In this episode, we explore strategies to achieve faster and more precise behaviors in dog training. I discuss how clarity, timing, and reinforcement techniques can improve your dog's response times, reduce hesitation, and build confidence. Tune in for practical tips to keep your training sessions clean and effective.

Key Points:

- Clear communication prevents slow or hesitant behaviors in dogs.
- Reinforcement clarity is crucial, even when using a high rate of rewards.
- Capturing and reinforcing the initial signs of a behavior leads to quicker responses.
- Consistent timing with marker cues enhances behavior speed.
- Minimizing duration requirements can accelerate behavior performance.

For full show notes and transcript, visit: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/187
This episode is supported by Patreon: www.patreon.com/DFTT

In this episode we discuss:

• Speed vs. Latency:
  • Speed is how fast a behavior is completed from the time it starts.
  • Latency is the response time, or the time elapsed between when the cue is perceived and when the behavior starts.
• Motivation:
  • While motivation is essential, it is just one piece of the puzzle.
  • Overemphasizing motivation can lead to frustration, which might not always yield the desired outcomes.
• Natural Behavior Efficiency:
  • Given a stable training environment, behaviors naturally trend towards faster, more efficient performance over time.
• Training Environment:
  • The importance of considering training conditions (e.g., environment, timing, footing) to ensure optimal speed without inducing frustration.
  • Pay attention to when, where, and under what conditions your dog already moves faster

For full show notes and transcript, visit: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/186
This episode is supported by Patreon: www.patreon.com/DFTT

In this episode, we discuss the practice of avoiding situations as part (or all) of a training plan. Often avoiding certain situations can be an important strategy, helping to prevent mistakes and reduce stress for both the dog and the handler. But it’s usually not a long-term solution by itself and misconceptions about avoidance can result in teams getting stuck and unable to make progress.

We also discuss:
- Definition and role of avoidance in dog training.
- Common client misunderstandings about avoidance.
- Benefits of avoidance: preventing mistakes, reducing stress, and allowing time for skill development.
- Challenges of avoidance: risk of over-reliance and restrictive lifestyle.
- Practical applications - sometimes.
- Long-term strategy: balancing avoidance with skill-building and controlled reintroduction.

For full show notes and transcript, visit: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/185
This episode is supported by Zero to CD: www.zerotocd.com

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 learner’s needs lead to negative associations and even hinder learning, repetition alone is insufficient for learning; reinforcement and iterative adjustments are critical, deliberate practice involves observing, learning, and modifying activities based on feedback, mindless repetition without feedback and adjustment does not lead to improvement, continuous improvement requires proactive engagement and measured adjustments based on outcomes, and seeking help and guidance when progress stalls is essential for effective skill development.

For full show notes and transcript, visit: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/184
This podcast is supported by MET Conference 2024: www.metconference.com/

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: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/183
This podcast is supported by MET Conference 2024: www.metconference.com/

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: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/182
This podcast is supported by MET Conference 2024: www.metconference.com/

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 of the behavior we often label “demand barking”, why that matters, and why I keep using air quotes around those words, why I’m no longer so invested in the most common advice, which is to ignore the dog, and we start getting into some other strategies to try out instead, like teaching a range of alternate behaviors that your dog can use to get their needs met - that you actively reinforce - that are not quite as annoying as being screamed at.

For full show notes and transcript, visit: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/181
This podcast is supported by MET Conference 2024: www.metconference.com/

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: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/180
This podcast is supported by Zero to CD: www.zerotocd.com