How To Train Your Dog With Love + Science - Dog Training with Annie Grossman + Anamarie Johnson PhD (Formerly known as School For The Dogs Podcast)

Latest Episodes:

What is a bully stick? A very detailed answer to an awkward question... Oct 02, 2020

Show notes

Dogs love to chew on bully sticks. We sell loads of them every day at School For The Dogs, and, very often, people ask what they are. The answer? They're penises! This answer makes some people giggle, some gag and then there are those, like Annie, who are just left with more questions. In this episode, Annie interviews Greg Claypool, a second-generation bully stick fabricator, about the origins of this canine delicacy, how they're produced, and what you can do in order to make sure your purchasing ones that don't stink (literally). Warning: This episode is pretty graphic!

Bully sticks at storeforthedogs.com https://storeforthedogs.com/products/bully-sticks

Bully Sticks Direct https://www.bullysticksdirect.com/

Bully Stick Ball Jerky https://www.bullysticksdirect.com/bully-stick-ball-jerky-7-ounces/

Turkey Tendon Strips https://storeforthedogs.com/products/turkey-tendon-strips?_pos=1&_sid=d7be10867&_ss=r

Blog post: Dogs love bull penises, and you will, too https://anniegrossman.com/2012/12/funnies/dogs-love-bull-penises-and-you-will-too-73608/7517/

Bull Penis Canes: https://fashionablecanes.com/collections/bull-penis-walking-canes

Four Ways To Sautee a Sow's Vulva: https://medium.com/idle-musings/iv-ways-to-saut%C3%A9-a-sows-vulva-170f5f00d26a

Toast Garden: http://youtube.com/toastgarden

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Partial Transcript:

Annie:

I am testing out a new community platform. If you like this episode, and you would like to discuss it with other podcast listeners, please go to schoolforthedogs.com/podcastcommunity. Make an account, it's totally free. If you would like to ask any dog training questions you can do so there as well. Thanks for helping me beta test this new platform.

*Intro*

Annie:

In my career as a professional dog person over the last 10 years or so, I have developed some weird sub interests. Some of which are kind of gross. For instance, over the last few years, I've thought a lot about how we carry dog poop. I have thought deeply about poop bags and poop bag accoutrements. I have also thought a lot about certain dead animal body parts and no body part of any dead animal has taken up quite as much brain space for me as the bully stick, which is a dried bull penis that dogs love to chew on. Particularly as someone who has sold many bully sticks in her life, I have often found myself in the awkward position of having to explain to people that it really is made out of a dried bull penis, which is a conversation that has just concluded with giggles many, many times.

Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/podcast

Get full access to Don't Be a Dick to Your Dog at dogtraining.substack.com/subscribe

When your home isn't the right home for your dog (and other subjects) Sep 25, 2020

Show notes

Warning: This episode meanders a bit! Annie's Facebook friend made the difficult decision to rehome her rescue dog, and Annie considers what it means to decide that a different family might be a better fit for anyone you love, be it human or dog, temporarily or forever. What if all forms of parenting were truly voluntary? Is it a dog's fault if behavior problems are exacerbated by an environment that may have been chosen for him or her more or less at random? Were slaves insane if they tried to escape their masters? Annie follows a line of thinking that touches on how we could use positive reinforcement to help prevent unplanned pregnancies, and on how both fear and generalizations based on false assumptions can cause racism. She also explains BF Skinner's unusual argument in favor of teen pregnancy.

Join Annie for a live Q and A this Thursday (10/01/2020) @ 12 pm EST! https://event.webinarjam.com/register/183/n7z7lsnw

School Sucks Drapetomania episode: https://schoolsucksproject.com/053-drapetomania/

Walden Two: https://www.amazon.com/Walden-Two-Hackett-Classics-Skinner/dp/0872207781

The Cut's story about the Stauffer family and their adopted son: https://www.thecut.com/2020/06/youtuber-myka-stauffer-rehomed-her-adopted-son-huxley.html

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Partial Transcript

Annie:

Hello, human animals. And hi to the dogs that may be in the room. If you are listening, that means you are alive. And that’s, that’s a good thing right now. So I’m glad to know that about you. I have a lot of really cool episodes coming down the pipeline that I am excited to share with you all. I’ve been doing interviews with the people who work at School for the Dogs and well, last week I got, sometimes I say “we” cause like, I think of School for the Dogs as like me and Kate, but then I know sometimes I say “I,” and sometimes I get lost. Like, am I, am “I”? I think, I think this podcast is “I.”

