Reflections on Talking with Tazzie and Being Fair to Your Dog

What to listen for:

Today, Stacy, Robin, and Crystal sit down to discuss the biggest takeaways from their recent conversation with Tazzie Winkler, in the previous episode (#60).

They discuss what it means to see scenarios from your dog’s point of view in order to ensure that they get from point A to B as efficiently as you intend.

With the powerful lesson that “dogs never lie” ringing in their minds, our hosts talk about the skill of tailoring your training around your dog’s unique motivations, and in so doing reinforcing the right behaviors from the get-go.

They talk about the difference between hyperactivity and drive, and how to work around high-arousal dogs to keep them silent and driven at the same time.

Tazzie shared that empathy—understanding others—is the most important trait in a handler. Crystal expounds on this idea, bringing to mind the three elements that create genuine empathy: thoughts, actions, and feelings; as well as the three expressions empathy can take: cognitive, emotive, and empathic action.

Our hosts stress the importance of manipulating an environment as much as needed (and not more than necessary) and keeping your training routine consistent, all in order to give the dog the greatest opportunity to generalize a specific behavior.

Key Topics:

• Putting yourself in your dog’s shoes (03:29)

• The difference between hyperactivity and drive (06:21)

• Letting your dog teach you (08:53)

• A deep dive into empathy + Empathic Dog Training (16:08)

• Three steps to growing your emotional intelligence (19:52)

• Creating a clear progression plan to minimize your dog’s incorrect decisions (23:46)

• The importance of consistency (30:33)

• Motivation and reinforcement (41:09)

• Applying empathic action (43:58)

Resources:

• K9 Detection Collaborative Episode 60: Talking Dogs with Tazzie Winkler

• Rivanna K9 Services

• Understanding the Premack Principle in Dog Training

• Schutzhund Village

• How dogs love us | Dr. Gregory Berns | TEDxAtlanta

• HOWGO Dog Rope Toy (affiliate link)

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• Check out the K9 Detection Collaborative FB page and comment on the episode post!

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• Crystal Wing K9 Coach can be found here!

• You can follow us for notifications of upcoming episodes, find us at k9detectioncollaborative.com to enjoy the freebies and tell your friends so you can keep the conversations going.

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