Hey! Great content! It's not weird that dopamine drop happens when they get a reward. Dopamine is a drive hormone. It makes us seek out food and mates (for survival and procreation - two most important things biologically). So, when you find food, dopamine drops and you can rest. That's why in people, in other animals as well, a wish to rest comes after having a meal, energy/motivation drops happen. :)
Could this explain why folks that use e collars or prongs say that their dog get excited when they produce these - the dogs gets a hit because these predict a walk which they enjoy (not the device)?
Our pup is on a diet to determine what he's allergic to. So he can't have ANY food other than his prescribed kibble and canned food. No surprise or favourite goodies for him! For 8 weeks! That is impacting his interest in training, and now I think I know why. I will try to focus more on toys, but he has always been pretty food motivated. Thanks for this deep dive, Susan!
Dog had a recall fail ( Ist in 5 years) at the local park...and I responded badly: "no , leave it, come here (x many times)," so I'm back at dog training at a local club...and no off leash in the local park ( dogs off-leash allowed there...) So the Environment wins...and I got more work to do... well, thanks for the hope it will get better!
Coming up 4 years on from starting my journey with my border collie girl, I have only just started to understand about dopamine. She is definitely on the Buzzy side of life!. Of course, I'm also trying to get my head around Seratonin and... diet. Can you do a similar deep dive Podcast on this topic? I'd be so grateful Susan. I love how you explain things so that we can understand the science. Thankyou Dogs That..😄
Loved this deep dive into the science! I couldn't figure out why my dog lost interest after he received a food reward, but now I have the answer. This should be a recommended video for people who are just getting started because it lays the groundwork for why targets are more effective than food lures.
Hello Susan, I love all your podcasts, although I´m often struggling to put them into action. My dog (Border Collie rescue) is a beautiful soul with a great recall, but I just can´t motivate her to work with me when we´re in the house. The one thing that gets her crazily excited (more than anything else) is diving after rocks that I flick in the water. The issues/thoughts I have: there are obviously safety concerns as she might catch and swallow a rock, so I have to be super-careful. b) it´s an outdoor activity and can´t be used for indoor training c) can I use her excitement to transfer the value to another activity (which I can play with her indoors and outdoors) and if yes, how would I accomplish this? She is not interested in retrieving any floating items from the water btw. Thank you Susan and understand if my questions goes beyond the scope of commenting here, but maybe this might be an idea for a future podcast (practical use of reinforcers other than food and additional suggestions for transfer of value).
Hmmm, I've noticed one of my dogs gets a bit ho-hum in scentwork class. I've been using the same 2 to 3 reward. I'm going to switch it up and see how class goes tomorrow night! Thank you! I assumed I was offering enough variety, perhaps not. ;-)
it gives another "lightning bulb " for different things on my experience with my dogs during time . I myself discover that it also works for me. namely: when someone gives me an UNEXPECTED SINCERE compliment, I feel a whole lot of dopamine is released, which I can use for a whole week 😅😅😁😁.....and even later on . simonne/belgium
My understanding is (in humans), the quicker and the higher the dopamine peak the quicker and lower the trough of demotivation and depression - which means we usually return to the thing that gave us the quick hit and we go in a viscous circle of highs and lows. I can imagine what this would look like in a dog, kinda cray cray. Keeping the dopamine release slower and not as high seems optimal - an even keel, but is easier said than done. To make it even more confusing, I read a study In humans where they did an experiment of rewarding kids for tasks they already liked doing. At first the reward increased their playing behaviour but then the behaviour slowed below baseline and extinguished. The experimenters were measuring dopamine and it played a part in extinguishing the behaviour. The kids did eventually return to liking that task again but it took several weeks. I suspect that may also be transferred to dogs. If they already like doing it (self-reinforcing), then probably not a good idea to throw em treats.
I personally really like it when things get sciency and technical so I wouldn't mind more of that - however, I understand that these videos/podcasts should primarily be pretty condensed and light in order to appeal to a broader audience. BUT! If you choose to make like, a separate and longer video of deep diving, I and a few others would watch it with great interest. I also like to mention that your explanation about dopamine helped me on a very personal level as I am currently trying out medication for my ADD and it made me choose dopamine boosters over serotonin boosters which made a significant difference. Furthermore, as someone with ADD it's generally difficult for me to absorb information, but your method of explaining things combined with your energy (even your speech pattern) really makes me pay attention. So, big kudos to that.
