On January 15 and 16, GSLTC welcomed Leslie Nelson to St. Louis to give her first area seminar, "The Rules, Tools, and Tricks of Positive Reinforcement Training." Forty-five people attended the two-day seminar. About twenty brought their dogs with them and got to participate in Leslie's "mock classes" and demonstrations. We had a wonderful time and learned so much. Here are some impressions of the seminar from GSLTC members who attended:
"Leslie demonstrated a large number of new ideas in the two days that she spoke. However, the things that really impressed me were the little tricks that could be implemented immediately in current classes without changing the actual curriculum. They included:
To get people to take very small steps when they are working with their dogs have them keep their knees together.
Setting specific numbers for students such as; work on a skill 3 times a day, bring 5 different types of treats, 100 error
free repetitions.
Catchy, fun names for skills we want students to practice (i.e.; the Name Game)
I found Leslie's explanation of her metamorphosis from correction based training to positive reinforcement inspiring. I especially enjoyed her logic when discussing training with punishment. To paraphrase her: "Trainers are incorrect when they say that punishment does not work. It does However, just because we can successfully use force and punishment to achieve a behavior does not make it right."
If I only retain a small portion of what we covered this weekend I will still become a better owner, trainer and instructor."
--Linda Campbell
"From my perspective, the thing I enjoyed most was seeing how
quickly the dogs learned to respond to the clicker and how easily it
can be implemented in basic obedience training. I have to admit, I
had been a little skeptical, but now I'm a believer. I hope to find
ways to use it more frequently in training my own dogs and also
incorporating it somehow in teaching classes. I also feel like I learned
a great deal about teaching with positive reinforcement, which I
wholeheartedly embrace as the type of trainer I want to be.
I think Leslie has a teaching style that is extremely easy to understand;
she is very "reachable" and does not make the novice trainer or
instructor feel inferior or inadequate. I only wish her training facility
were closer; I would love to be able to enroll in her classes."
--Chris Vassonei
"I was most impressed by Leslie Nelson's client
friendly training methods. We can all train dogs
fairly well, but can we get our methods across
to the clients as well as the dogs? I think that we
are successfully using similar training methods in our
Novice2/Ready for the Ring classes. Treats are
handed out liberally to dogs and trainees as rewards
(and occasionally lures). We never heel in a big
group circle. We stop testing our dogs when they
do something right and before they do things wrong
. We keep treats available to our trained dogs
throughout the sessions and encourage rewards
while in the act of doing things correctly, not after
. We encourage learning new behaviors (tricks) to
help de-stress trainees and dogs. I am now going to
incorporate more figure-8 cone heeling and insist
that rewards be higher quality and more liberal and varied. Ready really enjoyed being a demo-dog so maybe I'll ask him for additional suggestions."
--Val Smith
"Leslie Nelson has a strength rarely found among dog trainers -- her
people skills and her dog skills are on a par, and they're both off the
positive end of the scale. I've heard Leslie speak many times before,
as she's one of the long-time staff members at a Dog Camp I've
attended. But I'm always eager to hear her again to see what new
ideas she's added to her training philosophy, what new routines to her
training repertoire.
Leslie's seminar at HSMO was structured around the curriculum of
the Family Dog sequence of classes at her Tails training facility in
Connecticut. But it wasn't just pitched to dog training instructors; it
was full of great ideas for owners who simply want to train their own
dogs.
Leslie talked about her conversion from traditional to positive training. She was inspired by Ted Turner, the trainer at Sea World, who designed positive methods for training killer whales (pupils for whom punishment and force were simply not an option). Prominent in Leslie's notes and presentation was her mantra -- "quick generous variable unpredictable," a reminder of the character traits needed in successful positive trainers.
Here is one of Leslie's recent insights. Tired of flailing about when anxious students asked her when they could eliminate the use of food rewards, she proposed "a year" as the perfect answer. She figured it would be specific enough to quiet the naysayers, yet after a year of food-based rewards, they'd be so happy with their dogs' progress that they'd never give up the habit of positive rewards."
--Taffy Ross
"I have to tell you the only reason I went to the seminar
was because I was in charge of the food. I was going to
bring breakfast, leave, come back for lunch, then leave
again at 1pm. Well, was I in for a surprise. As Leslie
started the seminar I'm thinking yeah yeah, I know I know
But as it went on I just kept getting more excited and then
when she took dogs and showed what she was talking
about and demonstrated with a dog who didn't have a clue
and the dog did it WOW! Watching Linda Campbell's
dog (I should say husband's dog) push the cone across the
floor was awesome since he wasn't being actively trained
and this was done just with a clicker and treats, no talking
allowed.
