I mentioned in a recent post that I should share again the story of my learning to ski. It’s a great example of contrasting traditional instruction versus TAGteach and the resulting… results. It’s also kinda humorous, because it features me tumbling tail over teakettle down a snowy slope more than a few times, and that’s never not funny. Enjoy! Continue reading
Stock image. (My target's at the bottom of the post.)
It took me a long, long time of deciding first to actually buy a handgun and then to choose a model. The entire year and a half was filled with behavioral self-assessment and training plans — this was one area where my professional skills have been put to good use! Continue reading
In mid-October, I embarked upon a new learning experience — handling and shooting a firearm. I spent nearly a year and a half researching this prospect, deciding if it were a path I wanted to start down, and I’d decided firmly that if I were to have a gun, I would train to a high level of fluency and competency.
Imagine my delight, then, when among the usual trash advice dispensed to newbies in any sport or hobby, I encountered some truly fantastic, behaviorally-sound recommendations for learning to shoot and handle safely. Continue reading
Do you want reliable trained behaviors? Do you want your learner to enjoy the experience and crave more learning? Borrow some ideas from the best. Continue reading
I am continuing to find more help in my professional life for my personal life, such as for increasing my physical fitness. There are all kinds of behavioral principles at work here! What’s working for me right now? Continue reading
Today’s riddle: How is a 5-year-old human like a spotted hyena? (Aside from eating habits and destructive potential!) Continue reading
One of the toughest things about being a behavior professional is that one doesn’t have many excuses. When I do something stupid, I can easily identify it and the triggers (if any) and a way to avoid it the next time by choosing an alternate behavior instead. That doesn’t mean I will, but it means I can, and then I can feel a bit stupid again for failing to choose the better behavior.
It also means I know better than to feel bad about a past decision instead of simply focusing on new behavior. But, y’know, the cycle repeats.
Right now, though, I’m applying my professional knowledge with good results, and I’m blogging here to keep up my motivation and, maybe, help someone else do something similar!
We emphasize focusing on the positive in clicker training — not pointing out a mistake, but determining a concrete, alternate behavior instead. In dog manners training, this often appears as replacing “don’t jump” with “sit to greet.”
But really, what’s the harm in pointing out a mistake? Sometimes we have to know what’s wrong so we know to avoid it, right? And surely we humans are smart enough to think through the big picture?
Eh, not so much.
As I write this, I am sitting in my hotel in Mexico City, taking a break from teaching clicker training to instructors from all over Mexico and as far as Guatemala and Colombia. It’s been a great time thus far! Saturday Alena and I spoke 8 hours on aggression, and this week we’ve been working on clicker mechanics, foundation work, shaping, etc.
With students of varying levels of clicker experience, we’ve been pulling a lot of everyday examples of operant and classical conditioning at work. There’s a perfect discussion topic waiting in the form of the elevator in our hotel. Continue reading