I interviewed Anna Heyward, our apprentice, one of our apprentices last week that was kind of, I guess, part of the inside School for the Dog series.

But I have been talking to lots of different people on our staff and I’m going to be sharing those conversations, just talking about to them about how they got into what, what they, how they got into training and what they’re doing now. And so that’s been really fun.

You know, running a business through a global pandemic, I now know is intense and I think I feel so appreciative of our staff right now. I just feel gratitude. I think, you know, the intensity and shared mission of, you know, trying to keep a business afloat through all of this and trying to, you know, continue helping dogs I think has brought us all closer together. So it’s really been lovely to get a chance to talk to some of these wonderful people.

And I am also doing a series of episodes about some of the really cool products we have in our shop. I’ve been interviewing some of the brand owners people who have worked to develop really interesting things that I’m psyched we get to share it with our clients.

Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/podcast

Get full access to Don't Be a Dick to Your Dog at dogtraining.substack.com/subscribe

Lessons learned from foster dogs: A discussion with our apprentice Anna Heyward Sep 18, 2020

Show notes

At School For The Dogs, we've been lucky enough to be able to mentor a handful of aspiring dog trainers through our apprenticeship program. One of our current apprentices, Anna Heyward, first came to us as a client. Anna, a writer who is originally from Australia, has fostered dogs in NYC for years; last year, she took in a dog whose separation anxiety was beyond anything she'd ever seen. She came to School For The Dogs after consulting with several dog trainers. Some suggested the dog was just being dramatic and that she just needed to let him manipulate her; others told her to use a shock collar on him. In this episode, Anna explains how her experience fostering dogs in New York City and her work with our trainer Anna Ostroff led her to rethink everything she thought she knew about behavior, and ultimately pursue a career in dog training.

If you enjoy this podcast, please leave a review on iTunes! You can also support us by shopping in our online store: StoreForTheDogs.com

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Partial Transcript:

Annie:

So, I’m about to share with you is a conversation with one of School for the Dogs’ apprentices, Anna Heyward. And I wanted to talk to Anna for a bunch of reasons. I’m really interested in how people are finding their way and to the world of dog training, whether that’s because they aspire to doing it professionally or not. And I met Anna when she started our six month apprenticeship. And we’ve gotten to know each other this year a little bit. And Anna is a very talented writer and recently I read an essay she wrote, a not yet published essay about her experience fostering. Specifically fostering one very difficult dog. And I was just so moved by what she wrote and how she wrote about the experience of being a temporary home to a dog who has behavior issues that are extreme and what that mean. What it meant-meant both for her, for the dog. What it helped her learn about the world. What she learned about the people around her, her family, her loved ones through this very difficult experience of being a foster, a foster mother to two dogs.

And so I was thrilled when she said she would talk to me a little bit about her experience as a fosterer on the podcast. But I… before I share with you this conversation, I just wanted to mention another Anna who you’re going to hear about a little bit in this episode because Anna Heyward would not have come to School for the Dogs without Anna Ostroff, who is a woman I just love so much. And I was, I’m trying to think about how do I express my feelings… it’s like, I feel like it’s such a special thing when you get to mentor someone and then you see them being a mentor to someone else.

And I should specify I’m talking about as a mentor, but I think more of sort of Kate and me and School for the Dogs as an entity, a mentoring entity, I guess, is sort of how I think of what we’re doing in a lot of ways to shape people to be better dog owners, if not dog trainers and Anna Ostroff came to School for the Dogs about four years ago with a very sweet and shy young dog named Ginger and her husband, Alan. They are theater producers and had, I believe had pretty recently before coming to us, won a Tony for a Broadway play that they produced. And I just enjoyed getting to know them as these very interesting people with an interesting theater background. So they were clients with whom I became friendly.

Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/podcast

Get full access to Don't Be a Dick to Your Dog at dogtraining.substack.com/subscribe

My family thinks I'm crazy: Dealing with those who don't see the "whole" picture of holistic dog training Sep 11, 2020

Show notes

What does it mean to be a holistic dog trainer? To Annie, it means addressing issues using what we know about the science of behavior as it applies to both dogs and humans, and looking at the whole picture of a dog's life in order to address issues. One alternative approach involves narrowly focusing on getting rid of a problem using punishment, which can produce new unwanted behaviors which are then part of the whole picture, too. Sometimes, that whole picture contains people who don't see that they're part of the whole picture, and Annie has found this can be tricky terrain to navigate as a dog trainer ... especially when those people are family members. Annie opens up about how she has learned to keep quiet about all things relating to dogs when she is with certain people in her family, and attempts to take a holistic view of a problem behavior they've dealt with in different ways: barking.

