Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training

Protected contact gets filed under zoo training, the thing you do when your learner can eat you. Hannah used to think that way too, right up until she noticed she'd been quietly using barriers with dogs and horses for years and getting far more out of them than safety. In this solo episode she makes the case that a fence, an ex pen, or a PVC pole on the ground is a training accelerator, not a consolation prize, and walks through how to fade one down to almost nothing while keeping every benefit. Key Takeaways: The matching law describes behavior as proportional to reinforcement, but real life is messier than the original equation suggests: Variables like reinforcer quality, difficulty of the behavior, and delay of reinforcement all affect outcomes in ways the simple version of the law doesn't account for. Reinforcer value matters as much as reinforcement rate: A less frequent but more valuable reinforcer can outweigh a higher rate of a less valuable one. You can use this intentionally to load one side of the scale in your favor. If your dog prefers an easier behavior even when the harder one pays better, your criteria may have jumped too fast: Dogs, like students given two stacks of math problems, will gravitate toward what's more fluent. That preference is useful diagnostic information. Delayed discounting is real and shows up in training: The longer the gap between behavior and reinforcement, the less influence the reinforcer has. Getting the treat out of the jeans pocket slowly is not the same as getting it from your hand quickly, and your dog's behavior reflects that. Matching law doesn't excuse us from timing and mechanics: Understanding the principle is useful. Using it as a reason to stop troubleshooting your delivery is not. — About the Host Hannah Branigan is a teacher, trainer, podcaster, and author of Awesome Obedience and its companion field guide. She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT) and a faculty member at the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behavior. Her work is grounded in applied behavioral science and focused on helping serious dog trainers build better skills through positive reinforcement. Keep up with Hannah and find all her work and resources here: Website: hannahbranigan.dog Podcast: hannahbranigan.dog/dog-training-podcast/ Program: hannahbranigan.dog/z2cd/ Instagram: instagram.com/hannah_branigan/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPh-msUZUNJksIAu2zDTQhQ

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 cues (a common form of error), the importance of starting with low criteria and be in a position to raise that criteria quickly, rather than starting with an error and being forced to lower that criteria (Thanks, Bob Bailey!), examples from starting a heeling session, to working with distance on go outs, to teaching a pony to move forward on cue, using an indirect, "lateral" approach to selecting your criteria to avoid hammering on the most fragile aspect of a behavior you are trying to train, examples include teaching hold with duration (after breaking it), and working around emotionally-loaded challenges with heeling or loose-leash walking, and probably other things I forgot! For full show notes, visit: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/179 This podcast is supported by Zero to CD: www.zerotocd.com

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: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/177 This podcast is supported by Patreon: www.patreon.com/DFTT

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: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/175 This podcast is supported by Control Unleashed Over the Top Workshop for High Arousal Dogs: www.cleanrun.com

In this episode, we discuss that the first step to dealing with a problem behavior is to identify the function, figuring out a plan to control access if possible and practical, if that reinforcer is not practical to work with, identifying a substitute reinforcer that is as close as possible to the original, choosing your alternate behavior, strategies if you are teaching the alternate behavior from scratch, deciding if you'll be using differential reinforcement, and if you are not planning to use differential reinforcement, planning to setup the environment for (mostly) errorless learning. For full show notes and transcript, visit: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/173 This podcast is supported by MET Conference 2023: www.metconference.com/

In this episode, we discuss, when you might outsource maintenance to the environment?, functional difference between intrinsic and extrinsic reinforcers in maintaining behaviors, how easy it is for behaviors to start slipping before we notice, one way to avoid or minimize that slippage is to design a rotation, start by grabbing some behaviors or exercises that matter to you, then give yourself a time frame to rotate through those behaviors (I usually use a 2 week block), and starting with your item at the top of the rotation for today (do a test run for the purposes of seeing where you're at, identify either something that is weak now that you are looking at it OR a way you could do something differently, make yourself a little session to work on that thing). For full show notes and transcript, visit: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/171 This podcast is supported by MET Conference 2023: www.metconference.com/

In this episode, we discuss what inspired Erin's Tiktok, what advocating for our dogs even means, why does it matter?, what gets in the way?, how does trauma affect our ability to advocate?, what societal factors may be in play?, and how can we support ourselves and each other? For full show notes and transcript, visit: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/169 This podcast is supported by Karen Pryor Clicker Training's Brand-New On Cue! Training Treats: clickertraining.com/treats

In this episode, we discuss what are "ethics" and why should we care?, can we answer the question "am I a good person?, how can we measure welfare?, the five freedoms/five domains of welfare, every animal has right to freedom from, hunger, thirst, discomfort/injury, and to express normal behavior, guidelines for beneficence: even if some good comes, can't outweigh the harm done to the group that were subjects. "Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one." - Marcus Aurelius For full show notes and transcript, visit: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/167 This podcast is supported by Karen Pryor Clicker Training's Brand-New On Cue! Training Treats: clickertraining.com/treats