CLICK HERE for the podcast outline
Sarah Owings Bio
Sarah Owings is a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner. She specializes in the practical application of behavioral principles to help transform the lives of fearful, shut down, and over-the-top dogs. As the owner of Bridges Dog Training, an international speaker, and regular contributor to online training forums, she is known for her innovative approaches to tough behavior problems and her compassionate and insightful teaching. She has written for Clean Run Magazine on topics such as stimulus control, release cues, and toy-related cues, and serves as faculty at ClickerExpo, an instructor for Karen Pryor Academy, and an advisor to the Glendale Humane Society in Los Angeles. She is also an avid nose work competitor, currently competing at the Elite level with her dog, Tucker. She recently moved from Los Angeles to San Rafael, CA with her two dogs, two geriatric rabbits, and her husband Fred.
Links
- CLICK HERE to find Sarah Owings on FaceBook
- Clean Run Digital Edition of the Magazine (can be downloaded for a small fee).
Inspiring clear compassionate thinking about our animals and ourselves as teachers and learners. Looking at impulse control as stimulus control gives more options. Thank you. I want to teach leave it in that manner instead of relying on extinction. Tom Heiskell, KPA CTP, PhD Clin Psy
Fantastic, Tom! I’d love to hear more about what you learn. Taking extinction off the table opens up so many possibilities for the creative trainer! Thanks for your feedback!
Holy light bulb moment! My brain just exploded when Sarah was telling us about her pup’s stimulus control with the ball and barking. I needed this today. Completely brilliant. Thanks, Sarah!!!
Really nice podcast, loved Sarah’s passion and energy. I have been hearing a lot of talk about not using extinction and I have to admit, I am a little skeptical. That said, I love the discussion.
Impulse control is a complicated term, it evolves a lot of things: psychology, evolution, neuroscience…to name a few. Impulses, good ol’ normal impulses are good. It is the sexual impulse that allows animals to reproduce, it is the eating/hunger/hunting/scavenging impulse that allows animals to consume the calories and nutrients needed. So, to have impulses is normal and good.
Now, what is an impulse control “problem” in dogs? I think that is the first questions we need to ask. Yes, an owner will tell you that stealing food from the counter is a problem…a -knowledgeable- dog trainer will tell you that is perfectly normal dog behavior (they are scavengers after all)….So, I think the first discussion we need to start is how do we define “impulse control problem” in dogs. When does it qualify as “this is NOT normal behavior”? That would be a study I would be interested in reading. Because…unwanted behaviors…we can train the dog alternative ones, but I never think of them as “problem” (although I know they are a problem for the owner).
I have, however seen dogs that overreact to any small stimulus (for lack of socialization or other experiences)…..can these dogs change with “impulse control exercises” – What I mean is, if I teach the dog, Stay, leave-it, drop-it, etc…..will the dog stop reacting to other stimuli, or will desensitizing the dog to other stimuli become easier? Again, these are studies I would be interested in reading… And I mention studies a lot, because anecdotal stories…we all have them, but we can’t draw conclusions and generalize from them. We can however use anecdotal evidence to spark new research.
I think I am rambling…but only because this podcast made me think a lot…. 🙂
Finally, I love errorless learning…its a beautiful concept and excercise, however…I would also like to see studies showing if the mild stress the animals go through during extinction have a long term advantage (like resilience) or not. Because if putting my dog through mild stresses will make him/her better adjusted to the world around him, then I would do it. We all go through many mild stresses everyday. However, if there is no advantage, then yes, using errorless learning would be worth it.
Tons more ideas and thoughts…but it will have to be for another time. Thanks Ryan for these great podcasts!
Amazing episode thank you Sarah and Ryan! *Goes to google every word*
(thanks for the links too!)
I Love this video as a learning tool. If you are willing to share it I would like to add it to one of my training classes at the San Francisco Zoo. I think this clearly shows the benefits of errorless learning.
Well done!
Debbie