Check out Annie's free Master Class at anniegrossman.com/masterclass

Support this podcast by leaving a five-star review and by shopping in our online store, storeforthedogs.com.

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Partial Transcript:

Annie:
I recorded this episode a few weeks ago, and then I kind of hesitated about whether or not I should post it because it has to do with my family. And it’s tricky to talk about real live people, and I’m not eager to offend anyone or get into arguments. So after I recorded it, I thought, you know, let’s just let this one sit for a few weeks so that I can think about whether or not I want to go there. And I decided that the beauty of the podcast [laughs] as a medium is that you really have to show up and be interested in order to listen to a podcast at all. It takes some effort and it’s kind of in a lot of cases on, at least this podcast is like a one-way conversation where I get to sit alone in a room and tell you what I think about something.

If you disagree with me, if you think I’m a jerk, you don’t have to keep listening, and you never have to listen again. And if you have no interest in what I think about dog training, then you don’t ever have to listen to begin with, and frankly, I think my family falls into that latter category. So I’ve really learned to bite my tongue when anything about dogs comes up in conversation when I am with many people in my family, because it’s just not worth having an argument. Even if it means suppressing my thoughts and feelings, it’s worth it for the sake of having a relationship at all and maintaining some degree of peace.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to have my own thoughts and feelings going on. And this isn’t something that I have a few thoughts about. I have a lot of thoughts about it. I have a whole business devoted to a science-based approach to dog training, a behavior based approach to dog training. It’s pretty much my entire life. So I guess I decided I’m not going to suppress an entire part of my life all the time. And if the people mentioned, although unnamed, [laughs] in this episode are interested in what I think, they can listen to my one way side of a conversation whenever they please, and they’re welcome to record their own podcasts on their points of view. I would actually be interested in hearing that.

Full transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcast

Get full access to Don't Be a Dick to Your Dog at dogtraining.substack.com/subscribe

The Pandemic Puppy Boom: A discussion with breeder Cherrie Mahon of River Valley Doodles Sep 04, 2020

Show notes

This episode is a second conversation with Cherrie Mahon, with whom Annie spoke last year (Episode 45: Let's talk about dog breeding with Cherrie Mahon). During quarantine Cherrie, like many breeders, has been inundated with applications. She and Annie discuss how breeders are dealing with the deluge, and think about what this boom might mean in the future for both puppy mills and shelters. Annie also answers a question from a listener whose puppy is jumping up when she tries to prepare food at the kitchen counter.
Episode 45: Let's talk about dog breeding with Cherrie Mahon

Treat and Train - remote controlled treat dispenser and training tool

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Partial Transcript:

Annie:

If you are listening to this, at least if you’re listening to this around now, I’m recording this in late summer 2020. I am going to guess you fall into at least one of the following three categories, perhaps all three. You have either recently gotten a puppy, you’ve thought about getting a puppy, or you know someone who has gotten a puppy, or is thinking about getting a puppy. Okay, I guess that’s four categories. And I think that’s because puppies are the opposite of death, destruction, pandemics. They can certainly cure depression. And a good time to get a puppy is when you are going to be spending a lot of time home.

I actually got my dog when I left a desk job. I spent exactly one year as a reporter at the New York Post, and I actually wrote their wedding section. I don’t know if they still have a wedding section. I wrote some other things there too, but that was my main gig. And I actually got fired. Well, it was kind of like a, I quit / You’re fired situation. But the issue at hand wasn’t the quality or content of my work. It was that I was instant messaging too much. That’s how old I am. I remember at the time thinking, “One day, this is going to seem hilarious, I have a feeling.”

I wasn’t even sending, like, sexy instant messages or anything. I wasn’t talking to my boyfriend. I was either talking to other reporters who worked at other places, I think, or I was talking to my mom. And I certainly wasn’t the only one instant messaging, but I guess they needed some kind of scapegoat and wanted to crack down on this practice. And Cole Allen, who was the editor in chief there at the time called me into his office. And it was pretty terrifying. I remember, he had a print out like an inch high of my instant messages.

And now here we are 15 years later, and basically all we all do is instant message. The president who’s instant messaging 200 times a day, also to other journalists, and my mom. Anyway, I’m telling the story only because after I left, after my ignominious departure from what was actually probably a very good job in right wing tabloid journalism, I started working from home. I was living in a ground floor apartment and in Brooklyn at the time. It had a little garden outside, kind of the perfect place for a dog.