I'm so thankful for you channel. There's so much i still don't know and it gets frustrating. So many questions i worry about ridiculously. What if i start with too good a reinforcement and i ruin everything. I'm concerned my dog will never get to play with other dogs. Maybe we need a 2nd dog for him. We don't have him under full control yet. He'll be 2 in August. He can be snarky, although inconsistently, and it has been so hard to find someone who can help me recognize the visual cues to look for. We want to be able to take him places, take him with us, worried about flooding our are we making a big deal? Ugh. My husband doesn't remember three details and it is frustrating. Aka lure vs reinforcement and when. He thinks I'm a pain and i want to cause physical harm sometimes. We've worked very hard to get the little bit we are with him. We need to go see our family and we don't trust anyone with him. We aren't 8 and 10 anymore with our collies who somehow figured it out and were just wonderful by our standards as kids. Blah blah blah blah blah.
As someone whose life is completely ruled by the effects of Dopamine (or rather the lack of inability to produce it) I watched this with interest. Are you aware Susan that Parkinsons disease is caused cells in the part of the brain that produces dopamine dying off. Dopamine is responsible for the initiation and maintenance of muscle movement. So I completely sympathise with the rat that didn't want to climb the barrier to get to the bigger pile of food. It is incredibly difficult to make a physical effort when your muscles won't function properly. There are some days when I can barely get my feet off the floor. Despite all the medication I take every day I can only dream of having enough Dopamine left over for just getting moving to enjoy the effects of a spike 🤣🤣
Thank you as always for such an informative podcast! I was just curious if you are going to do a podcast on what you did to help This! enjoy training? I have a border collie who's birthday is probably within a few weeks of This!'s and we've really struggled with keeping him motivated with training and I know he has also had gut issues. Would love to hear your journey with her!
This explains why my puppy with gut issues had no interest in treats or training or playing unless it was with other dogs. I put it down to teething, or not being food driven, or second dog syndrome - until his appetite really fell off and he was drastically loosing weight ... (the worst thing I did was follow the vets advice when I first got him and mixed kibble in with his raw food). On the up and up now after quite a few scary months thanks to a nutritionist/homeopathic vet and a restorative raw diet.
Fascinating! This subject is very timely as I was watching a live stream on Instagram with a trainer who mentioned food that causes dopamine spikes and wanted to know more. 😊 Do any of these studies say which neurotransmitter took over when the dopamine level dropped?
I feel like I need a lot more information here... Does this mean that if I use the exact same reward to reinforce my dog for being in her hotzone, then she is no longer getting a dopamine for that? This seems to imply that there is no more reinforcmentat all after that dog has gotten to largest value treat you have? I love this deep dive and I love Science, but I feel like I have just enough information to be confused...
Very interesting. All my dogs are different and have different crazy levels. I have to watch this again and go back to the thing before the thing (I think I got it but this new video gives me a reason to do more research)
I have learned so much from these podcasts and doing the create games, Home school the dog and currently Recallers program but this particular podcast has shown me a mistake I have made. I currently have a 10-month-old standard poodle pup. She was originally owned by an 82-year-old lady and she gave her to me when the dog was six months old. Before she gave me the dog, twice a week I would meet the lady and the dog at a park and walk/play with her. I told the lady about crate games and home school the dog and did both these programs with the puppy however, she could not walk her safely on the lead outside her small back yard. So the old lady could be involved in working with her puppy we did lots of restrained recalls. This was really the only time the dog was loose outside of the home. This is now her favorite thing on earth. Now she is older and walking well on a loose lead in the reinforcement zoon I have started to try and go for some walks and just let her walk free but as soon as I unclip the lead she stops and just stands there. Now I know it is the "thing before the thing". I have been doing things like playing tug before unclipping the lead but as soon as we just start to walk she stops waiting for the recall.
hi susan my dog blu is an American Eskimo he has a bite history and has Aggression issues. blu also has trust issues. how can i train him to be a nicer dog? he feels my son and others are a threat . Blu goes after my son when he is off leash. he goes after my neighbors outside when on leash. what can i do to stop blu from being like this?
This is wonderful! I have been a science fan and a psych RN who LOVES brain science for decades and I learned a lot that I know will help me with my new(ish) to me rescue pup. She actually shows signs of both too much and too little dopamine. Hyper hyper hyper in the world but gives up easily with training if she doesn't get it right away. Thank you!
