Everyone who is serious about understanding animals and modifying behavior knows the research of B.F. Skinner well. But only a few have met him personally. In her new book The Science of Consequences: How They Affect Genes, Change the Brain, and Impact Our World, author Dr. Susan Schneider reveals some of the lessons she learned during her 15 year friendship with the Father of Operant Conditioning. She shares some of her stories in an interview with me. Question: How did you get to know B.F. Skinner? Answer: I wrote Fred after reading some of his work for a high school psychology

Animal trainers, teachers, pet owners, and parents who are new to science-based teaching often ask if there is proof that positive reinforcement works better than aversives as if the research doesn’t exist. Hundreds of studies have been performed that have revealed many adverse effects of punishment. And in The Science of Consequences: How They Affect Genes, Change the Brain, and Impact Our World, author Dr. Susan Schneider, a behavior analyist, reveals the research that shows the effectiveness of positive consequences. She shares some of the findings in this recent interview. Question: In your book, The Science of Consequences: How They Affect Genes, Change

Question: I have had my new puppy for a couple of days now, and I have had her at my side nearly all the time, whether tethered directly to me or to a piece of furniture near me, so I can keep an eye on her as Dr. Yin suggested in Perfect Puppy in 7 Days. However, this seems to have resulted in my puppy becoming EXTREMELY attached to me, because we are always together. Unless she takes a nap and I put her in her crate, or it’s nighttime and she is in the crate, we’re not separated at all.

Question: My husband and I have a 10-week old yellow lab named Avery.  We brought her home 3 weeks ago, at the age of 7 weeks, and have been using the methods we learned from your book, Perfect Puppy in 7 Days, to teach her to say please and to sit for everything. It is going well, and Avery is becoming a good puppy…not perfect!  She likes to bite us A LOT. We try to give her something else and reward her for not biting, or for stopping, but she still likes to do it!  That will just take time, I

Question: Thank you for the post [on over rambunctious dog play]. I am relating to this exact situation currently. We have a 5 month old (neutered) pit/lab/shepherd puppy who really loves to play with dogs. His issue is that he doesn’t pick up on the social cues of when the other dog doesn’t want to play, or is done playing. We recently fostered a little terrier/chuhuaua overnight from the rescue that I volunteer with (trying to socialize our pup and help out at the same time). If the dog growled at him (as the terrier didn’t want to play at all),