Controversial advice - Reinforce unwanted behaviour
Many of the problem behaviours are a product of unintentional reinforcement that comes at the wrong time. It's better to reinforce quickly to keep the behaviour short and put more intention into all of the interactions with your dog. Remember, it's not just during a training session that your dog learns!
How to create habits with the help of technology?
How many of us failed in the past trying to create a new habit?
This time, I tried something different and I was building on a habit that I already have. Now, after 6 months, I can fairly say that I managed to build a new, solid habit of learning Spanish 20 min a day every day. In the blog, I share what helped me achieve that and few other surprising learning points!
How does a high rate of reinforcement look like and why we use it?
Do you know how does a high rate of reinforcement looks like? In dog training, it can look like just feeding the dog. Why would we even use it then?
Read more on the blog to see examples not only in dog training but also in creating our own habits!
Reinforcing unwanted behaviour and micro-shaping
I'm not afraid of allowing the dog to briefly do things I might later want to change. I know how shaping works and how small a start of a behaviour can be. And when I have a starting point I will continue to micro-shape it until I see the behaviour that is acceptable for everyone (including the dog).
How to help your dog succeed with the use of reinforcement?
Testing out many reinforcement strategies, going at your dogs’ pace and changing the environment of the training session gives your dog the biggest chance of succeeding in the training.
Can you shape "asking for help" behaviour in yourself?
You can use behaviour science and shaping in your own life to design learning new skills in the most positive and least intrusive way. It might not be the easiest thing to analyse and some people might not like self-reflection part. But if you are already doing self-reflection on a regular basis, this can be an amazing tool to enhance your self-development significantly and learn new skills effectively.
3 things I learnt watching tigers and hyenas training sessions
1. There are zoos that have the welfare of their animals at heart and they go above and beyond to make sure their animals are in the best conditions possible.
2. You don’t have to tell your animal that they’ve done something “wrong” when you are using behaviour science principles effectively.
3. We can all strive to achieve more with our companion animals.
Many times we don’t even bother trying to learn a new skill. We convince ourselves that it’s not for us. When what we could do is to find the first successive approximation and start learning through a fun and successful process.