For a heel lure I feel like most dogs are very very engage with the technique. They are working for the release of the treat . Although they can smell and see and possibly even taste the treat something as basics as kibble can appear to drive a dog to be glued to a hand lure. It isnt until the very end or at the moment of the release treat that dog disengages so the simple presence of the treat isn’t what disengage it’s the when complete possession as been attained This is like why many dogs disengage sits stays etc once the treat is attain. dogs can sometimes see the red reinforcement release almost as a break because this possession / the quack of dopamine as been released and falls sharply Think a come or recall command . They come get the reinforcements then they are ok one to the next thing .
Such a brilliant explanation of dopamine and the brains of our dogs, and ourselves. Now I know why I really enjoy planning my vacations even a little bit more than actually going on them. I love to travel and have always wondered why there's a bit of a let down once I actually am ON the vacation. I think planning it is more than half the fun! Game on! Now I will apply that to my dog training too. It's a little like putting the carrot in front of the donkey - we will work toward the goal because the action of working toward it is in itself so rewarding. Perfect!
Interesting topic. Thank you for the deep dive. If you could, please take a simple game (e.g. collar grab), and explain how one might incorporate the Positive Prediction Error. If I'm using the same reward on the second and third success, I'm guessing that I'm not reaching a PPE and the dog doesn't get a Domaine release. Thanks for all you do. - John
Loved this! What do you recommend for high value rewards for food driven dogs? P.S. I have a 12 week old Havanese that I’m working with, so rewards have to be size appropriate.
Hi Susan! Thank you for such great content, it’s invaluable even to a seasoned, balanced trainer like myself. One thing you touched on in this video was the potential for a dog failing and starting to get frantic, offering many things. (I believe it’s called stimulus control?) This, I think, is something that keeps a lot of trainers from utilizing shaping more. Do you have any videos on how to avoid the mistakes that perpetuate this? Thanks again!!
Hi @Sarahprelle thanks for tuning in! We have a short video on stimulus control - ua-cam.com/video/Kn3tIuQ7t9g/v-deo.htmlsi=jc90heYPKdCkj4UX - and another video for help with dogs who get over-excited when training - ua-cam.com/video/06CyHsE-bEY/v-deo.htmlsi=mcavNz7lw1yTTuBu We also have a playlist for high drive dogs - ua-cam.com/play/PLphRRSxcMHy3tN5Z336OeZkYoF2dJ7gNY.html&si=oLTwy0vQgjn5Vkt1
Hi Susan, I just found your UA-cam channel. I’m very excited about learning more from you as I am within a few days of getting a new miniature dachshund. I’m retired and it’s been years since I had a dog and I have never attempted to “shape” a dog or myself with the dog. Please get me started on the correct way to building the dog’s happiness and our fun together. Thanks in advance for your efforts and hopefully a response to my request. Aubrey
Welcome and congratulations on your new pup, dachshunds are lovely little dogs 💕 While you're getting ready, our Puppy Essentials playlist will help you have a great start with them: ua-cam.com/video/rUIX5qW85tU/v-deo.html Please, let us know how you and your puppy do!
This was a wonderful podcast. I like discussions on research-based information to back up what I am doing. I had no doubts that what you were teaching us was sound, however. I just enjoy research data. Win definitely can reach a dopamine high with the thing before the thing - the word "crate" can send him flying from a sound sleep to "the game is on" mode in 10 seconds or less. And I'm nothing if I'm not unpredictable in all areas of my life. So this year in Alumni, I have used that to my advantage by learning from other members about the different ways they use and mix up the games. Win gets very driven and motivated by change, like running to a reward two times in a game, then just praise, then the next time he gets one from my hand. Tugging is the only game that requires lots and lots of planning to get the dopamine fix and running to his food bowl is a sure win there. But, although he's high on life, you might say, and that's good for training, he can't shut down in the evenings and the dopamine may be why. This has been his nemesis for 3 years, since he was one. Around 5 or 6:00, he starts pacing, panting, up on my lap, off my lap, until he finally crashes around 7:30 and takes a nap. But he's never really relaxed and a simple, low-level noise can have him up and about again. I've avoided high-energy games after 5:00 (kind of like don't feed the Gremlins after midnight), in the hopes that this would help him calm down. But this isn't helping. How do I now take him down a notch for the evenings so that he can relax and nap and enjoy a peaceful evening. If I should shoot on one to the Recaller's site for this question, just let me know. Thank you again for this dopamine fix!
Hi Katherine, thank you for your lovely note! If you could get a video and share that along with your record keeping in the Recallers website that would be a super.
