#166: Why is Shaping So Hard?, Pt. 2
Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training
Release Date: 11/16/2022
#184: What's Wrong with "Drilling"?
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...
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#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: ...
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#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...
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#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...
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#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...
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#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...
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#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...
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#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:
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#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:
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#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:
info_outlineIn this episode, we discuss why we often consider shaping to be an advanced technique, why I think it doesn’t have to/shouldn’t be that way, why I think how many of us first learned about shaping is contributing to the problem, how the expectations we have around shaping (based on how we were taught) might be getting in the way of doing good training, the two expectations that can get in the way: that shaping is linear and that it should be spontaneous, changing how we think about shaping to consider the whole ABC contingency can allow us to do better training without having to struggle so much, how you can set yourself and your dog up for success and it is still shaping!, there is no cheating in shaping as long as you are being honest with yourself (and your dog), setting up for success means a lot more than just training in a low distraction environment, the shaping staircase is a great model for teaching someone about the concept of successive approximation, but it is limiting in real life application, consider building behaviors from components, the first “step” in your shaping plan may look nothing like the final behavior and it might even seem to be farther away from your goal than where you are now!
For full show notes, visit: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/166
This podcast is supported by Karen Pryor Clicker Training's Brand-New On Cue! Training Treats: clickertraining.com/treats