Libsyn Directory

#163: Is It Really R+ or Could It Actually Be R- (With a Cherry on Top)?

Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training

Release Date: 08/15/2022

Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training

In this episode we dig into the concept of drilling, and how it applies in dog training. It’s pretty common for most of us to have an emotional response just to the term itself - for good reason! But is there any baby in this bathwater? In this episode, we discuss that drilling is significant for skill acquisition in various contexts beyond dog training, our emotional responses to drilling are shaped by personal experiences and the nature of the activity, a good drill should isolate core components of skills for focused practice and efficiency, coercive drilling methods that ignore the...

#183: Demand Barking, Part 3, with Kiki Yablon

Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training

In this episode, we discuss the history behind Kiki’s master’s thesis project, Signaled Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior to Address Excessive Vocalization in Dogs, what gave her the idea - the case of the dog barking when guests are over, how training stay on a mat actually seems to have caused the problem, the new strategy - signalling that food will not be available when towel was hung up (“if this van’s a rocking”), a discussion of DRO w/o extinction, and does this strategy apply to other behaviors like demand whining? For full show notes and transcript, visit: ...

#182: Demand Barking, Part 2

Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training

In this episode, we discuss using concepts around stimulus control to stop demand barking before it stops, how cues create expectations of what reinforcement is available, using naturally occurring events that are already built into your routine to signal when reinforcement is available and when it is not, overly-simplified reminders of including good dog household management, which you already know, but sometimes it’s good to hear it again, teaching the stand up-sit down game, and principles to apply these strategies in your own home. For full show notes and transcript, visit: This...

#181: Demand Barking, Part 1

Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training

In this episode, we are talking about Demand Barking. This is a three-part series, at least for now. For the first two episodes, I’ll be sharing my thoughts and what I’ve learned about working with dogs that “demand” bark. And then for the 3rd episode, we’ll talk to a guest on the subject! In this episode, we discuss how barking isn’t just one behavior, it’s actually a lot of different behaviors that we lump into one category, in order to figure out what to do about problematic barking, we need to know what the function of that behavior is, we discuss the emotional underpinnings...

#180: Building Food Drive and Nuanced Reinforcement with Ashlee Osborn

Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training

In this episode we discuss the importance of getting really, really good at working with reinforcement, how the topic of reinforcement and using it in training is FAR more nuanced than most trainers recognize, food is probably the most convenient reinforcement but it does require specific conditioning and strategies to use effectively in training, Ashlee’s game, Clockwork - a fancy application of treat tossing that specifies where and when to toss for clients, and building motivation for food even when dogs are really just not into it. For full show notes, visit: This podcast is...

#179: More Strategies to Reduce Errors

Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training

In the last episode, we talked about what errorless learning really means. And I shared a few strategies that might make it easier to apply in your training. Of course, the major benefit to using errorless learning concepts in your training is the outcome of behaviors with a cleaner learning history and less emotional baggage. Of course, we don’t want attempts to avoid errors to mean we also avoid making progress. We still want to get where we’re going, just with fewer wrong turns. In this episode we discuss behavioral momentum, using behavioral momentum to avoid a lack of response to your...

#178: How to Apply Errorless Learning Principles in Practical Training Sessions

Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training

In his 1968 book, The Technology of Teaching, B.F. Skinner wrote: Errors are not a function of learning or vice-versa nor are they blamed on the learner. Errors are a function of poor analysis of behavior, a poorly designed shaping program, moving too fast from step to step in the program and the lack of the prerequisite behavior necessary for success in the program. - BF Skinner And that sounds great. It also sounds like a lot of pressure on the dog trainer. Never fear! In this episode, we discuss what errorless learning actually means and how to apply the principles in our real life training...

#177: Dr. Clive Wynne Says Some Controversial Things About Dominance

Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training

In this episode, we discuss what is the ethological definition of dominance?, how does dominance show up in behavior?, how might dominance be relevant in dog training?, differences in dog-dog vs dog-human relationships, and does dominance require aggression or punishment? For full show notes, visit: This podcast is supported by Patreon:

#176: Taking Short Cuts with Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing with Kiki Yablon

Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training

In this episode, we discuss what is stimulus-stimulus pairing and how it works?, what is a “classically conditioned recall” and why might we consider calling it something different, revisiting the differences and interplay between operant and classical conditioning, the difference between describing a procedure and describing a process, and lots and lots of examples of how to apply this concept in different training applications. For full show notes, visit: This podcast is supported by Patreon:

#175: Over the Top - High Arousal in Dogs

Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training

In this episode, we discuss what is arousal?, how does arousal show up in our training?, how does arousal affect both people and dogs?, how arousal affects reinforcers, and “eating as behavior” and how to build functional food drive with a dog that won’t eat. For full show notes and transcript, visit: This podcast is supported by Control Unleashed Over the Top Workshop for High Arousal Dogs:

More Episodes

In this episode, we discuss, can we use a tactile cue like leash pressure to train in an R+ framework or is it still just R- that we put a treat on top of to make us feel better?, putting food in the picture doesn’t necessarily make it positive reinforcement, so how can we tell what contingencies are really in play?, review what we mean by positive and negative reinforcement, an example of a situation that I thought I was training with R+ but now I’m realizing it’s really R-, despite my best intentions, questions I can ask myself (and my dog)-- am I escalating the cue or stimulus to get the behavior to happen?, do I have feelings about consequences should my dog not perform the behavior?, what happens if I apply that tactile stimulus in a different context outside of a training session?, what other behaviors - emotional behaviors and other behaviors - are happening at the same time or in this context? Are they behaviors otherwise associated with positive reinforcement? Or are they more consistent with escape/delay/avoidance?, can I use the cue (the tactile stimulus) to shape another behavior? (ala start button behaviors!)-- how to minimize the chance that a stimulus is functioning as an aversive by teaching the behavior first without that stimulus and then adding it as a cue second.

For full show notes, visit: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/163
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