Hi Susan. I see balanced trainers talk about the E collar at a low level can lead to a dopamine release, say when used for recall. Is his possible? I always think of the e-collar as an escape/avoidance tool.
Hello there, we recently had a podcast about England's proposal to ban shock collars that you can check out here for more info on Susan's stance: ua-cam.com/video/GXh4K-EWnMA/v-deo.html
I find the science and psychology sides of dog training to be so incredibly interesting. I ended up taking 1.5 pages of notes just on this one. I would love to see more videos like it in the future!
I am impressed of the explanation you give. I now have some help from you and your videos in my training with kids and horses and dogs and my lessons. This is all so good and this is making my world bigger and mutch easier to handle, train and explain to others. Thank you! 🐕
Thanks for all the helpful information! Will you do a podcast on what you feed your dogs? I am interested in learning more about the raw food diet, what types of meats you use, and how you ensure that everything is safe/healthy for your dogs.
great as always. There is one podcast about ending / release signal? Because this episode remember me how I train stationary stays : that the animal receives a succession of treats in variable intervals in keeping pose or station. So I coming closer to deliver treats, or receive treat is not a predition of stop behaviors. I usualy end using a "come" then a scatter treats or a toy play. But maybe staying is not tiresome, at the moment, and the dog may want to offer the same behavior . So if a had a better release maybe the dog could signal that he wants to continue?
Wow! My head is spinning. My dog loves loves loves to train... and I'm usually just using kibble as rewards. Maybe this puts her on the Buzzy side of things. Lots to think about... Also, a shout out on the clever graphics in this episode especially. Makes it even MORE entertaining 😁🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
Thank you for your insightfull, science based, brillant, positive approach to life and dog training. I absolutely enjoy all your videos and have changed my dog training approch accordingly. Thank you.
In the words of my generation, I suck, and yes you would say oh no no no you're just doing the best you can with your ability at the moment. And that is comforting. My one-year-old rescue dog is not motivated by food or play. After listening to your video about training outside-of-the-box and the shepherd motivated by bubbles, I thought what is my dog motivated by. she gets the most excited when she gets to run out the backyard in hope of chasing a critter. So I've been waiting at the door while waiting for her to give me a behavior so far she gives me a couple steps backwards so I click and let her out the door. So from learning from your videos and I have Crate games on the way in the mail, I think I'm doing the back door as a reward correctly.
Love love love your advices, always learn something. My dream is to come one day to Canada to meet you and train together with you my rescue dog, which I know for sure would be so beautiful and breathtaking, thanks for all the good work you do. Love you to pieces and my dog would love you as well, I have no doubt about that when she would know what an incredible beautiful soul you are. But perhaps, who knows she is already dreaming of, meeting you in person and finally get her lazy owner work and play with her more often. Lots of love xo Lea from Spain
Wow very interesting thank you Susan, it makes sense human & for animals.🙏 I couldn’t get puppy to come even if I ran away untill I gave him some salmon kaboom 💥 he was then giving me his attention.😄
I find this fascinating. I’m pretty sure I have a dog with too much dopamine. I have to train her completely different than my other dog. This explains so much and is very helpful. Thank you, Susan!
This is really interesting, my dog can get quite frantic during training - throwing in extra behaviours etc, which does become frustrating for both of us when I’m trying to up the criteria. She does actually have excellent calmness outside of training, I think possibly we both need to learn to slow things down, maybe training is giving me too much of a dopamine hit too!!!!
Thanks Susan! Dopamine has my interest for many years now but I never thought about the possibility my dog can have too much of it! It opens my eyes, again 😀
Thanks for the deep dive. Your insights always make me stop and think through whatever's going on with my dog. For instance, she came into heat. She's tired, cranky, and annoyed with the diaper. I don't think there's a high enough value treat to get any focus. So we've parked training for now. She can have treats just for being a cute trooper.
Hi Susan, I’ve read your book shaping success and literally my dog is just like buzz( in terms of over high energy) He will not chill until exhausted. I am a recallers member and I’ve been playing the games and his listening skills are getting better as well as impulse control. My question to you how do I get him to be relaxed and chill when we are not doing anything. He literally lies on the floor for a minute then walks to another room or gets his toys. The only way he will relax is when he is in his crate. I’ve tried placing a bed giving him some treats when he is calmly lying down but that has not worked very well. What would you have done differently with buzz in terms of bringing down the dopamine so he would not be so high all the time?
The biggest change I would have made with Buzzy was to have a manipulated his training environment better so that he would have gotten a higher rate of reinforcement in his training. Following Recallers we do that for you with the bite sized games. You might be better to post about this in Recallers where you can share video clips of what “relax” currently looks like.
