Training Methods
Sometimes it seems like a good dog trainer is performing "magic". But as any honest magician will admit, all of their "tricks" are based in undertanding science. Liz seeks to teach owners the "magic" tricks and knowledge that enable them to train their own Magical Mutt.
Liz uses reward based training methods that rely on the principles of learning theory. She has drawn on the work and experience of behaviorists, ethologists and other scientists who study animal behavior as well as experienced dog trainers to improve the lives of dogs and their owners.
Reward based training focuses on the manipulation of rewards in the dog's life. Rewards may be food or treats, attention, praise, play, toys, chasing squirrels, sniffing and tracking. For each dog the rewards may be different. Liz encourages owners to identify which rewards are most important to their dog and use those to capture and reinforce behaviors they like and discourage behaviors that they dislike. Liz focuses on building a positive relationship between owners and dog through training and play. She teaches owners to better communicate with and understand what their dog is 'saying' by teaching owners about canine body language and their own body language's influence on their relationship with their dog.
Liz especially enjoys working with adolescent goofballs - dogs that seem like they have ADD (Adolescent Dog Disorder), and shy dogs who need to build confidence in facing the world.
How Magical Muttsm Started
Although Liz has owned and trained her own dogs all her life, she became interested in training other dogs and their people after she adopted Magic from a Pittsburgh, PA shelter. Magic was a older, heartworm positive, scrawny black furry stray who had been name "Black Magic" by one of the shelter volunteers. Although he was very ill from his heartworm treatment and initially very aloof, it was pretty clear from the moment that he came home that he was 'magical' and about to change Liz's life. So the name stayed. As she started to volunteer at the shelter where she got Magic, it became clear that one of the major reasons that dogs are surrendered is because they and their people lack the skills and training to have a peaceable coexistence. Having trained dozens and dozens of dogs for adoptability in the shelter environment using reward based training, Liz was one of the primary forces in developing a training program for shelter volunteers that taught them not only to walk shelter dogs but train them for adoptability. She ran both the basic training and the more advanced training for volunteers who worked with the more difficult dogs. Before she left Pittsburgh in 2005 she trained the trainers who would take her place. She also trained students from Animal Behavior College about work with shelter dogs. While in Pittsburgh she became involved in Border Collie Rescue, providing evaluations and transport, after she adopted her 3rd dog, Quinn, from Glen Highland Farm Sweet Border Collie Rescue.
When Liz moved to Massachusetts,
she started her own training business. Naming her business for that scrawny
shelter dog who blossomed into a loving, friendly and magical dog, she
focuses on teaching pets and their owners to peaceably coexist and find
the "magic" in their relationship. Liz teaches adult dog classes for under the Magical Mutt name at
Memberships
Liz is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) and an Associate Member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC).
Seminars and Training
Liz regularly reads and attends seminars to update and improve her training. Her recent attendance includes:
2009
Clicker Expo March, 2009, Providence, RI.
The Domestic Dog: Our Ultimate Behavior Genetic Experiment Dro. Alice Moon-Fanelli, Hudson, MA. March, 2009.
2008
Puppy Development Seminar with John Rogerson. Hudson, MA. November, 2008
Assessing the Dog Handler Relationship/The Adolescent Dog Seminar with Suzanne Clothier. New Paltz, NY. September 6-7, 2008
New England Federation of Humane Societies Annual Conference Burlington, VT April 2008
Control Unleashed Leslie McDevitt. Hadley, MA. March, 2008
2007
Pet First Aid Red Cross. Cambridge MA. May, 2007
Shape Your Way Out of Aggression Kellie Snider and Jesus Rosales-Ruiz. Lebanon, NH. July 2007
Behavior Chains and Cues Explained Kathy Sdao, Littleton, MA.April 2007
2006
During the 2006/2007 year Liz was an assistant in Emma Parson's Reactive Dog class. Emma Parsons wrote the book Click to Calm based on her own experiences with a reactive dog.
Every Dog's Different: Evolution, Cognition and Behavior Ray Coppinger and Bruce Blumberg Littleton, MA. Sept., 2006
Disaster Animal Response Team Training (DART) SMART and MSPCA. Boston, MA. Sept. 2006
A Day With Patricia McConnell Lexington, MA. June, 2006
Classical and Operant Conditioning Seminar Jean Donaldson. West Swanzey, NH. May, 2006
Herding Boot Camp Carolyn Wilki. Raspberry Ridge Sheep Farm Bangor, PA. May, 2006
Dog-to-Dog Behavior. Sue Sternberg. Northborough, MA. April, 2006
Clicker Expo Newport, RI. April 2006
2005
Twisted Twins:Agression and Adolescence Trish King. Hermitage, PA. May, 2005
A weekend with Patricia McConnell Cleveland, OH. August, 2005
Build It and They Will Come : HSUS Shelter Design Workshop Atlanta, GA. April, 2005
Canine Communication, Language and Aggression Pia Silvani and JohnWright Woodbridge, VA. March, 2005
2004
Training and Shelter Dog Seminar Sue Sternberg Belleville, MI. June, 2004
Dogs of Course Instructor's Training Course Accord, NY. May, 2004
Activities
 Magic, Alex, Liz and Quinn (from left to right) |
Liz and Magic attend agility classes for fun at Four Paws Academy. Although he is around 10 years old and can't do weave poles because of a bad back, he continues to love a party and genuinely enjoys training. We first discovered his love of the dog walk and tunnels at Splash and Dash K9 Sports in the Pittsburgh area. Liz and Quinn enjoy sheep herding. Recently we have been practicing at Sunflower Sheep Farm in Carlisle, MA. We take lessons and herd at Raspberry Ridge Sheep Farm in Bangor, PA where Carolyn Wilki trains herding dogs using positive reinforcement methods, one of the few herding trainers in the US to do so. There Quinn not only gets to exercise his Border Collie talents, but Liz has learned a tremendous amount about how to teach dogs calm and self-controlled behavior. These days Alex, almost 15 years young, spends her time keeping the other two dogs in line and well behaved. But mostly she naps and collects a fan club of people who adore her endearing personality. |
Service to the Community
Ongoing:
January to August 2008, Liz served as Interim Director at the Lowell Humane Society. She gets to spend less time with the dogs and more on paperwork than she would like, but it is a great and up and coming organization. Liz was a dog walking/training volunteer at the Lowell Humane Society. Not only is it deeply rewarding to know that the dogs are getting badly needed exercise, training and attention but each shelter dog helps Liz to become a better trainer just by being themselves.
Liz is also serving on a committee sponsored by the Massachusetts Animal Coalition that is developing a system that will assist shelters and rescues within the state to share information about dogs that are in need in order to move them from shelters/rescues that don't have the resources to help to those that do.
She continues to assist with Glen Highland Farms with transport and behavior evaluations as needed.
2003- 2005
While a volunteer at the Animal Rescue League of Western PA Liz served as Chair of the Canine Services Committee, sat on the Animal Care committee and fostered special needs dogs. Along with others she developed the training materials for dog walking volunteers, taught the basic dog walking class and also taught volunteers how to train dogs for adoptability. She trained dozens of dogs to improve their chance at adoption. She started and led a community reading group on dog training and behavior related topics. At that time she also assisted with transport and behavior evaluations for Glen Highland Farms Border Collie Rescue.