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Tuesday 27 August 2019

Operant Conditioning

We are visiting. Our hostess has a Pyrenean Mastiff named Oleho and a Bernese Mountain dog named Seaman.


The Mastiff reverted to peeing on the floor when Bruce died a year ago. I helped sort the medals into the right order that the Navy sent his widow. Bruce was a SEAL who started out as a Seaman Basic and ended as a Navy Captain. I liked him a lot.


There are 11 of the medals. The first two in the correct order are the Silver Star and Bronze Star. The Vietnam service medal with two Oak Leaf clusters is way down the ranking.


I read B.F. Skinner in Pysch 101 back at FSU in 1963. positive variable intermittent reinforcement...works on pigeons...people...dogs...chickens...children,,,
He said give me a child and I will turn it into anything you like...



I walk the dogs at 8AM 12 PM and 8 PM. I give both dogs treats and make a big deal of it when they pee outside. The Mastiff got through last night without an accident...a fast learner?


You can train a chicken with this stuff...a chicken at the Florida State Fair beat me out of $20 playing tic-tac-toe.