Send us a text Living with dogs successfully requires us to have an awareness of behaviors that are "stuck" together. Often times it's a lack of understanding of chains and sequences that gets us into trouble. Jump-sit= You can't get one without the other. Bark-treat= A good way to reinforce a bark. Slow to pick their head out of the gopher hole yet they come eventually= creates a slow come when called. In this episode, Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire talk about life being surrounded by behavior ch...
Jun 26, 2019•44 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Send us a text Our minds are spinning over the terminology we hear at behavior conferences and dog training seminars. We dog people LOVE naming things Start button behaviors Decompression walks Consent Click fishing.....what?? In this episode of Learning About Dogs , Kay Laurence cautions trainers to avoid marketing and fancy terms and really look at the protocol behind a term. Is this of a benefit to the dog? This episode looks at Click Fishing, Go ahead and take a guess of what that might mean...
Jun 19, 2019•18 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Send us a text You enter ring at a venue, the routine starts, you look over at your dog and a sinking feeling starts. As you start to go through the exercises, your dog looks as if he has NO idea of what you cue. You become frustrated, think you need to train harder, think your dog needs more practice and you begin to list off any number of possible reasons. All of them likely are quite valid or not. Have you ever taught your dog to get used to you being silent? Using silence as part of a teachi...
Jun 12, 2019•17 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Send us a text Dogs are exquisite at knowing when a behavior they are doing needs to be slowed down, held or ended quickly. We as handlers need to be strong observers of when these behaviors happen naturally so that when we are requesting a dog to "hold their station" it's filled with understanding. Back in the olden days, trainers were taught about the three D's--distance-duration-distraction. You can predict that any conversation with Kay Laurence of Learning About Dogs is going to toss out th...
Jun 05, 2019•23 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Send us a text Our language fails us at times when we want to describe what we are seeking when teaching a dog to continue to do an activity. "The use of the word duration is far too inadequate," says Kay Laurence of Learning About Dogs. The episode continues the conversation about the lack of clarity and understanding impacts the learner's understanding when teaching them how to sustain an activity. The use of terminal behavior cues play a role. Dogs are exquisite at knowing when a behavior the...
May 29, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Send us a text TAKL2020 is a blend of a study course and a mentoring program. You can follow either route or a combination through self-selecting and self-progress. This is an online course. The course encourages self-directed learning and critical thinking developing a new mind-set that will project forward to every dog you share your life with in the future. There is very little space for branded training recipes, off the shelf solutions or quick-fixes. The course is equally suited to someone ...
May 22, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Send us a text Contingencies change behavior, reinforcers maintain or strengthen behavior. Contingencies will include the environment, the space the dog feels is around them or not, any threats, what you are doing, what they have learned, their genetic traits, their early learning and of course …. you. All these elements can change, and because they change, the behavior changes. In this episode, a deep discussion topic for sure, Kay Laurence of Learning About Dogs and Sue McGuire (forever the st...
May 08, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Send us a text Are there signs your dog are showing that indicate to you as a handler to continue a training session? How about knowing when a break is needed to let the learner collect and rest? In this episode, Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire converse about ways to pace learning to suit the learner in front of you. "How the behavior is carried out is more important than the behavior itself," said trainer Chris Bond. This includes making sure the learning style suits the learner. Learning About Do...
May 01, 2019•19 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Send us a text Skilled teaching by luring leaves a learner with a strong sense of achievement and a clean behavior with good understanding. Luring is by definition, the direct use of the reinforcer to elicit a behavior. The operative part of that sentence is the direct use of the reinforcer. In this, our second episode on the art of luring, Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire chat about how the use of luring with a "Cup on a Stick," can be is an excellent application of the luring protocol. Learning Ab...
Apr 24, 2019•22 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Send us a text Luring is by definition, the direct use of the reinforcer to elicit a behavior. The operative part of that sentence is the direct use of the reinforcer. Luring has fallen out of favor with some in the dog training world by those who consider themselves "free shapers." Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire chat about how this protocol, like many others, is only as good as the skills of application. Learning About Dogs will be conducting a six week, online course starting May 8th, on "The Sk...
Apr 17, 2019•27 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Send us a text In this episode, Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire dive into the belief that one should teach a dog to look at handlers in the eye. For years, trainers were told to teach "Watch Me" as a way to make sure the dog was paying attention to the handler. This forced focus comes at a cost. Are there other ways to know if your dog is ready and able to receive a cue? This episode is one of many to come that will tackle "dog training musts" as pure fallacy. There are better ways to teach dogs to...
Apr 10, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Send us a text When teaching a behavior, we want to surround the stimulus with an environment that encourages success, not error. As a part of teaching of behaviors to our dogs, we should prepare a range of events to "fade-in." In this episode, Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire discuss the practical use of the "Fade In" protocol. This idea was documented more than 50 years ago as part of the concept of "errorless learning." Article https://www.learningaboutdogs.com/the-fade-in-protocol/...
Apr 03, 2019•18 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Send us a text A strong understanding of cue technology when engaging with our learners is of paramount importance. Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire discuss the process in which our dogs can be provided clarity during the teaching process if we, as handlers and teachers, are aware of what we are "saying" while teaching. This episode is one in which we strongly recommend listening to a few times because the subject is meaty! Here is a link to the online course of Cue Technology ....
Mar 27, 2019•26 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Send us a text In this episode, Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire continue a discussion about what it means to do "clean training." The topics include how to plan for the behaviors you plan to train and making a decision on what to train. But before any behavior is taught, a comprehensive profile of the behavior should be completed. The profile will help trainers answer whether the behavior is a "benefit to the dog." Here is a link to the online course for Clean Training ....
Mar 20, 2019•31 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Send us a text This episode continues the conversation between Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire about the elements of Clean Training. Can you, as a handler, pace the learning to suit the dog's needs? This about putting value on the process of learning over outcomes. Here is a link to sign up for the online course on Clean Training....
Mar 03, 2019•18 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Send us a text Clean Training is about really clear communication and self-awareness with a dog's cues, precision marking, a focused and very effective reinforcement process. A Clean Trainer has the ability to adapt the environment to meet their learner's needs. Clean training naturally develops the learner's confidence, a perpetual joy of learning and a strong sense of achievement for both participants. Here is a link to sign up for the Clean Training course....
Mar 03, 2019•27 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Send us a text What does it mean to have a strong ethical foundation when you are a teacher of dogs? We toss around words like "positive reinforcement" trainer, but what does that really mean beyond the label. In this episode, our premier episode, Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire talk about what it means to be an ethical trainer. We discuss how ethics can change based on a trainer's individual skills and education. It's a place we should be starting all of our discussions. Having a strong ethical fo...
Feb 26, 2019•23 min•Season 1Ep. 1