I really liked this seminar. I have only been to a couple seminars but this one fit me. It was about positive reinforcement, no negative reinforcement and you treat all the time (which I believe in).
I would really like for Dixie, Lucy, Val and whoever else is in the club who went to the seminar really think about having a class fashioned after Leslie Nelson seminar."
--Jackie "O"
"P.S. I would go again today if she was here."
"For me, the seminar was a chance to hear the perspective of someone
who has been in the dog-training world for a long time, has seen a variety
of theories espoused and methods used, and has come to her own unique
conclusions and perspective on how best to enjoy living with our dogs. I
got the chance to see the magic of using a clicker to train by using it to
shape a behavior in my own dog, which was facinating and eye-opening.
Leslie helped me understand how my own body language was affecting my
dog, making it harder rather than easier for her to do what I wanted her to
do, and I will take that knowledge with me as I FINALLY pursue a CD
with this dog, having gained a measure of confidence that I didn't have
before."
-- Mary MacKenzie
I would like to thank the following people for their invaluable help before, during, and after the seminar.
Mary Ann Mueller, for providing Leslie's wonderful lodgings at the Dorchester.
Jackie O'Guin, for handling breakfasts, lunches, and drinks both days.
Taffy Ross, for helping with coffee service and for being the first to suggest bringing Leslie to St. Louis long ago.
Annie O'Toole, for arranging for a cordless microphone.
Lucy Bailey, for supervising parking and for shuttling seminar guests to and from the parking lot.
Val Smith, for assisting with parking, and helped with coffee service.
Jenny Mondello, for shuttling seminar guests to and from the parking lot and for overseeing the sales of Leslie's books
and other items.
Jenny also ordered our cool new GSLTC pens for the seminar "goodie bags."
Linda Schulte, for helping to sell books and other items for Leslie.
Chris Vassonei, for her wonderful job with registration, before the seminar and as people arrived.
Donna Yakel, for keeping the seminar information updated on the website.
Linda Campbell, Carrie Wessler, and Sue Alkire, for providing all kinds of help before and throughout the seminar.
Thanks to the Humane Society for providing the auditorium, which was just right for this presentation. And thank you to the Humane Society maintenance staff for setting up and breaking down for us.
Thanks to Forest Park Community College for allowing seminar attendees to park in their lot.
Please forgive me if I have forgotten anyone. So many people contributed to the success of this seminar that I'm sure to leave out a name but believe me, every contribution was sincerely appreciated. All of you are the reason why so many people stopped by to tell me how well-run they thought the seminar was. Congratulations on a job very well done!
Dixie Lehmann
Director of Training
"I found the conference last weekend to be particularly pertinent to me, as to
where I am in my development as an instructor and trainer. As a cross-over
trainer, I am always struggling to keep my hands off the leash, and train with my
head. Each time I attend a conference, or read an article, I'm closer to my
goal. The timing was right, as I was just about to start another Behavior Basics
class the following week.
Leslie Nelson's presentation was full of information for use in a class setting, as
many of her examples were taken from situations that arose in her training
school. Her enthusiasm about working with basic behavior classes was
contagious. One question that often comes up in class is how to manage pulling
dogs while starting to train for loose-leash walking, so the training isn't
sabotaged. Her suggestion is for the owner to use different equipment for
training, and walking. The dog can differentiate between the harness (or
whatever is used) that he can pull with, and the collar, where he is rewarded for
not pulling.
She emphasized how important the "value" of the
reward is to the dog. Armed with roast beef, she
had the dogs drooling for her attention. Also, it is
not just the value of the reward, but how it is
dispensed. A piece of beef that is given to the
dog in very small bits, while sweet nothings are
murmured him over a period of time, is far more
valuable to the dog than the same size piece
swallowed in one piece. She calls the first
"fine-dining", and the second, "fast food".
This is the technique she uses for her Really
Reliable Recall, which is an emergency recall that
is trained over a period of months, for only
three repetitions a day. She demonstrated how
to incorporate this into a class setting with a
relay exercise.
She described a unique (to me) way of dealing with jumping dogs. Using John Fischer's disks, when the dog jumps up, the disks are thrown on the ground to startle the dog, and the dog is quickly pushed outside the door, while the leash is held inside, with the door closed. After a few seconds, the door is opened and the dog comes back in. Each time he jumps, it is repeated, and he is rewarded for not jumping. Her demonstration was very successful.
It was a great weekend, and I look forward to using some of her ideas in the classes."
To get people to take very small steps when they are working with their dogs have them keep their knees together.
