Success in dog training comes down to three things. The reinforcement we are using, the training plan, and the environment where we are training our dog. But what happens when things don’t go to plan, and our dog makes a wrong choice? What are our options?

In the episode you'll hear:

  • The four reactions that are common when a dog makes a mistake.
  • About looking at your emotional state when you are training your dog.
  • The reasons building a house is like dog training.
  • About the use of Non Reward Markers (NRM) in dog training.
  • How delivering a package relates to your dog training decisions.
  • Why to only use a NRM when what you are teaching is a behaviour chain.
  • The challenge of the overuse of a Non Reward Marker.
  • When you should not use a NRM.
  • Why we train a NRM like a recall, with reinforcement, before we ever use it.
  • What unconscious reactions are and how they can be a mild verbal punisher.
  • What an intimidating verbal or physical punisher is and how that could escalate.
  • About what our dogs tell us about how well we’ve set them up for success.
  • What can go wrong in training sessions (using a target stick as an example).
  • Why every time you train and interact with your dog you are building a relationship.
  • About the game of picking up colored tennis balls and what that means dogs.
  • How easy success can be when you have great reinforcement and manipulate the environment.

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