Join Me at the Pet Professional Guild Force-Free Summit!
Presenting: TrickMeister Reinforcement Strategies for Success!
I can’t believe how quickly the second Pet Professional Guild’s Force-Free Summit is approaching! It doesn’t seem like two minutes since we were in Tampa attending the first Summit in November, 2015! November, 2016 will soon be here and we will all be back in Tampa for the second round!
I’m fortunate to be presenting at the Summit on a subject that I believe to be absolutely crucial to our pet clients’ well-being – reinforcement! My presentation and working LAB is entitled: TrickMeister Reinforcement Strategies for Success.
Understanding the basics of how pets learn and how our behavior affects the behavior of pets in our care is critical to promoting not only learning but also a deep bond and a relationship that will blossom! TrickMeister Reinforcement Strategies for Success will give an overview of operant and respondent conditioning with a particular focus on positive reinforcement. We will delve into the what, when, where, how and why of reinforcement, taking a look at different reinforcement strategies and how any chosen strategy will enhance or impede our daily interactions with our canine clients and the pace at which they learn.
Appropriate reinforcement can help promote accelerated learning and ‘happy’ learners. Play is essential for healthy brain function and reinforcement is an integral part of the ‘game’. The reinforcement strategies we use in our training plan will affect the behavior being taught. TrickMeister learners are happy learners because we set them up for success and endeavor to make sure that all learning is fun! Whether teaching a dog to walk on a loose leash, to sit, stay, spin or do a figure eight, all behaviors are taught as ‘tricks’. Learning is broken down into easy to achieve steps, which are appropriate for the individual, with each step being optimally reinforced. Much thought is given to the learning cycle, the antecedents, behaviors and consequences, and how we can best ensure that our clients are comfortable in their surroundings – that we, the handler, are helping to promote a positive conditioned emotional response to all tools, equipment, new behaviors and of course events.
Here are some of the learning objectives from the TrickMeister Reinforcement Strategies for Success presentation:
- An overview of operant and respondent conditioning.
- Develop a greater understanding of the reinforcement process.
- Understand where reinforcement occurs in the learning cycle.
- Learn how to choose an appropriate reinforcer.
- Learn the most effective strategies to deliver the reinforcer.
- Gain a deeper understanding of the ‘hierarchy of rewards’.
- Understand what we mean when we refer to primary and secondary reinforcers.
- Learn about motivating operations and setting events and how they will affect the behavior and the ‘value’ of the reinforcer.
- Understand the different schedules of reinforcement and why I think you should or shouldn’t implement them.
In the working ‘LAB’ area of this presentation, we will practice some of the different strategies you can use to deliver the reinforcer with a view to establishing how each strategy affects the behavior being taught.
I look forward to meeting you all in Tampa where you can join me for 3.5 Days of Education, Networking & Force-Free Fun!
PPG’s 2nd Annual Educational Summit in Tampa, FL, November 7th – 11th 2016 is being held at the The Sheraton Tampa East. Conveniently located off Interstates 4 and 75. The hotel is 10 minutes from Downtown and Tampa International Airport (TPA) is just 20 minutes away! Payment plans are available to everyone and PPG members receive a great discount!
For more information and online registration for The Pet Professional Guild 2016 Summit, please go to: https://petprofessionalguild.com/Summit-2016-Registration
TrickMeister is a comprehensive force-free online training program for pet professionals and guardians. The aim of the TrickMeister courses is to teach the science behind the training as well as all the skills needed to train a pet dog, with a big emphasis on enjoyment. We firmly believe that all training should be fun but knowledge based. We also believe in setting the learner up for success. This applies both to our human learners and their canine buddies! For more information about TrickMeister, please go to: https://dognosticselearning.com/TrickMeister