Equiosity

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Episode 112 Suzanne Kernek Part 2 Going To The Dogs Jul 29, 2020

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Last week we began a two part conversation with Suzanne Kernek. Suzanne is a horse owner and a professional dog trainer. She’s also a regular attendee of my Half Moon Bay CA clinics. At the clinics I always love our evening conversations where we talk about the connections that Suzanne has found between the work that I teach and the dog training that is her everyday life. At the end of last week’s episode Suzanne had just commented on the connection between physical and emotional balance. We’ll pick up there as Suzanne explores the question: is this link as clear in dogs as it is in horses? We’ll be talking about the many ways in which the rope handling that I developed for the horses can be used with dogs. I don’t have a dog, so I rely on my friends who train dogs to test this out for me. When we look at the rope handling from the perspective of using it with dogs, I always find details that make the work even clearer for horses.

Episode 111 Suzanne Kernek Pt 1 Going To The Dogs - 7:23:20, 1.09 PM Jul 23, 2020

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We introduce these Equiosity podcasts by saying that they are about all things equine with a special emphasis on the horse human bond. So why this week are we talking to a dog trainer? It’s not just that many horse people have dogs which makes these crossover conversations of interest to many listeners. More than that, with Suzanne Kernek we’re going to be revisiting the rope handling that I teach, but we’re going to be looking at it from a different perspective. Suzanne is a horse owner and a professional dog trainer. She’s a regular participant at my Half Moon Bay CA clinics. I always enjoy our evening conversations where we talk the connections that Suzanne has found between the work that I teach and the dog training that is her everyday life. I have wanted to have her on the podcast for a very long time to talk about how she has translated the rope handling that was developed for horses to the dogs she works with. This shift in perspective I think helps us to be better teachers no matter the species or the size of the animals we work with. Suzanne runs a puppy day care and training program. We started this conversation just as Suzanne had settled ten puppies down for their nap. It speaks well of her management techniques that we were able to talk for over an hour and a half without interruption. We covered many topics beginning with the new Stay at Home clinics, and then we shifted to the topic of rope handling.

Episode 110 What Defines A Training Session? Jul 10, 2020

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Many trainers think in terms of formal training sessions. Others think more in terms of a flow that simply shifts location and emphasis. In this episode we explore both approaches.

Episode 109: Michele Pouliot Pt 3 Building A Freestyle Routine Jul 02, 2020

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In Part 3 Michele Pouliot describes how she assembles a freestyle routine using back chaining. In Parts 1 and 2 of our conversation with Michele we learned how she uses platforms to teach the foundation behavior that she uses in her freestyle routines. Now in this episode she describes how she links these behaviors together to create a consistent performance. We make the connection to dressage tests and other patterns that we ride. So even if you can't see yourself ever teaching a liberty freestyle routine, there's a lot here for horse people.

Episode 108 Michele Pouliot Pt 2 Freestyle Jun 24, 2020

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We have a long wish list of things we wanted to talk to Michele Pouliot about. Michele is a canine trainer. Many of you will know her through the Clicker Expo where she is a member of the faculty. Michele wears several “hats”. She was the driving force behind converting the training program at Guide Dogs for the Blind completely over to clicker training. One of her other “hats” is canine freestyle. In this week’s podcast Michele talks about how platforms can be used to teach the behaviors that have made her dogs standout performers in the freestyle world. The work she describes applies wonderfully to horses.

Episode 107 Michele Pouliot Part 1 Platform Training Jun 18, 2020

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Canine trainer, Michele Pouliot joins us for a discussion of platform training: what, why and how.

Episode 106: Easter Eggs To Trailer Loading - Pt 2 Jun 03, 2020

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In May Dominique needed to move her three horses to a new barn. Over the years two of her horses had become non-loaders so Dominique was dreading the move. She knew she couldn’t wait until the last minute and hope for the best. Instead she began in March teaching her horses to load willingly, happily, voluntarily onto a trailer. Her takeaway - she loved every minute of it. Her horses all load voluntarily onto the trailer. On moving day it took less that five minutes to load all three horses. In this episode she describes what she did.

Episode 105 Easter Eggs Take Us To Trailer Loading May 28, 2020

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We begin by sharing some of our takeaways from Dr. Susan Friedman's fabulous interview. If you've listened to her podcast (episode 104), you can see how yours compare with ours. This discussion led us to more "Easter eggs" and to trailer loading.

Episode 104: Susan Friedman - Escape Avoidance, The Corona Virus And "Easter Eggs" May 20, 2020

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Dr Susan Friedman is our guest for this very special 2 hour podcast. Normally we would divide up such a long conversation into many parts and spread them out over several weeks so they fit better into the rush of your life. But this conversation is perfect for binge listening. We didn’t want to make you wait, especially given the topic. For this podcast we’ve shifted away from horse training, and we’re looking at how the corona virus is impacting our lives. The question I wanted Susan to help me with is how do we find our power? How do we reframe what is happening to us so our actions are not so fear driven? The corona virus has shown us how fast our behavior can be changed by negative reinforcement. We are staying home, staying six feet apart, washing our hands, wearing masks - all to avoid becoming sick. My question to Susan was: I can certainly see how powerful negative reinforcement is, but for so many reasons it isn’t sustainable. Apart from the emotional toll it puts on us, there’s the paradox of avoidance. The more effective it is at changing behavior, the more ineffective it becomes at sustaining that change. That’s especially relevant when it comes to eliminating a virus. The conversation begins with a discussion of escape and avoidance behavior. Then we make the pivot with this wonderful quote from Susan: “positive reinforcement is such a pervasive actor in our lives.” That’s a gem and Susan gives us many more. We begin with a discussion that’s centered around fear and end with hope. This podcast is over two hours long. Don’t let that keep you from listening. We have divided it into segments so you can listen in small units. Or you can binge listen to the whole conversation. Whichever way you choose, this podcast will give you a lot to think about. Enjoy!

Episode 103: Mary Hunter And Cindy Martin Pt 2: PORTL May 13, 2020

Show notes

In part 2 of our conversation with Cindy Martin and Mary Hunter we talk about PORTL. (Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab) Cindy Martin hosts a clinic for me at her farm in Arkansas. Mary Hunter is our co-presenter in our new Listen and Learn audio course on applied behavior analysis. During a morning’s conversation after the 2019 clinic, the discussion turned to PORTL. Mary truly is our PORTL master. When she was working on her master’s degree at the University of North Texas, every week the graduate students in the behavior analysis department would get together to play PORTL. Actually, originally it would have been Kay Laurence’s table game, Genabacab. Under Jesús’ direction the game gradually morphed into PORTL: the portable operant research and teaching lab. Table games had been used to help handlers improve their teaching skills. Now they could also be used to conduct research. Mary’s Master’s degree used PORTL to investigate the effects of what are commonly referred to as desperation clicks. What effect, if any, does one bad click have on the rest of your training? Rather than frustrate lab rats, Mary used her fellow students to explore this question. Her research was published in the Journal of Experimental Analysis of Behavior. In 2019 she and Dr. Jesus Rosales Ruiz also published the Portal manual. The manual shares lessons that were developed over seven years in undergraduate and graduate courses and also in professional workshops. I’ve had the very great treat of playing PORTL with Mary. That’s what we’ll be describing as we pick up again with this week’s podcast.

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