Thurston Fluff

Bytes was right about the Reds against good teams. But the Card are supposed to be classy. His article certainly wasn't the classy "hats off to the division champs," sort. Sounded more like poor loser sort of stuff to me. I'm sure Card fans would say he was, at the very least, a very classy poor loser.

Keep in mind, this is NOT a "who is our next manager" discussion. More about the personality of the clubhouse. When you are together that much over so long a period of time I think it's important to have a cohesive clubhouse. That doesn't mean everyone has to get along. Some teams did well but some players on it hated each other. If those who don't get along are just sort of ornery to begin with that is, in a sense, the personality of the clubhouse. Ornery people probably do well in ornery groups. The Brewers clubhouse seemed more fun loving. Even Prince who was a hto head seemed to be a fun loving guy. Just got mad once in a while. Macha just wasn't that type of guy so he probably just wasn't a good fit.

It's important to remember the real reason Hardy was traded was his relatively high salary and the fact a younger, cheap, good defensive ss was in AAA. Not to mention Hardy's durablity history. He seems a lot older than he really is. He is not the type of guy you can pencil in for 150 games a season even if he isn't injured per say. Escobar by comparison was in 145 games as a rookie. Hardy did that twice in his career and later complained he was tired and needed a break the last time he played that much. Hardy is a good player but he isn't dependable enough to pay a lot for.

Don't know why Randolph isn't getting a chance, I don't see us bringing in anybody better. He didn't get along with all the players in NY which is the issue Macha had here. Whether that would happen here or not is not certain but it is kind of silly to fire one guy only to hire someone with the same baggage. I agree with a clean break. The one thing I think Melvin did last time around was narrow his search too much. He did the same thing as Ron Wolf did when hiring Rhodes and got the same results.

I don't have any idea of who specifically I want but I know the qualities I would be looking for. A manger who relates well to his player yet doesn't allow a country club atmosphere. One who lets his starting pitchers work through trouble early in the game even if it means they sometimes let the game get out of hand. It should be the starters job to go at least 5 every game and should be expected to go six or more routinely. On occasion a pitcher may just not have it so I get it cannot be set in stone but I want them to be left in longer than Macha did. I want them to give their releivers roles so they can mentally prepare for the game accordingly. I am not a fan of going with the hot hand for relievers since hot hands are ever changing and it leads to what I thought was Macha's worst characteristic. Over working a pitcher for a month then letting him rot in the pen the next. Consistent work is the best way to have a consistent pen IMHO. Sometimes it will bite you but so has the hot hand approach. Someone who lets an offensive player work through tough stretches but still make the earn their playing time. Overall I think in game strategy is not all that important versus how he handles the players. Obviously I would rather a great strategist than a poor one but it is far down on my priority list. I don't really care about how much they hit and run, play small ball or sit and wait for the 3 run homer. Really don't think one style is better than the other. Hopefully the manager will understand the player strengths and weaknesses and plays to them which I guess goes more toward player handling than strategy.

The more I think about it mothership the more I agree with you on a certain level. I think my issue with Pryor isn't the concept of operant conditioning as it is the application. I think she oversimplifies it. Operant conditioning as shown in the Pavlov's dog experiment was a direct one to one relationship because it eliminated all other elements to the experiment than the bell ringing before it got fed. It was quit easy for the dog to establish the relationship between bell and food. Karen Pryor essentially substituted the bell for the clicker and believed it should work the same. Yet she neglected to eliminate all the other environmental factors that the dog could be taking as a cue for the command. what you get with clicker training is a dog that works well in the setting the clicker was used in to teach the dog. I don't think it is a sure bet that translates to other situations. There are so many other factors the dog is taking in from his environment while being trained that what we think they are cuing in on may not be it at all. Dogs observe everything about a person and cue on what they believe to be the important factors for the situation. In clicker training you may think the clicker is the factor but it may be something as simple as the dog noticing you wear the same sneakers every time you have a training session and figures that it's time for him to follow the commands. Take away the sneakers and the dog is unsure of the situation thus the clicker is less useful. The dog may or may not have ever related the clicker as relevant to the situation. The other real problem I have with whistles, clickers or shakers is if the dog does relate the command and the clicker you may need the clicker to get the dog to do the task. So it may be fine to clicker train for playing structured games but maybe less useful for general obedience training. Personally I have never had much luck with clickers, whistles and shakers other than to get the dog's attention. I only used it for one dog and stopped after she was two or so and it wasn't necessarily her specific technique. I read something of hers a while back after I did the clicker and already had an opinion of it. I am far from complete in my knowledge of it. If it works for you by all means use it. All that said I do beleive she has some good info and it can be a very useful asset for anyone who wants to better understand human dog interactions.

