Kay Laurence - Learning About Dogs

Markers are an integral part of the communication process when we are interacting with our learners.Whether you choose to use a clicker or not, the whole process behind "marker training" needs a close examination. Hanging your training psyche on the use of a clicker may not be the best use of your time. Especially if you are just starting out.On this, the final episode of Season 3 of the  Learning about Dogs podcast, Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire challenge the use of a single tool to impart such important information.Learning about DogsArticle: Shaping by RewardsReward Skills CourseThe more we explore and blend the theory, biology and application it is clear that this is not a simple process, it is complex and very sophisticated. With active minds open to learning we can continue to understand more, apply in an educated format and improve the combination of learning and dogs that we know and love and call training.Online classes with Sue McGuireBasic Training and Manners starts Thursday October 15th @ 6:45 PDTIntermediate Training starts Thursday, October 15th @ 5:30pm PDT

Do we want habits or active learning?Probably both but there is a clear distinction between them which is dependent on the value of the reward, to the dog of course.On this episode of podcast, Kay Laurence of Learning About Dogs and TAKL graduate and host Sue McGuire talk about the advantages and drawbacks of teaching behaviors to the habit  level and when do you want active learning.Season 3 of the "Learning about Dogs" podcast is about rewards and reward skill.Article: Shaping by RewardsReward Skills CourseThe more we explore and blend the theory, biology and application it is clear that this is not a simple process, it is complex and very sophisticated. With active minds open to learning we can continue to understand more, apply in an educated format and improve the combination of learning and dogs that we know and love and call training.

On this episode of the podcast, we do a little introduction of  a new term that is so much BIGGER than a cue. What are cues anyway?Sue McGuire  and Kay Laurence of "Learning About Dogs,"  introduce you to our new friend--REWARD PREDICTING STIMULUS.Season 3 of the "Learning about Dogs" podcast is about rewards and reward skill.Article: Shaping by RewardsReward Skills CourseThe more we explore and blend the theory, biology and application it is clear that this is not a simple process, it is complex and very sophisticated. With active minds open to learning we can continue to understand more, apply in an educated format and improve the combination of learning and dogs that we know and love and call training.

What is the point of learning?"When that brand new brain gets into motion it is going to have to find out how to secure the rewards needed for life, and once that is achieved set about finding the very best rewards, and lots of them. On a daily, minute by minute basis."In this episode of the "Learning About Dogs," Sue McGuire  and Kay Laurence of "Learning About Dogs,"  talk about how the mind-blowing experience of having a  peak of the season peach from California cemented understanding of REWARD PREDICTION ERROR. Season 3 of the "Learning about Dogs" podcast is about rewards and reward skill.Article: Normal is Always ChangingReward Skills CourseThe more we explore and blend the theory, biology and application it is clear that this is not a simple process, it is complex and very sophisticated. With active minds open to learning we can continue to understand more, apply in an educated format and improve the combination of learning and dogs that we know and love and call training.

In the early days of using positive reinforcement and clicker training, the delivery of that reinforcer, (reward), was not part of the consideration. The format of the research experiments favoured a mechanical magazine to deliberately remove any variables that human delivery would include.When people become the mechanism of delivery we have to consider the variable elements that effect of the reinforcer, or reward. Sadly “mechanical delivery” and the mechanical skills are still seen as desirable elements of training and a whole series of additional valued- rewards are being ignored and lost.Season 3 of the "Learning about Dogs" podcast is about rewards and reward skills. Kay Laurence of "Learning About Dogs," and Sue McGuire, host/producer, are calling this our "A Season of Rewards," because that is exactly what we are diving into this year.On this episode, we look at reward delivery patterns and the source of rewards. You will never look at a treat pouch on a hip the same way again. Article: Release Cue or Stay Cue? Pick a PathReward Skills CourseThe more we explore and blend the theory, biology and application it is clear that this is not a simple process, it is complex and very sophisticated. With active minds open to learning we can continue to understand more, apply in an educated format and improve the combination of learning and dogs that we know and love and call training.Online Learning on Basic Skills with Sue McGuireStarts August 22, 2020Virtual Live Class at 9am (PDT) RegistrationVirtual Live Class at 10:15am (PDT) Registration

ALWAYS REMEMBER:REWARDS ARE DEFINED BY THEBEHAVIOURAL REACTIONS THEY INDUCE.It is the individual that decides if it is rewarding or not. What are rewards? We are in Season 3 of the "Learning about Dogs" podcast. Kay Laurence of "Learning About Dogs," and Sue McGuire, host/producer, are calling this our "A Season of Rewards," because that is exactly what we are diving into this year. Living a reward centered life with our dogs. But first we must explore, "What are rewards?"Reward Skills CourseThe more we explore and blend the theory, biology and application it is clear that this is not a simple process, it is complex and very sophisticated. With active minds open to learning we can continue to understand more, apply in an educated format and improve the combination of learning and dogs that we know and love and call training.

