Reinforcement Is Always Happening: How To Make Sure It’s Building The Dog You Want

Reinforcement is always happening, so I’m sharing how to be intentional with every interaction to make sure it's building the dog you want. It’s simple, powerful, and something you can start right now. 🐶 Watch the full video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUFgD1yGO0w&t=563s Transcript: Management is the biggest part of getting success with reinforcement-based dog training. If you don't manage, then maybe you will have to go to saying, “ah no,” “ah no,” “ah you,” get magical tools that stops the dog from doing what you don't want them to do. But that's never an option for me. I hope if you're listening, it won't be an option for you either. So, we're going to follow this formula. We're going to manage by using what I call a gated community. We're going to make sure that we set up moments of engagement with you and other members of the family because we want a relationship with all the members of the family. We're going to be intentional at growing confidence. We're not going to say, grow confidence teaching our puppy a Hand Target. And then go out in the street or at the dog park and try to get hand touches at the dog park. That is going from a little bit of confidence to a massive challenge. You grow confidence in your training den, and then you move from that training den to another location in your home. And then maybe the front porch where they might see cars going by. Can they rehearse that? That's where we are introducing little micro challenges. And what that does is it gets the puppy to say, “Oh, I don't know. I don't think I can do a Hand Target when I'm on the front porch. Let's get back in the front door.” And then we're back in the house, like in a blink of an eye. “Can you do it, here?” “Yeah! I can do it here.” Get some reinforcement there, then go back outside. If you've done the game, whatever the first game is, in many rooms of the house, when you try it for the first time outside, they might fail and that's okay. Because one step on the other side of the threshold, you're back in the house where you can remind them of the great reinforcing game that you played. And then try it again outside. I bet you the second time you'll have more success. Then back in the house, maybe a couple of different rooms. The third time outside, it'll be magic. Does this make sense? That's how we bridge the gap between “My puppy isn't listening. My dog is blowing me off.” It's nothing to do with your dog. It has all to do with the attempts you made at growing that relationship with the dog. P.S. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel so you get notifications of new videos! - - - - - - - Dogs That is brought to you by Susan Garrett and the Say Yes Dog Training Team. Susan Garrett’s interest in animal behaviour started at the University of Guelph where she earned a Bachelor of Science majoring in Animal Science. Since then she has developed into a preeminent dog trainer and canine sports instructor and competitor. Susan is one of the most successful agility competitors of the last three decades. She has won multiple Gold Medals at National or World Championship events with every dog she has ever owned over the past 30 years. A natural teacher and an entertaining speaker, Susan is world renowned as a leading educator of dog trainers. Her understanding of how to apply science-based learning principles to both competitive and family pet dog training has been pivotal in changing how dogs are trained. Susan is now helping many thousands of dog owners in 132 countries have the best relationship possible with their dogs. The real joy for her comes from bringing confidence to dogs and their owner through playful interactions and relationship building games that are grounded firmly in the science of how animals learn. - - - - - - - Our Website: https://dogsthat.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanGarrettDogAgility/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SusanGarrettDogsThat/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dogsthat LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dogsthat Pinterest: https://pinterest.ca/dogsthatcom/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/susangarrett There’s always something new happening at Dogs That, so if you’d like to be the first to know, visit our website, register to receive updates, and we'll keep you in the loop. https://dogsthat.com