Kay Laurence - Learning About Dogs

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ALWAYS REMEMBER:
REWARDS ARE DEFINED BY THE
BEHAVIOURAL 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 Course
The 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.

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     “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 Course
The 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.

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"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 Course
The 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.

Send a text

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 Courses

This 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.

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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 Offerings

Online Learning from Sue McGuire
Basic Level 1

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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

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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

Send a text

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 Chaff

Online courses of good quality:
Learning About Dogs New Online Course Offerings

Online Learning from Sue McGuire
Basic Level 1

Article from Educausereview :
"The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning"

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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.

Send a text

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.