So I was sort of thinking a little bit about getting a dog, but then what really made it happen was a guy I had dated for a few years, a boyfriend, I was like madly in love with him. He broke up with me and I was completely devastated. So I was sort of thinking a little bit about getting a dog, but then what really made it happen was a guy I had dated for a few years, a boyfriend, I was like madly in love with him. He broke up with me and I was completely devastated...

Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/podcasts

Get full access to Don't Be a Dick to Your Dog at dogtraining.substack.com/subscribe

Dogs don't think we're dogs: Ethologist Dr. Marc Bekoff on how we can give our "frustrated captives" a good life in a human world Aug 28, 2020

Show notes

Last week, Annie looked a bit at the career of Dr. Stanley Coren, a writer who recently penned a Psychology Today article suggesting that one way to silence a barking dog is to clamp down on the dog's nose with your hand, like a mother wolf might do to try to silence a wolf pup. Ethologist Dr. Marc Bekoff, who is a columnist for Psychology Today, penned a response saying that we need to consider the causes of dog behaviors we don't like, acknowledge that they're engaging in behaviors that might be appropriate in a different environment, and then work at changing those behaviors with techniques that don't require that we attempt to school dogs as if we were one of them. Annie has a conversation with Dr. Bekoff, who discusses the Psychology Today article and explains why an ethological approach can shed so much light on the dogs who live in our homes, and beyond.

Canine Confidential: Why Dogs Do What They Do by Dr. Marc Bekoff https://amzn.to/2YssUxK

Unleashing Your Dog: A Field Guide to Giving Your Dog The Best Life Possibleby Dr. Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce https://amzn.to/3j8L2ow

A Quick Fix for a Barking Dog by Dr. Stanley Coren (Version edited post-publication) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/202008/quick-fix-barking-dog

Original version of article can be found here. https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/a-quick-fix-for-a-barking-dog-home-health-choices/

Do Dogs Bark Unnecessarily or Excessively? by Dr. Marc Bekoff https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/202008/do-dogs-bark-unnecessarily-or-excessively

The Herlihy Boy Dog Sitting Service (Saturday Night Live, 1994): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq7DbWsjX6A

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Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Hey there. So last week I talked about the dog writer, Stanley Coren. He had a piece in Psychology Today where he basically suggested that the best way to get a dog to stop barking was to clamp down on the dog’s muzzle with your hand and say the word “quiet” to the dog, a method that he says mimics how a mother dog might quiet her pup.

And in response to this article, Dr. Marc Bekoff wrote a really thoughtful essay saying, you know what, maybe we should be instead thinking about what's causing a dog to bark and see the situation from a dog's point of view, as best we can. And to acknowledge that they're basically captives in our world and we're asking them to live by our rules. And that most likely don't think about us as fellow dogs. So we probably don't need to be communicating to them as if we were dominant wolves in their pack.

Anyway, it was a beautifully written response. So I reached out to Dr. Bekoff and I'm happy to share with you this conversation, which touches a little bit on Stanley Coren's article, but also went in some other interesting directions. I hope that you enjoy this episode.

Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

Get full access to Don't Be a Dick to Your Dog at dogtraining.substack.com/subscribe

Don’t put a towel over a dog’s head & other lessons not learned from Stanley Coren & Psych. Today Aug 21, 2020

Show notes

Looking for misguided information about dog training? Look no further than Psychology Today, which is publishing new articles that are offering outdated and possibly dangerous information. In this episode, Annie surveys the work of Dr. Stanley Coren, who recently suggested to the publication's readers that they should mimic wolves and clamp down on a dog's muzzle to stop barking. She reads from some of Dr. Coren's books on dogs from the early 1990s and also shares a comedy clip from the early 1990s on the topic of reading dog minds. Next week: An interview with Dr. Marc Bekoff.

Take Annie's free Master Class! http://anniegrossman.com/masterclass

My Dog's Smarter Than Your Dog, by Sarah Boxer (NY Times Book Review, 1994) https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/05/books/my-dog-s-smarter-than-your-dog.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss/

Why Does a Reward During Training Change a Dog's Behavior? by Dr. Stanley Coren https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/202008/why-does-reward-during-training-change-dogs-behavior

A Quick Fix for a Barking Dog by Dr. Stanley Coren (Version edited post-publication) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/202008/quick-fix-barking-dog
Original version of article can be found here.