If Gomez can't play for Gardenhire, then who is he going to play for? Exactly. This is his third major league manager and none of them got different results than Macha. Gotta put it on the player there. I thought he was consistent and for the most part handled the playing time well. I didn't start out liking him and never actually liked his style but am not willing to blame everything on him. The part I didn't like was how he handled the pitchers. He pulled the starters too early too often and tended to overuse particular relievers too often in stretches. Overall in his two yeas he failed to get the team to play up to their projected potential so I agree he should be replaced.

It is a full season worth of stats so there isn't any sample size problem 99 game is not a whole season. Hardy has not been durable at all. Which was one major reason not to risk keeping him. I also don't think a direct comparison of stats in year one of Escobar's major league career is the best way to rate the trade. Escobar should get better. He was ready to take the next step in his career and learn what it takes to be a major league player. He has his rookie season in the books now and can use that experience as a learning tool going forward. It is hard to ever learn what it takes to be a major league player unless you get the shot at being one. Getting that experience in a season where there was minimal team expectations only makes it the best time to break him in. Conversely if he doesn't improve we'll know one year sooner and have a better chance of lining up an alternative when the rest of the team is competitive.

There's nothing you'd be doing in dog training that isn't operant conditioning. Any behavior we'd colloquially refer to as "non-reflexive" is operant. You may occasionally be using species-typical respondent/"instinctive" relations during training, but your attempts to increase or decrease the probability of the behavior or bring it under the control of environmental stimuli would still be operant. I both agree and disagree. A lot of what you do in training a dog is for specific short term tasks like sit, stay and front... the usual house training type of stuff. There is a whole other type of training for jobs that require the dog to figure things out and become better without the trainers direct involvement. For instance hunting dogs often have to learn the tricks of their prey. A raccoon will jump trees and backtrack. A bear will run through swamps and water to loose the dogs. Good dogs learn without direct stimuli merely because they are doing their part in the group. A good trainer for more complex type of skills needs to get the dog more enthused with the overall job so he has the drive to get better. The only way I know of to do that is to make the dog identify with his pack and work to be a good pack member. That is not accomplished by operant conditioning.

I'll second the kong toys. WE have a couple that have lasted years of abuse. Have you guys read any of Karen Pryor's stuff? As a behaviorist, I still consider it a little too fluffy, but she's far more scientific and less into folk nonsense than almost any animal trainer you'll come across. Isn't she the one who endorses clickers as some sort of miracle tool? If she is she has some good ideas on communication but I'm not really a fan of the clicker. Well worth the read and does have good ideas but sometimes she gets a little too caught up in operant conditioning. There is something to operant conditioning but it isn't as straight forward nor as strong as she suggests. Overall a good add to the list of books to read on training though.

You got a Shiba that catches more than 8 times? Now I really am jealous.

People think they're SOOOOO Cute (well gosh, when they're puppies, they look like a cross between a baby polar bear and a fox) and they have to have one. They think it's a little lap dog and it's not. you just described what happened with the original owners of my border collie. They were a 70 year old couple looking for a lap dog. They got a border collie. Talk about lack of research. She was a fragile looking tiny pup who was an absolute terror unless she got 2 or more hours of serious work a day. She was in the pound before she was 6 months old. He's very very rugged, can jump nearly shoulder high on me (I'm 6'0 even) and has on occasion, knocked our couch completely over when launching into it on his many romps up and down the house. Take that jumping ability and increase the dog's size by 150% and you have the akita. Zaphod looks like this clumsy oaf but can jump a 6' fence. If your shiba looks nearly as cool while romping as my Akita does it has to be fun to watch. Only problem with both Shibas and Akitas is they usually don't catch and retrieve more than 8 times. Hard to play skip dog with them. I also want to add/edit this post, as I read it back, I see how it might be read that I think I'm a better/more prepared dog owner than someone else, and that's not the case. If often felt the same way. I was hesitant to even start a thread about training and such for that very reason. Once I got over feeling apologetic about it I realized I did know quite a bit about it and wanted to share. Not that I feel like I know it all. More that I realized how poorly prepared some were for dog ownership and wanted to help. Judging by your comments you shouldn't feel bad about it. It appears you do know what it takes which would put you in the top half of owners. I get what you're saying though. You don't want to be a know it all and put others down. But sharing knowledge shouldn't have to be that way. WE all need help sometimes. For those who did get in over their heads it isn't too late. Take some time watch a few shows maybe take a dog class and soon you'll have the information you need to have a happy life with your dog. That's really what it's all about.

