We live in a culture of “No”. Indeed, studies have found that (at least in the U.S.) we are told ‘no’ more than 18,000 times by the time we’re 18 years old. That’s an average of 1000 times a year, or up to 3 times a day. Ouch!
No wonder we get so wrapped up in how to handle our dogs when they’re wrong!
In the +R world, we place considerable emphasis on reinforcing what’s right, and telling our dogs what we want them TO DO. We want to keep things happy and positive for our dogs, and we put a lot of energy into helping them be right.
And so, figuring out how to handle mistakes in training or performance can pose quite a quandary! If you’ve been in the dog sport world for any time, here are a few responses you might be familiar with:
“I use a low value reinforcer when she makes a mistake, and high value or jackpot when she gets it right”
“When she makes a mistake, I stop, ask for something simple, and reward that so she doesn’t know there’s a problem”
“If I don’t use a No Reward Marker (NRM), how do I let my dog know he was wrong?”
Which of these, if any, is the best approach? If none, then what do I do instead?
Where does “errorless learning” fit into this picture? Is there any room in +R training for mistakes? And why do we get so caught up in our dogs’ mistakes anyway?
In this webinar, we’ll unpack all of the above! Which will lead us squarely into what some might find to be a controversial conclusion, but that I hope to convince you is the optimal path forward to effective learning and joyful training.
I hope you’ll join me in radically rethinking how to handle errors!
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