Awesomedogsshareables

If you understand the core skills, you realize they are blueprints. You can run with it.
Classical is a two part process. Pay unconditionally, no matter what, in step one. This is the linking phase. The brain needs to link two things together. (Ring a bell… means dinner!) Or in this case, alarm means high value treatin the crate. Just link them in step one.
Step one creates step two. Behaviours emerge seemingly out of thin air.
In step 2, swap to rewarding those behaviours that suddenly “appear”. Get them right. Get them tight.

To teach your dog a fire drill plan ( and so they don’t hide when they hear the alarm) set the crate in a location that fits with your escape plan. No running about! Get out!
If ever there is a real fire that blocks your animal from reaching the crate, do not… repeat… do not put yourself at risk.

You’re always trying. Don’t be a distracted human. Your dog is always learning whether you’re paying attention.. or not!

When doing classical conditioning, there are two right options and two wrong options. This allows for clarity.
If there is a trigger, treat. No trigger, no treat. To do anything else would be to add confusion.
If there is no trigger and you treat, why would the dog's brain put that food together with the trigger?
If there is a trigger and you don't treat, you're telling the dog that they are not connected.
Clarity...always a good thing.
What should you do during the downtime between triggers? See our blog on "Training the Opposition" for exercises that can create a clean line of sight for your dog's association building.
https://awesomedogs.blog/2018/07/18/work_the_opposition/

This is from a series of blogs I'm writing on reading research studies. Given how popular the science of dog training has become, perhaps learning what all that jargon means might be a good thing to talk about. The blog on "Does Size Matter" is available here:
https://awesomedogs.wordpress.com/2015/12/01/reading-research-does-size-matter/