The Four Quadrants of Operant Conditioning and What They Mean For You and Your Pup: Part I

[murph]

Haha I’d be the same way honestly, I get nervous even thinking about off-leash. It’s shocking how much trust that takes.

That makes sense about the leash work though, especially with the size difference between your two pups. I didn’t realize how early people start introducing leash pressure.

Lets not even talk about all the opossums murph has happily brought to me as a trophy... (they all lived)

 

[MyDogBitz]

That actually makes so much sense the way you broke it down, I didn’t realize how much of it was about teaching the dog what the pressure means before really applying it in training. I like how structured that process is.

So even when they’re super young, it’s more about exposure and management than “training” right? And when you say you pair the e-collar to the prong, do you mean the dog already understands the pressure language, so the stim just becomes another version of that same cue?

This is really interesting to read through, it helps me understand how those early steps tie into loose leash walking later on.

Yeah. Teaching dogs how to do things is actually pretty easy IMO. But obedience is absolutely useless if you have behavioral issues and poorly adjusted dogs.

You will get way further with your dog if you spend the little puppy time getting them proper environmental exposure, showing them what's expected in the house and getting them used to being crated, handling, grooming and appropriate sleep, meal, and bathroom schedules.

As for the e-collar, you nailed it. Pressure is pressure. Whether it's the prong collar, choke chain, spacial, or e-collar it doesn't really matter. I just want a dog who understands that pressure isn't bad, it just is. And that they're in total control of turning it on and off.

Once that happens, the e-collar can be used as a gas pedal or a brake.

Something I learned from Michael Ellis is, spend the time teaching the dog the skills they'll need to learn how to learn and everything else comes together rather quickly.

 

[murph]

Yeah. Teaching dogs how to do things is actually pretty easy IMO. But obedience is absolutely useless if you have behavioral issues and poorly adjusted dogs.

You will get way further with your dog if you spend the little puppy time getting them proper environmental exposure, showing them what's expected in the house and getting them used to being crated, handling, grooming and appropriate sleep, meal, and bathroom schedules.

As for the e-collar, you nailed it. Pressure is pressure. Whether it's the prong collar, choke chain, spacial, or e-collar it doesn't really matter. I just want a dog who understands that pressure isn't bad, it just is. And that they're in total control of turning it on and off.

Once that happens, the e-collar can be used as a gas pedal or a brake.

Something I learned from Michael Ellis is, spend the time teaching the dog the skills they'll need to learn how to learn and everything else comes together rather quickly.

For high drive dogs, if you teach the ecollar correctly, stimulation will refocus their attention on you so you can do a reset and use a command after.

R+ trainers assume we are using ecollars as punishment to force the dog to do something, but using an eollar correctly is about redirection after training and understanding is already established. You nailed it.

Dear R+ trainers, i still use treats and praise, fucking duh.

 

[murph]

That actually makes so much sense the way you broke it down, I didn’t realize how much of it was about teaching the dog what the pressure means before really applying it in training. I like how structured that process is.

So even when they’re super young, it’s more about exposure and management than “training” right? And when you say you pair the e-collar to the prong, do you mean the dog already understands the pressure language, so the stim just becomes another version of that same cue?

This is really interesting to read through, it helps me understand how those early steps tie into loose leash walking later on.

Remember that exposure and management is still training. When you realize every interaction with your dog is teaching them what behaviors you will accept and which ones you wont, it will completely change your relationship and communication with your dog.

 

[murph]

Yeah. Teaching dogs how to do things is actually pretty easy IMO. But obedience is absolutely useless if you have behavioral issues and poorly adjusted dogs.

You will get way further with your dog if you spend the little puppy time getting them proper environmental exposure, showing them what's expected in the house and getting them used to being crated, handling, grooming and appropriate sleep, meal, and bathroom schedules.

As for the e-collar, you nailed it. Pressure is pressure. Whether it's the prong collar, choke chain, spacial, or e-collar it doesn't really matter. I just want a dog who understands that pressure isn't bad, it just is. And that they're in total control of turning it on and off.

Once that happens, the e-collar can be used as a gas pedal or a brake.

Something I learned from Michael Ellis is, spend the time teaching the dog the skills they'll need to learn how to learn and everything else comes together rather quickly.

Are you a professional trainer?

 

[MyDogBitz]

Are you a professional trainer?

I am not. I'm an electrician by trade.

 

[murph]

I am not. I'm an electrician by trade.

No wonder you don't wanna train my dog

 

[MyDogBitz]

No wonder you don't wanna train my dog

Funny. You know, I've helped some people with what little knowledge I have and the thing that really turned me off wasn't the dogs, it was the people. Not listening, not following through, reverting back to old habits, things like this really annoyed me.

That being said, t's something I'm thinking about doing in the future full time.

 

[murph]

Funny. You know, I've helped some people with what little knowledge I have and the thing that really turned me off wasn't the dogs, it was the people. Not listening, not following through, reverting back to old habits, things like this really annoyed me.

That being said, t's something I'm thinking about doing in the future full time.

I'm warning you, it never gets better.