The NL league average for starters this year is 4.10, so even with this hot streak Wolf isn't even average. Going forward, age will likely start to affect him. He'll be 35 before next season is over. Might be wise to adjust for parks instead of using raw numbers. I think you'll find him to be pretty much the definition of a #3.

I'm sure the Yankees will tell them to quit whining. I think it's time for them to move. I would suggest maybe a move to Manhattan, Brooklyn or maybe Queens. The Marlins could move to another borough to eliminate the need for revenue sharing as well. I'm sure the Yankees won't complain if one or more of the hard luck franchises move to a place that would support them without the Yankee's money.

I have a Shiba-Inu (basically a miniature Akita) Cool. They are not basically mini Akitas. They really are mini Akitas. The way the Japanese defined the differences in the breeds was by size. Yes they do have a strong bite pressure. Akita's bite pressure is the highest of all breeds of any size. Guess when you breed a dog to fight bears strong bite pressure is a feature. They also bite and hold instead of bite let go and bite again. I'm not optimistic that my friend's Sheba dog aggressive problems are ever going to go away. Obviously yours has some of that as well. I guess it is part of the breed no matter what size you get. Pity I can't see the picture. Though if it's a Sheba you probably could just put a picture of a fox up and be close enough to be getting on with.

A friend of mine had a french bulldog that would spit at you if you got too close to his food dish. It was hilarious. I'm sure you'll enjoy him. AS a new small dog owner please don't fall into the puppy trap. Often small dogs get away with murder as pups because they are sooo cute and harmless. Even chewing things cause so little damage as to make you want to ignore it. A woman I know let things slide with her Italian greyhound to her detriment. Now, at a year old, it's a lot harder for her to train it properly. BTW anyone have any ideas on how to break a female dog from hammering other dogs. A freind of mine has a great little Sheba but it is really dog aggressive. I have never had luck breaking females from dog aggressive behaviors and I'm fresh out of ideas. She's very dog aggressive but only to certain dogs. I have no idea why only some dogs and not others. It isn't like some are bothering here and she gets annoyed with them. Some aren't even near her and she goes off on them. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

And by the way, where did I blast him? I simply pointed out that the owner put the blame on him. That would be the same ownership that has said he's doing a good job and has proven himself to be a good GM correct? I suspect Peterson will get more time to get things straightened out. He's the right fit for what the organization as a whole is doing and the pitchers could use some stability after 4 pitching coaches in three seasons.

I don't think a joke based innuendo is enough to call something homophobic. It was a crude joke based on the dual meaning of the phrase but jokes often have that crude aspect when done by simple minded (or drunk) people. Crudity has never been reason enough to take a joke seriously or to do what Davidson did. All that said if I was stuck near that person I would have been more than happy to see him leave. There is no bigger buzz kill at a game than a drunk, obnoxious person yelling stupid remarks throughout the game.

A move that made no sense to begin with and nearly a day later there is still no word anywhere else. Gotta wonder how accurate this is.

We have a picture of a cowboy made out of balloons somewhere. I'll try to find it and put it on top of the parrot or whale.

That looks like two separate dogs. One coming out of the wall on top of the other. great picture.

Akitas are very gentile to people but not recommended in groups of dogs. You can't keep two of the same sex together. They are very dog aggressive. Apparently sheep aggressive as well. They have the highest bite pressure of any dog and they don't let go. Not a surprise it killed a sheep just by playing.

He's an Akita and, yes, he did pull a sulky though he no longer does it. Though he was possibly the cutest pup I ever had he did grow up to be a monster. He's over 100 pounds now. http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv208/ThurstonFluff/z9mos80lbs.jpg

Just putting together some past balloon art we've done for a brochure and thought I'd share some of the cooler stuff.http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv208/ThurstonFluff/seahorse.jpghttp://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv208/ThurstonFluff/parrotlarge.jpghttp://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv208/ThurstonFluff/whales.jpg

http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/vv208/ThurstonFluff/z.jpg Those crested hairless dogs are weird to say the least. No idea of their temperament but anything that adorably ugly must have an attitude. This is a picture of Zaphod at 8 weeks old. He was already bigger than a sweater dog by then.