Good training often looks like toast turning brown. No huge drama, just gradually better and better in easy steps – “thin slices” – that gradually add up to something beautiful. Thin slices help build the confidence that comes with repeated success, a wonderful gift for any dog – and for any handler.
Thin slices are important in humane training, helping us to work with animals in a way that avoids pressuring them, respects their individual timetable and capacities, and builds success. Underlying this approach is deep trust in the dog’s ability to do their best when we make sense to the dog in a way that suits their individual temperament, when the slice is right.
Learning Objectives
- Understanding how the individual dog defines the right slice
- Recognizing when the slice is right, and when it is not
- How lumping and fuzzy criteria block success
- Why repetitions & reinforcement are not the whole picture
CEUs: PPAB 1, CCPDT 1, KPA 1, & PMCT 1 IAABC pending
About the Presenter:
Suzanne Clothier has been working with animals professionally since 1977. Her positive and humane approach, Relationship Centered Training™ (RCT) promotes promote healthy, respectful and joyful dog/human connections.
The author of Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships With Dogs (2002), her innovative programs include Treat/Retreat, the Enriched Puppy Protocol, CARAT™, RAT™, FAT™, as well as many RCT techniques, online courses and webinars. A trainer of trainers, she has taught on a broad range of topics throughout the US and internationally, and served as a consultant to major service dog schools.
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