To Click or Not to Click - The "How to Train" Question. Presented by Frania Shelley-Grielen

CEUs: PPAB 1, CCPDT 1, KPA 1

“Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior potentiality that occurs as a result of reinforced practice” – G.A. Kimble

All animals, human and non human, learn in a number of different ways – through trial and error, insight, socially or by association, nonetheless dog trainers typically train with only one approach. Conventional training relies on instrumental and associative learning to accomplish its goals; trainers work with classical and operant conditioning to utilize rewards or punishment to reinforce or dissuade behaviors. How conditioning is applied however, varies greatly in method and technique. Positive trainers encounter a veritable schism of to click or not to click, how to treat, when to treat, how often, to be silent or to be verbal, to use emotion or be neutral, to use one word or two, where to put a name if at all, to use body language or be still, to use eye contact or not and so on. All of which can be a not so positive divide in the world of positive dog training.

Our individual approaches to dog training are highly influenced by what everyone else is doing or cultural norms, personal intuition and experience. And while that may be why we train the way we do, what does science have to say about the how to best train a dog question?

Focusing on the most effective and humane ways to train dogs- without force – this webinar takes a look at some of the latest research on the use of social learning as training methodology and offers insights into the comparisons of the effectiveness of verbal markers, acoustic markers or none when paired with positive reinforcement.

Learning Objectives

• Take a closer look at how learning theory posits a number of different ways all animals learn. How well suited are these to how we train dogs?

• Review the latest research on social learning for dog training.

• Know what the studies find as the most effective cues, markers and reinforcers in associative learning techniques used in training.

•  Answer the “to click or not to click” question

About The Presenter

Frania Shelley-Grielen is a professional animal behaviorist, dog trainer and educator who holds a Masters Degrees in Animal Behavior from Hunter College and a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from New York University, Complimenting her insight into behavior with an in-depth understanding of the built environment. She is a licensed Pet Care Technician Instructor, a registered therapy dog handler, a certified Doggone Safe Bite Safety Instructor, and a professional member of the Pet Professional Guild and the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. Frania specializes in behavior modification work and training with cats, dogs and birds and humane management for urban wildlife.

Frania is the author of Cats and Dogs; Living with and Looking at Companion Animals from their Point of View. She founded AnimalBehaviorist.us in 2009, to share her work on how welfare based, science focused strategies and solutions from the canine and feline point of view are more effective and make everyone happier, including the humans. Frania also taught the ASPCA’s Fundamentals of Dog Care course for the Houlton Institute where she is on the zoology faculty. She has worked on research projects at the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History and the ASPCA in NYC. Frania presents and consults in the metropolitan New York area, nationally and internationally. She lives in New York City with her family and cats and dogs.