Introduction to Kynology With Dr. Stewart Hilliard

Description

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw and Dr. Stewart Hilliard discuss:

The debate between purely positive training and balanced training.
How Kynology goes deeper than just basic dog training.
Ways in which the scientific process in research can go wrong.
The role of a canine trainer is to teach their dog to handle stress.
Stewart's two answers to the question "Why do you need aggression?"

Key Takeaways:

While there are about 25 research studies that create the canon of dog training, a lot of them are based on pure science or theory alone and do not actually understand the practicality of dog training.
Research is often not replicated enough to know if the original model and data were structured and analyzed properly.
Punishing behaviors into existence is not really a thing that happens in real life, human, ethical training.
Good practitioners don't teach with adversives. They use aversives to facilitate generalization of behaviors that are established using positive reinforcement and generalization of those behaviors to different physiological and emotional states.

"You and I, in February, are going to run a seminar under the aegis of kynology. It's an effort…to provide really good, solid, formal education to other kynologists - which means people who are really, really interested in dogs, dog behavior, and learning. Not in a casual way, but those who want to know everything they can." — Dr. Stewart Hilliard

Episode References: