We decided to make the most out of the event by splashing around in the International Fountain at Seattle Center, and enjoying a picnic dinner in the shadow of the Space Needle.
On 17 July 2018, I went to Seattle Center's Pacific Science Center to see a presentation from the Seattle Human Society about training pets (in particular dogs) to be fit for adoption by humans. The presentation started at about 7 P.M, and was two hours long.
Before the presentation formally started, there was an open-roofed cage (I think there's a word for that) with three kittens in it. If I recall correctly, they were six weeks old, and their names were Asparagus, Cauliflower, and Snow pea.
During the presentation, a Weimaraner-hound mix named Kaia was often brought out. Kaia was one and a half years old, and was actually put up for adoption the following day at 11 A.M. Kaia was used to demonstrate how to teach a dog a trick (for example: Getting Kaia to spin in a circle by bringing a treat around her in a circle). Kaia seemed kind of spazzed-out at the attention.
Disa Emerson, the presenter, told us about five different kinds of reacting to a dog's (mis)behavior: Positive Reinforcement (rewarding desired behavior with something the dog likes), Negative Reinforcement (rewarding desired behavior by removing something the dog doesn't like), Positive Punishment (punishing undesired behavior with something the dog doesn't like), Negative Punishment (punishing undesired behavior by removing something the dog likes), and Extinction (refusing to pay attention or visibly react to a dog's undesired behavior).
And here's Annabelle's take on the lecture. ...
“Pet College: From Stray to Stay” is part of a series of “Member Meet and Greets” at Pacific Science Center. The presenters talked about how they train animals at the Seattle Humane Society. To help with the demonstration, they brought a Weimaraner mix named Kaia to perform some tricks.
One of the first points that was made was that when training an animal, you shouldn’t think about what you don’t want them to do, but rather what you do want them to do. For example, if you want a dog to stop barking at people when they enter, have them grab a pillow and hold it instead. Another method, called counter conditioning, is to associate something they don’t like with something they do (usually food or treats). When a person or thing they don’t like appears, give them a treat as soon as it occurs. The animal will learn that this thing is now immediately followed by food, which makes it a good thing.
It’s always preferable to reward an animal for good behavior than to punish it for bad behavior. If your dog barks at passing cars, only reward it when it is quiet and calm. If you get angry, it may just think you are alerted to the car as well and it’s doing a good job. If you ignore the behavior (known as “extinction training”), something called an “Extinction Burst” may happen where the behavior gets worse before it gets better. An example is if a puppy whines to get out of its cage when it doesn’t need to, if you ignore it the whining will continue to get louder and more annoying before stopping completely.
In conclusion, they showed that animals think very simply and it’s easy to train them if you know what you’re doing. The hardest part is being consistent with rewards and punishments. Even just minutes of training can completely affect a dog’s reaction and state of mind. If you want to learn more and support the Humane Society, you can visit their website at www.seattlehumane.org.
MAKER: This weekend, I was busy with home improvement projects, but I wanted the kids to do something other than sit staring at a screen, so I asked Annabelle to go find our Makey Makey, and make something.
Less than a hour later, CJ was test driving the guitar she had built out of cardboard and quarters!
ORIGIN-ALLY: Tuesday afternoon we watched a replay of a webcast that happened this morning before CJ and Annabelle saw fit to rise. It was footage of Blue Origin's latest crew capsule test flight.
Their capsule, New Shepard, is a beauty. Its windows are huge compared to other crew capsules we've seen. The test involved an emergency escape feature the capsule has. During the test, the altitude reached was nearly 390,000 feet, or 119 kilometers. Its top speed on ascent was 2,236 mph.
Their capsule, New Shepard, is a beauty. Its windows are huge compared to other crew capsules we've seen. The test involved an emergency escape feature the capsule has. During the test, the altitude reached was nearly 390,000 feet, or 119 kilometers. Its top speed on ascent was 2,236 mph.
Incredibly, both the booster and the capsule made spot-on landings back at Blue Origin’s West Texas test site.
The webcast (embedded below) was about an hour long. The launch took place about the 30 minute mark. However, the whole webcast is worth watching, as there's lots of great info about New Shepard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRDhdHRyyjc
The webcast (embedded below) was about an hour long. The launch took place about the 30 minute mark. However, the whole webcast is worth watching, as there's lots of great info about New Shepard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRDhdHRyyjc
New Shepard Crew Capsule, July 18, 2018, during descent on Mission 9. - Source - Blue Origin
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