not getting paid anymore?'; you want her to think, 'Maybe THIS TIME my behavior will make the fun game happen!' This is why we make training into a game. If I went to my day job on Monday and my boss said, 'You've been doing such a good job that I'm now going to pay you only half as much,' I'd quit. But if I came to teach dog classes and the business owner said, 'I can't pay you this much anymore, so I'm going to cut your pay,' I'd keep teaching, because it's fun for me. That's how we want your dog to feel: like she can't wait for training time because it's so much fun."
As I said it, I realized how true it is. I am perfectly happy to give up a significant chunk of my free time to work my butt off, get slobber and pee and stinky dog treats all over myself, and do more vacuuming and mopping than I've ever done in my life, and I'd do it all even without pay. I'll even get up early on Saturday mornings to do it.
Sheesh, if only I could actually make a living doing this! Maybe someday...
I know it was because I didn't give them enough attention this past week, and because we ran out of their usual homemade veggies-grains-and-beans diet and have been feeding them only pellets for the last couple of weeks, but still, it sucks to have one of your pets bite the @$#@$ out of you out of the blue (or so it felt).
Must make more bird food and do more training sessions with the birds. Sigh. At least the other parrot's crazy moments are much more predictable (NEW PEOPLE OMG) and thus easier to manage.
In happier news, I am totally, completely in love with teaching dog classes. I've got four running right now (well, one just ended on Saturday), and they are the best part of my whole week. I wake up on Saturday mornings thinking, "Oh boy, I get to go to work today!" I guess this is what people mean when they say "If you find a job doing what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." It's work, don't get me wrong, but I certainly don't do it for the money.
In Basic Manners class on Saturday, one guy saw me demo something with his dog and asked afterwards, "There was one time where she did it right, but you just petted and praised her instead of rewarding her with the toy. Is that what we're working toward?" I explained variable schedules of reinforcement, and always rewarding "average or better" behavior. As an example, I said, "You don't want your dog to think, 'Hey, why am I not getting paid anymore?'; you want her to think, 'Maybe THIS TIME my behavior will make the fun game happen!' This is why we make training into a game. If I went to my day job on Monday and my boss said, 'You've been doing such a good job that I'm now going to pay you only half as much,' I'd quit. But if I came to teach dog classes and the business owner said, 'I can't pay you this much anymore, so I'm going to cut your pay,' I'd keep teaching, because it's fun for me. That's how we want your dog to feel: like she can't wait for training time because it's so much fun."
As I said it, I realized how true it is. I am perfectly happy to give up a significant chunk of my free time to work my butt off, get slobber and pee and stinky dog treats all over myself, and do more vacuuming and mopping than I've ever done in my life, and I'd do it all even without pay. I'll even get up early on Saturday mornings to do it.
Sheesh, if only I could actually make a living doing this! Maybe someday...