Animal Training Academy

1.20 – Ryan introduces Adele Shaw and her bio that is driven by her passion for horses. 3.22 - Adele thanks Ryan and they discuss the challenges that occurred at the start of 2020. 6.00 – Ryan aske Adele to take us back to where she first started her journey with positive reinforcement training. 11.55 – Adele explains the particular problems that she experienced with the horse she was training. 19.50 – Ryan asks if Adele is influenced by the local horse community in Texas and the thoughts on her using clicker training. 25.00 – Adele discusses the courage, bravery and her learning process that was required to make the change in her training methods. 32.10 – Ryan asks if she sees a difference in herself and how she views herself in the process. Adele details how she is now less goal orientated in tasks and the evolution and stages that she has worked through in her learning. 39.00 – Adele discusses what she learnt from understanding her growth mindset, looking into choice and control, and the experience of studying with Susan Freidman on the LLA course. 43.20 – Adele unpacks what she means by terrifying for her when she is using and learning new information and skills. 48.30 – Ryan asks if Adele teaches her mindset to others and how she goes about this. 53.25 – Adele discusses that she needed all of her experiences to be where she is now, including any experience of failures that have taken place. 1.11.10 – Ryan and Adele wrap up with explaining that the human learner needs to be in the growth mindset to explore all opportunities.

4:25 - Sean discusses brave learning and how it has enabled him to be resilient through many challenges 9:00 - Sean explains how his desire to learn developed with direct feedback and reinforcement, and how he learnt the difference between education and learning. 13:30 - Sean describes his first experience of using a clicker and his first step into the world of using Tag teaching and the support and the exploration into help teaching his daughter. 20:40 - Sean explains more regarding the genetic conditions of his daughter and the impact on her learning. 25:30 - After Sean reached out to Martha at Tag Teach and Joan Orr he began looking for small behaviours that he could reinforce that her daughter was able to do and how ‘touch’ became the foundation behaviour skill for all other learning. 31:50 - Sean describes how he realised at the time that he had not previously been able to see the tiny behaviours that his daughter, Erin, was offering as functional behaviours. Sean explains how his daughter became his great teacher through the tag teach process. 38:00 - Ryan asks further about the contingencies relating to the process of shaping behaviours and Sean explains the importance of the tactile reinforcement for Erin. 42:30 - Sean briefly explains the process of teaching Erin to learn to accept the process of a blood test. 44:30 - Sean explains how he began to try to find out a way to help Erin to learn to walk and the processes and tag points that he worked through with Erin to build the balance to be able to start to prepare for learning to walk. 1:00:00 - Sean explains how he has had to fight, even if he doesn’t want to, to be able to provide his daughter with her own control and choices and to provide her with her personal rights, including recently winning the fight for funding for a TagTeach program to be able to continue to teach her.

4:40 - Ryan asks Amy to take us back to when she started with training with positive reinforcement. 9:30 - Ryan and Amy discuss her PhD further and the questions that were raised through her PhD and how her research resulted in studying and researching studies involving children. 15:40 - Amy explains that the approach at UC Berkeley was focused around cognition rather than psychology and asking cognitive questions rather than focussing on ethology and behaviour. She details how the questions we ask about dogs tend to mirror the questions that we ask about children. 32:20 - Amy Cook explains how she started working with Denise at the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy and expands how play became an important part in her thoughts. 42:00 - Amy describes play as a therapy for the animal. 45:30 - Amy explains how having a low value play interaction allows us to see when they ‘can’t’ respond. 49:35 - Amy highlights using play in a set up and starting it in the environment when a dog is under threshold with a detailed example. 56:20 - Amy explains how using ‘theraplay’ and social play can be used as an early warning system, to indicate the low levels of stress the dog may be exhibiting in an environment. 58:30 - Ryan discusses with Amy an article regarding The Play Way written in the Whole Dog Journal. 1:05:50 - Ryan and Amy encapsulate the overall principle to training with the play way.

4:30 - Veronica shares the experience of her first dog and the training journey through different dog schools until she was able to find one to help her with her reactive dog. 10:00 - Veronica explains how she became sick with the neurological condition Generalized Dystonia and her life came to a halt. 12:20 - Veronica explains how she became interested in the Service Dog industry which led to the decision to open her business Co-operative Paws 15:00 - Veronica realised the need to bridge the gap between the Service Industry and the pet dog owners that needed professional guidance to train their dogs appropriately. 16:40 - Ryan thanks Veronica for bravely sharing her experience with a life changing disease and Veronica shares how it has helped her understanding of the requirements with the human part of training service dogs. 25:20 - Ryan asks if Veronica’s early approach to seek out and try something different helped her with her illness. 28:00 - Veronica explains how she got the Service Dog Coach Certification program up and running and what was involved. 35:00 - Veronica explains how her work changes constantly, and incorporates the support she gives to students, the development of courses, the work involved in training of her dogs, and the marketing aspect required. 39:40 - Ryan asks Veronica why it is important that we have science based trainers in the service training industry. 43:30 - How a trainer might get started in offering service dog training and what is involved. 51:30 - Veronica discusses further about point 4, and in particular how she handles the intake and plans for addressing the initial cases. 55:50 - Ryan asks Veronica if there are any particular resources that she shares with people looking for information. 56:50 - What are the next steps and expectations if a trainer wants to get involved with the certification process. 59:00 - Ryan asks his final question and asks Veronica to take us into the future and what she would love to see happen in the next 5-10 years.

6:28 – Shelly asks Ryan his first question and asks him about his life outside of the animal training world and how it has influenced his work and vice versa. 13:23 – Ryan discusses the four books that have greatly influenced his world and including his daily life and his animal training career. How to win Friends and Influence People. Crucial Conversations Growth Mindset First things First 25:51 –  Shelly asks Ryan to share with us a recent training related challenge that he has experienced, how he worked through the challenge and what he has learnt from the experience. 39:33 – Shelly asks Ryan to share a story about a behaviour that he has trained or a training situation that he is proud of experiencing. Ryan details the process and that he had with Reg and how the relationship developed through the journey. 46:43 – Ryan shares a second story regarding the goose ‘Security’ that was able to free room around the park. 56:17 – Ryan shares a recent example with his training with Fibi and why he was training that particular skill in that particular way. He discusses how we may be able to look at many different ways of getting to a specific goal but each one may develop a different type of learning experience.

3:10 - Ryan asks Erica if she can take the listeners back to the first time she heard about animal training. 15:20 - Erica discusses how her curiosity developed from a young age. 17:30 - Ryan asks Erica about how she discusses statements from others that may not have any scientific data supporting them - The two questions Erica would love people to ask! 21:05 - Ryan asks Erica what she is doing in 2020 and where the listeners can find out more about her. 24:30 - Talking about shelter dogs & Eric’s current research. 31:25 - Ryan asks Erica to take us through a journey through her research projects. 35:00 - Erica unpacks what she means by ‘having fun with the system’ for the dog trainer at home. 40:10 - Erica uses an example to help explain how to know if your making progress. 42:20 - Ryan and Erica discuss breaking aims down into bite sized goals and approximations. 44:15 - Ryan asks - If we are setting approximations, how does Erica decide what to do next? 46:45 - Ryan highlights and discusses a phrase that Erica raises “if your worries are changing then you are making progress” 48:47 - Erica talks about some of the results of her research regarding the magnitude of food in training 55.55 - Erica discusses one of her studies where they look at if access to the owner is a reinforcement. 59:00 – Erica takes us into the future and explains what she would like to see happen in the next 5-10 years in the world of animal training.