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Our hosts, Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing, dive deep into a counterintuitive training philosophy sparked by their recent interview with Petra Ford: sometimes accepting imperfection creates better performance in complex behavior chains.
The conversation began with Petra's story about reinforcing her dog even when she knew it wasn't sitting perfectly square. When working on complex detection behaviors, trying to perfect every element simultaneously can destroy the bigger picture. As Robin notes with her recall-refine work over 600 feet of varied terrain, if she withheld reinforcement because her dog's elbows weren't perfectly down, she'd be punishing extraordinary effort over a minor detail.
Crystal's breakthrough came through Denise Fenzi's exercise that forced her to reward every single repetition—even mistakes. When her dog Checkmate downed instead of sitting, Crystal still had to reward it. "I thought it would ruin my training," she admits, "but instead it ruined my frustration." The exercise revealed that her dogs were trying harder than she'd realized. They weren't being disobedient; they were navigating the learning process.
The Dames of Detection emphasize balance throughout. Yes, reward imperfect efforts when building complex chains or working through challenging problems. But don't reside there permanently—sloppy chains help no one. The key is reading patterns: one mistake is information, three times becomes a training issue to address.
Every attempt provides valuable information. Whether working detection, obedience, or protection sports, dogs need to feel free to try without fear of shutdown. When handlers create that emotional safety through strategic reinforcement—even of imperfect attempts—dogs develop the grit and resilience needed for complex work.
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