Conditioned Cues: Setting Up Novice Pet & Service Dog Learners for Success with Sharon Wachsler

Do your basic manners students attach their recall or “wait” cues before the dog knows the behavior, or when the cue is already poisoned? Have you struggled to train “drop it” effectively in group classes? Have you wondered how best to train a psychiatric service dog to alert to a handler’s self-injury or anxious behavior or a hearing dog to alert to a sound?

In this webinar, Sharon Wachsler details how classically conditioning a cue can be a game-changing step for clients. Conditioned cues have markedly improved her students’ ability to follow instructions, as well as built more reliable behavior in their dogs. Topics covered include which cues to condition, how to condition them, and video examples of clients training with conditioned cues. Examples focus primarily on basic manners skills, but also touch on service dog task training.

Learning Objectives

1. The difference between operant and classical conditioning
2. The definition of a conditioned cue and how to train one
3. Which cues are best to train with classical conditioning and which with operant conditioning
4. Why conditioned cues are easier and more effective for both dogs and owners in typical novice manners lessons (group or private)
5. How conditioned cues can be used for task training for service dogs

Your Presenter –Sharon Wachsler

Sharon Wachsler CPDT-KA, KPA-CTP is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner, and owner of At Your Service Dog Training in Hadley, MA. Sharon and her staff offer owner-training service dog services — online and on-site — throughout the United States. She provides pre-adoption consulting and assessment to help clients find the right dog, as well as private and group classes online and on-site, on manners, public access, and task training. Sharon also offers mentoring and consulting to professional and aspiring dog trainers and is a frequent presenter on service dogs and service dog training to trainers, owners, and businesses.

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