     “REWARDS ARE NOT DEFINED BY THEIR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES BUT BY             THE BEHAVIOURAL REACTION THEY INDUCE.”Welcome to our "Season of Rewards" on the Learning about Dogs podcast with Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire. This third season of the podcast is all about living a "reward centered life" with our dogs. What do we mean by that? Take a read of Kay's blog Shaping by Rewards.Reward Skills CourseThe more we explore and blend the theory, biology and application it is clear that this is not a simple process, it is complex and very sophisticated. With active minds open to learning we can continue to understand more, apply in an educated format and improve the combination of learning and dogs that we know and love and call training.

"Having discovered this world of rewards and reinforcement I protectively wrap my dogs’ learning with an envelope of reward probabilities. This is where I begin," says Kay Laurence of Learning About Dogs. And this is where we begin this season's journey.We are dog trainers, who must make the conscious and scientifically appropriate decision, to lead a reward-centered life with our dogs.Sue McGuire, producer of the podcast, a TAKL graduate, and Kay Laurence of Learning about Dogs are dedicating this season of "Learning About Dogs " podcasts to rewards. That may seem like a narrow focus, but we assure you, it is not.Reward Skills CourseThe more we explore and blend the theory, biology and application it is clear that this is not a simple process, it is complex and very sophisticated. With active minds open to learning we can continue to understand more, apply in an educated format and improve the combination of learning and dogs that we know and love and call training.

Living with multiple dogs can be fun and challenging. It comes with a demand to develop a great deal of observation skills to make sure your group is working for the dogs as individuals, and their life with you.How many is too many dogs? What breeds and what sex combinations? It depends.Kay Laurence of Learning About Dogs and Sue McGuire a TAKL graduate and manager of a canine behavior program at an animal shelter near San Francisco talk not about one dog but multiple dogs.Learning their names--when it is about them and when it is not about them. Video example of beagles knowing it is their time to be fed. Join in the discussion at our Facebook page. Whilst I was listening to the podcast.New courses! Online!Learning About Dogs CoursesThis is the end of our second season of Learning About Dogs. Thank you for listening.Our third season will premier in late summer and early fall 2020 Be prepared for a multi-layered exploration of rewards and reward skills.

Menomics can be handy when it comes to finding a quick and simple way to remember a spelling  or phrase. But using these devices does require us to decide if they actually help learning or hinder it.In dog training, we have a few of these devices that require much more consideration before accepting them as valid. The three Ds. Duration-distance-distraction. There are some who even add a fourth "D," difficulty.On this episode of Learning About Dogs, Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire discuss  how we owe it to ourselves and our dogs to question the use of the "Ds." Is it appropriate to teach a dog to do something at a distance if it's not in the best interests of the dog? Question "simple" approaches.Online courses of good quality:Learning About Dogs New Online Course OfferingsOnline Learning from Sue McGuireBasic Level 1

When a dog "generalizes" a behavior, it means they can do the behavior under a wide variety of conditions. But a dog being able to do that has very much to do with how we originally taught the behavior.On this episode of Learning About Dogs, Kay Laurence of Learning About Dogs, and Sue McGuire, a canine behavior program manager at a humane society near San Francisco discuss the concept of generalization.For more information:Learning About Dogs website. Become a member and gain access to a plethora of valuable information that will broaden and enrich life with your dog.Every Dog Every Day is the primer of how to navigate sharing your life with a dog.Be sure to read the "Connection Collection." On the various ways we can live with our dogs with a deep connection.Sue McGuire offers  "The Art of Teaching Dogs" The Art of Teaching Dogs is a six week in person course offered by Sue McGuire at the Humane Society of Sonoma County, in Santa Rosa, California. Level 1 Class  starts in August

One must be careful about using terminology we hear at seminars or read in books and apply to our training.Kay Laurence of Learning About Dogs and co-host Sue McGuire love tackling these habits of trainers applying a label to something they think they are seeing, when what might be happening, is not really happening.What? We chat about the concept of learned helplessness. We're not saying this does not exit in certain histories. Might this actually be a lack of having taught the necessary skills to dogs? Or providing time to allow a dog to show us what they know?For more information:Learning About Dogs website. Become a member and gain access to a plethora of valuable information that will broaden and enrich life with your dog.Every Dog Every Day is the primer of how to navigate sharing your life with a dog.Be sure to read the "Connection Collection." On the various ways we can live with our dogs with a deep connection.Sue McGuire offers  "The Art of Teaching Dogs" The Art of Teaching Dogs is a six week in person course offered by Sue McGuire at the Humane Society of Sonoma County, in Santa Rosa, California. Level 1 Class  starts in August

