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/