Idealism vs. Pragmatism in Canine Training: Behavioral Science with Dr. Stewart Hilliard

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw and Dr. Stewart Hilliard discuss: Why your dog training should be based on theory, pragmatic results, and experience. Theoretical vs intuitive dog training.  How is idealist training different from pragmatic training?  Why you should not be removing all stressors from your dog training.  Control and learned helplessness.   Key Takeaways: Dog training is a long series of lonely decisions. You are a team of one training your dog, and even if you have a coach, in the moment, you are the one making each decision based on the problem facing you in the moment. Technical training is great, but you do need to be able to generalize the training for different locations and situations for the best results. If, in the course of doing its job, your dog will face adversity, then having a background in overcoming some adversity in training is going to stand the dog in good stead. There is considerable discussion and data that speak to the point that the ideal state for an animal to develop in is not necessarily one that is free of stress. Aversive control can be used without producing bad welfare for the subjects of the training. On the flip side, excellent positive reinforcement technicians also produce really good results in dog training.  Animals in avoidance are not running from something; they are running to something safe.    "If you want to engage with dogs intellectually, they're a very rich topic for intellectual engagement, because they're super interesting. And you can look at them at any level you want; you can look at dog training at any level you want. And for some people, the pathway to getting really good is becoming theoretically very, very strong." —  Dr. Stewart Hilliard   Episode References:  Go to Kynology.org now and start an account to stay up to date on Kynology events, upcoming resources, and products!   Get Jerry's book Controlled Aggression on Amazon.com   Contact Stewart:  Website: https://www.caninetrainingsystems.com/  Book: Schutzhund, Theory and Training Methods - A Book by Susan Barwig and Stewart Hilliard, Ph.D. - https://www.amazon.com/Schutzhund-Theory-Training-Methods-Reference/dp/0876057318   Contact Jerry: Website: controlledaggressionpodcast.com Email: [email protected] Tarheel Canine Training:  www.tarheelcanine.com YouTube:  tarheelcanine Twitter: @tarheelcanine Instagram: @tarheelk9 Facebook: TarheelCanineTraining Protection Sports Website: psak9-as.org Patreon:   patreon.com/controlledaggression Slideshare: Tarheel Canine Calendly: https://calendly.com/tarheelcanine  Tarheel Canine Seminars: https://streetreadyk9.com/  Tarheel Canine Student Portal: https://tcstudentportal.com/    Sponsors:  ALM K9 Equipment: almk9equipment.com PSA & American Schutzhund: psak9-as.org Tarheel Canine: tarheelcanine.com The Drive Company: thedriveco.com  The Drive Company Instagram: instagram.com/thedrive.co  Dog Armour: dogarmour.com  Dog Armour Instagram: instagram.com/dogarmourpro  Rogue Arsenal: roguearsenal.com  Rogue Arsenal Instagram: instagram.com/rogue_arsenal_official    Train hard, train smart, be safe.     Show notes by Podcastologist Chelsea Taylor-Sturkie   Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.