Do Dogs Bark Unnecessarily or Excessively? by Dr. Marc Bekoff https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/202008/do-dogs-bark-unnecessarily-or-excessively

Punishment as defined by Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/punishment Conan O'Brien 1993 clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FFyNyfOqQQ

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Partial Transcript:

Annie:

A few years ago, a cousin gave me a pile of books about dogs, all these used books that I think he'd gotten at a garage sale. They were all from the nineties. And one was called, What Do Dogs Know? One was The Pawprints of History: Dogs in the Course of Human Events. One was called The Intelligence of Dogs. And I kind of flipped through the books and thought, you know, okay, there's some dated information here, and there was some decent info here and there, but overall I found the books a little, I guess, a little boring.

And I put them on my shelf of books that are dated and, but possibly interesting for future reference relating to all things dogs and dog training. I have a lot of books in this category, or not even books that are dated, just like I like old, weird books about dogs. I like thinking about not only how people think about dogs now, but in the past.

I guess I didn't really consider these books too much or the author, although I did remember seeing that he was a doctor, that he was a professor of psychology...

Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

Get full access to Don't Be a Dick to Your Dog at dogtraining.substack.com/subscribe

There’s so much to love about snuffle mats! Buy or make a fabric work-to-eat toy. Aug 14, 2020

Show notes

We are obsessed with work-to-eat toys at School For The Dogs! Snuffle mats are one type of work-to-eat toy we recommend all the time. Made of fabric, they’re great for hiding dry food or treats. They pack well, are easy to wash, and you can even make them yourself. Annie talks about some of the ones sold at storeforthedogs.com and gives instructions on how to make your own.

Products mentioned in this episode:
The Buster Activity Mat

Wooly Snuffle Mat

Fleece Activity Mat

The Hol-ee Roller
More Snuffle Mats: here

Check out DogNmat On Etsy

Get in touch on Instagram: @schoolforthedogs

--
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Hey folks. Today, I just wanted to talk a little bit about one of my favorite kinds of work to eat toys. As you might know if you've listened to this podcast before, we are huge fans of toys that give dogs jobs. I like to joke that we're trying to solve the canine unemployment problem -- that if you can figure out a way to engage your dog’s brain and body, even if it's just their tongue or their paws during meal times, that it's a really good way to channel energy that might otherwise go towards activities that you might not be that into.

So there are lots of different kinds of work to eat toys. And one of them is, the broad category would be called snuffle mats. Now this is kind of a newer sort of work to eat toy. I think I first saw a snuffle mat maybe five or six years ago when we first started carrying the Buster Activity Mat. Which I right away thought was like the coolest thing ever.

It is a mat that is pretty heavy duty. It has snaps on it, with these components that you can snap on. And the components, kind of origami-style, can be folded and manipulated in different ways. They can be used separately from the mat. It's very, very cool. It also comes in this adorable little turquoise duffle bag, which I like to use for things other than the mat sometimes, just because it's cute. But it's neat because there are so many different ways you can use it, and it can travel really well.

Now, snuffle mats in general are easy to pack, and some of them can be used in different kinds of ways, but the main component is that they're soft and you can hide dry food or dry treats in them in different ways. They're not great for use with wet food. Some of them you could even hide toys in them.

So anyway, the Buster activity mat, I think, was my first introduction to the world of snuffle mats, or we sometimes also call them activity mats. And then, I think I was at a trade show when I first saw the Wooly Snuffle Mat. And the Wooly is a much simpler product. It kind of just looks like a bath mat. Like a bath mat with really plush, long tendrils. It's gray, it -- you know, one thing I like about snuffle mats is they make me think of Snuffleupagus scoop is my favorite character on Sesame street...

Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

Get full access to Don't Be a Dick to Your Dog at dogtraining.substack.com/subscribe

Restaurant dining with your dog: How to train the perfect outdoor dinner date Aug 07, 2020

Show notes

It's a golden moment for those wanting to eat outdoors with their dogs. Just think: There's so much outdoor dining! And people are keeping their distance from each other! And tables are spaced at a nice distance from each other! Annie gives some tips about how you can help train your dog to be the perfect outdoor-dining companion. Also: Learn what 1950s superstar very nearly became the real Lassie's owner.