Not all online learning is created equal.The sudden move to online learning for many disciplines, not just dog training, has been astounding.On this special bonus episode of the "Learning About Dogs" podcast, Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire attempt to provide a bit of a tutorial for students who want to know how to separate the good, from the not so good, to the downright hucksters out there. Kay Laurence Blogpost: Separating the Wheat from the ChaffOnline courses of good quality:Learning About Dogs New Online Course OfferingsOnline Learning from Sue McGuireBasic Level 1Article from Educausereview :"The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning"

Errors are feedback.Set the dog up for success.Develop the skill to know what to change in a teaching set up, and when.Teach the prerequisite skills--even the rats and pigeons in the boxes were provided that information.Emotions underly all learning.There is much to chat about on the concept of "errorless learning" in dog training. On this episode of the Learning About Dogs podcast, Kay Laurence of "Learning About Dogs," and Sue McGuire, a TAKL (Trainer Accredited by Kay Laurence) Certified Trainer and manager of canine behavior program at animal shelter near San Francisco, dive in. For more information:Learning About Dogs website. Become a member and gain access to a plethora of valuable information that will broaden and enrich life with your dog.Every Dog Every Day is the primer of how to navigate sharing your life with a dog.Be sure to read the "Connection Collection." On the various ways we can live with our dogs with a deep connection.Sue McGuire offers  "The Art of Teaching Dogs" The Art of Teaching Dogs is a six week in person course offered by Sue McGuire at the Humane Society of Sonoma County, in Santa Rosa, California. Level 1 Class session starts in August.

Dogs are aware of our every move and have decided which ones are relevant to them and which are of little consequences.This is so apparent when we use our hands, be it, living our daily lives with them, or participating in a training sessions.When puppies come to us, this is when we should be teaching what hands mean.Hands are always a sign of welcome....In this episode of Learning About Dogs Podcast, Kay Laurence of Learning About Dogs and Sue McGuire, a TAKL graduate and manager of a canine behavior program at a shelter near San Francisco, talk about the use of hands.For more information:Learning About Dogs website. Become a member and gain access to a plethora of valuable information that will broaden and enrich life with your dog.Every Dog Every Day is the primer of how to navigate sharing your life with a dog.Be sure to read the "Connection Collection." On the various ways we can live with our dogs with a deep connection.Sue McGuire offers  "The Art of Teaching Dogs" The Art of Teaching Dogs is a six week in person course offered by Sue McGuire at the Humane Society of Sonoma County, in Santa Rosa, California. Continue to check up back for more  Level 1 classes.

Almost 20 years ago, Kay Laurence developed a game to teach communication skills and learning concepts to students.Over the years, Gen Abacab has been used in universities, schools and seminars for human and dog training, and on ships in the middle of the Caribbean. Just as doing a task is not the same as learning a task, experiencing the learning process is not the same as observing the learning process. Experiencing and learning skills of puzzle solving are unique to each individual - person, dog, chicken.The Gen Abacab  game is a valuable experience for learner and teacher and everyone should have experience in both roles. Experience of poor teaching is as valuable as much as experience of good teaching. Good teaching will leave the learner enthused, satisfied, confident and "expanded" !On the Learning About Dogs website, look for the members section. Join this learning community.Video of Gen Abacab being played.We want you know of some new courses coming up from Learning About Dogs online.Training  Beyond and Above Online courseThis course is for people who relish learning as a community with a plentiful opportunities to travel with new eyes and change the way you look at things.We shall go Beyond and Above the standard recipes that will generate many Aha moments, engineer more questions, dissolve assumptions and challenge habits. This is not a course for replicating demonstration but identifying how to learn from demonstration, select critical points, identify skill sets, build clear task analysis, explore the concepts, adapt and apply the concepts to new conditions.The Art of Teaching Dogs is a six week in person course offered by Sue McGuire at the Humane Society of Sonoma County, in Santa Rosa, California. Continue to check up back for more  Level 1 classes.