Products mentioned in this episode:

Tricky Trainer's Crunchy Treats: https://storeforthedogs.com/search?q=crunchy+tricky

Lamb lung: http://schoolforthedogs.com/ll

Snuffle/Activity Mats: https://storeforthedogs.com/collections/snuffle-mats

VirChewLy Indestructible Leash: https://storeforthedogs.com/products/virchewly-industructable-leash-1

Found My Animal Leash: https://storeforthedogs.com/collections/found-my-animal-1

Hands-Free Leash: https://storeforthedogs.com/collections/squishy-face-studio/products/leash-belt

SFTD Training Mat: https://storeforthedogs.com/products/school-for-the-dogs-training-mat

Liquid Treat Dispenser: http://schoolforthedogs.com/ltd

Frank Inn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkfLbHQl340

Episode 33: How to shape your dog to go to a mat
https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-33-how-to-shape-your-dog-to-go-to-a-mat-and-to-be-a-polite-thanksgiving-guest/

Episode 66: Lassie’s Boy Sidekick: Meet Jon Provost, aka Timmy
https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-66-lassies-boy-sidekick-meet-jon-provost-aka-timmy/

Episode 69: Mean Talk, mouse traps + water guns: Rudd Weatherwax's Lassie Method
https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-69-mean-talk-mouse-traps-water-guns-the-lassie-method/

--
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Guys. It's a really difficult time to be alive, to be a human right now. There's so much that's wrong with the world. But there's one, one silver lining that I just wanted to point out to anyone here who has a dog, which is probably you, if you're listening.

This is an excellent time for dining out with your dog. I know different places have different rules, but I live in New York City and restaurants now have extended their outdoor seating areas into the streets and avenues, usually beyond the sidewalks. The tables are spaced at least six feet apart....

Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

Get full access to Don't Be a Dick to Your Dog at dogtraining.substack.com/subscribe

Schedules of Reinforcement, “Baked In” Behaviors & How Dog Training Can Help You Take The MCAT Jul 31, 2020

Show notes

A listener who is studying for the MCAT exam wrote in to ask if there were any dog training scenarios that could help illustrate some of the terms she needed to know for the psychology section of the exam. Annie, who has learned most of what she knows about dog training from working with dogs rather than from studying terms or taking exams, does her best to help make some "science-y" concepts more understandable through the lens of dog training and human behavior as we experience in everyday life. She talks about schedules of reinforcement, learned behaviors vs preinstalled behaviors, learning by observation and more.

Mentioned in this episode:

Excel-Erated Learning: Explaining In Plain English How Dogs Learn And How Best To Teach Them, by Pamela J. Reid
https://amzn.to/3fN3RfW

Don't Shoot The Dog by Karen Pryor
https://amzn.to/2Mugnpc

Behavior Principles in Everyday Life by John D. Baldwin and Janice I. Baldwin
https://amzn.to/30jJxNH

Bobo Doll Experiment
https://www.britannica.com/event/Bobo-doll-experiment

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Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Hello, human friends, Annie here. As I've mentioned before, I've been recording mostly in my neighbor's apartment while he's out of town so that I can escape the craziness of my apartment, but he doesn't have air conditioning. So I couldn't deal with sitting in his apartment to record today. So I came back to my apartment to record after sweating profusely while trying to record down there.

And then I realized you can't really have the air conditioning on anyway when you're recording a podcast because of the background noise, which made me think about all the sweaty podcasters working from home right now. So I blast the AC really, really high, just long enough to try and cool down the room while I record. So anyway, Hi!

I wanted to respond to an interesting question. I got from a listener who has been in touch with me, uh, before Supriya is, uh, her name. I might be saying it wrong. Supriya. Such a pretty name that sounds like surprise.

She wrote:

“Hey Annie, I am currently studying for the psychology section of the MCAT, and while I've never heard of many things in this section before I am totally nailing the section on classical and operant conditioning, because I've been listening to your podcast for a while now. I was wondering if you happen to have time before my exam in September, would you be able to expand on operant conditioning in terms of dog training, which is what makes sense to me.

Specifically, I'm studying reinforcement schedules, innate versus learned behaviors, escape and avoidance learning, the Bobo doll experiment and associative versus non associative learning. Then there's also biological constraints on learning, which I'm studying specifically for humans. But I'm curious about this in dogs too. Of course, if you don't have time, this is completely okay. Just thought I would ask considering I've learned so much from you already.”

Isn't that a nice email to get, isn’t that a cool email to get? First of all, just wanted to say that I'm flattered that you feel that you've learned so much. And I'm amazed that anybody is asking me for MCAT advice...

Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

Get full access to Don't Be a Dick to Your Dog at dogtraining.substack.com/subscribe

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