What is the best way to learn about dog training?In person working seminars or auditing one?How about a webinar, a conference, or a lecture?How about online courses? There are many ways to add to your knowledge base about dogs and training, but not all are created equal. On this episode of the Learning About Dogs podcast, Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire debate the good and the not so great about different ways to learn.We want you know of some new courses coming up from Learning About Dogs online.Training  Beyond and Above Online courseThis course is for people who relish learning as a community with a plentiful opportunities to travel with new eyes and change the way you look at things.We shall go Beyond and Above the standard recipes that will generate many Aha moments, engineer more questions, dissolve assumptions and challenge habits. This is not a course for replicating demonstration but identifying how to learn from demonstration, select critical points, identify skill sets, build clear task analysis, explore the concepts, adapt and apply the concepts to new conditions.The Art of Teaching Dogs is a six week in person course offered by Sue McGuire at the Humane Society of Sonoma County, in Santa Rosa, California. The Level 1 Class starts February 29th

What are we to our dogs?Teacher?Trainer? Instructor?  Coach?  Parent?On this episode of Learning About Dogs, Kay Laurence and Sue McGuire go through the labels we give ourselves and what others apply to those of us who work with dogs. If you share your life with a dog, then you are a dog trainer.“What is a Trainer?”“Extremely fine skills in a very specific specialty.” Is that maybe the correct description for a trainer?We want you know of some new courses coming up from Learning About Dogs online.Training  Beyond and Above Online courseThis course is for people who relish learning as a community with a plentiful opportunities to travel with new eyes and change the way you look at things.We shall go Beyond and Above the standard recipes that will generate many Aha moments, engineer more questions, dissolve assumptions and challenge habits. This is not a course for replicating demonstration but identifying how to learn from demonstration, select critical points, identify skill sets, build clear task analysis, explore the concepts, adapt and apply the concepts to new conditions.The Art of Teaching Dogs is a six week in person course offered by Sue McGuire at the Humane Society of Sonoma County, in Santa Rosa, California. The Level 1 Class starts February 29th

On this episode of the Learning About Dogs podcast, we questions from listenersWe have a Facebook group, "Whilst I was listening to your podcast," where listeners can pose questions and ask for clarification on discussion topics heard on the podcast. We pulled some of these inquiries and are answering them in this episode.Kay Laurence of Learning About Dogs and Sue McGuire, teacher of "The Art of Teaching Dogs," always have questions after an educational adventure. One should never stop learning and asking questions.This is one of many such episodes planned for the second season of this podcast.To catch up and listen to past episodes, which we STRONGLY encourage you to do, here is a link to the full list.New Online Course from Kay Laurence-Learning About DogsTraining Beyond and AboveThis course is for people who relish learning as a community with a plentiful opportunities to travel with new eyes and change the way you look at things.We shall go Beyond and Above the standard recipes that will generate many Aha moments, engineer more questions, dissolve assumptions and challenge habits. This is not a course for replicating demonstration but identifying how to learn from demonstration, select critical points, identify skill sets, build clear task analysis, explore the concepts, adapt and apply the concepts to new conditionsClasses: At Humane Society of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, CaliforniaTaught by Sue McGuire TAKL Certified"The Art of Teaching Dogs" Level 1: Saturday February 29thWe start with how the teaching process works and develops into clarity of understanding for our dogs. This first level class explores the reinforcement process.  We will investigate how rewards compliment a behavior. Reinforcement types, delivery and patterns are in play when developing behaviors.  Only with a deep understanding of what dogs find motivating, can we begin to unravel the mysteries of how dogs learn.  

We're not quite sure why dog training turned into an exercise of "must be fun" or "must be entertaining" in order to be of "value."In this first episode of season two of the "Learning About Dogs" podcast, Kay Laurence of "Learning About Dogs,"  and Sue McGuire discuss what is a behavior and what is a trick? Is there a difference?We have all seen the marketing. Tricks for fun! Agility for fun! How is the dog to know if what is being taught is for fun? The labels we use for human comfort often come at a cost to the dog.All teaching should be done carefully and thoughtfully and for the benefit of the dog and the life they live with us. Article:One Dog's Trick is Another Dog's Lifeskill by Kay LaurenceNew Online Course from Kay Laurence-Learning About DogsTraining Beyond and AboveThis course is for people who relish learning as a community with a plentiful opportunities to travel with new eyes and change the way you look at things.We shall go Beyond and Above the standard recipes that will generate many Aha moments, engineer more questions, dissolve assumptions and challenge habits. This is not a course for replicating demonstration but identifying how to learn from demonstration, select critical points, identify skill sets, build clear task analysis, explore the concepts, adapt and apply the concepts to new conditionsClasses: At Humane Society of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, CaliforniaTaught by Sue McGuire TAKL Certified"The Art of Teaching Dogs" Level 1: Saturday February 29thWe start with how the teaching process works and develops into clarity of understanding for our dogs. This first level class explores the reinforcement process.  We will investigate how rewards compliment a behavior. Reinforcement types, delivery and patterns are in play when developing behaviors.  Only with a deep understanding of what dogs find motivating, can we begin to unravel the mysteries of how dogs learn.