Brilliant and enlighetening! I wuld love more training examples though, I just need it inn with a teeny weeny teaspoon. Will watch again! Thank you so much!
Oh my gosh! So much great info in this one. Thank you so much for breaking down all that science into understandable concepts! I had several Ah ha! moments! I do have a question though, If we are making our training addictive and a re enforcement that is equal to the previous re enforcement does not produce the dopamine release do we have to use ever increasing value in our re enforcement to make the training addictive and motivational?
Well Lisa the key is the value needs to be great than what is expected OR it needs to be UNEXPECTED. So if you are following one of our lesson plans (and I suspect you are) then all R+ will be unexpected...ie the dog can't predict when it is coming.
Love this 😃 I think my boy is the epitome of high dopemine levels. He does so much better with quiet sniff walks than crazy running round with his doggy pals. Despite what HE wants😂
Fascinating info on when dopamine spikes, too much dopamine leading to over excited dog. I've begun feeding my Lagotto frozen banana slices and ground pumpkin seeds. He loves them both!
I love you and how you train. I am doing my best to train my Great Pyrenees 5 month old for service dog. And have been watching so many different ways to train. And of course every one you meet has a different idea of how to train a dog. Since I found you I have had to rewind and start over. I get overwhelmed over what to watch first. But try and take notes on every thing. I can not afford to pay anything until after November. But look forward to getting more training from you then. Until then I just keep trying my best to watch all your videos on UA-cam.
Love all your videos / it takes me some time but K9 Sadie and I are learning a lot and doing better I can go down the stairs and Sadievno longer pulls me thanks Susan and team ♥🐕🦺♥
I found this video very interesting thanks for all the great information. I've trained my dog with lures and she made me realize so much her 'problem' behaviors are telling me that this does not work for her. She knows its a bribe and outsmarts me all the time with it. She used to also get very excited about training but slowly over time it started become a drag, I think I understand a lot more now. When she get's her favorite treats she definitely goes into frantic mode and does every trick she knows sometimes without us asking. At least I understand a little bit more why that is! Thanks so much I'm looking forward to creating a new plan to work better with my dog and have a better relationship!
Check out our playlist on Reinforcement, Permissions and Transfer of Value in Dog Training -
ua-cam.com/play/PLphRRSxcMHy1IUj_4P54q2PIuLNtnXjFO.html
Excellent. Thanks Susan, love these deep dives. I get a dopamine hit when my phone tells me you've done another video. Yippee.
🙏😊❤️
Hey! Great content! It's not weird that dopamine drop happens when they get a reward. Dopamine is a drive hormone. It makes us seek out food and mates (for survival and procreation - two most important things biologically). So, when you find food, dopamine drops and you can rest. That's why in people, in other animals as well, a wish to rest comes after having a meal, energy/motivation drops happen. :)
Could this explain why folks that use e collars or prongs say that their dog get excited when they produce these - the dogs gets a hit because these predict a walk which they enjoy (not the device)?
Our pup is on a diet to determine what he's allergic to. So he can't have ANY food other than his prescribed kibble and canned food. No surprise or favourite goodies for him! For 8 weeks! That is impacting his interest in training, and now I think I know why. I will try to focus more on toys, but he has always been pretty food motivated. Thanks for this deep dive, Susan!
Loved this episode so much! I thoroughly enjoy seeing the actual science behind training and behavior! I definitely geeked out on this one. 🙌🏻
Awesome! Thank you!
me too lol
Dog had a recall fail ( Ist in 5 years) at the local park...and I responded badly: "no , leave it, come here (x many times)," so I'm back at dog training at a local club...and no off leash in the local park ( dogs off-leash allowed there...) So the Environment wins...and I got more work to do... well, thanks for the hope it will get better!
Coming up 4 years on from starting my journey with my border collie girl, I have only just started to understand about dopamine. She is definitely on the Buzzy side of life!. Of course, I'm also trying to get my head around Seratonin and... diet. Can you do a similar deep dive Podcast on this topic? I'd be so grateful Susan. I love how you explain things so that we can understand the science. Thankyou Dogs That..😄
Added to the list, Jo!
Loved this deep dive into the science! I couldn't figure out why my dog lost interest after he received a food reward, but now I have the answer. This should be a recommended video for people who are just getting started because it lays the groundwork for why targets are more effective than food lures.
Hello Susan, I love all your podcasts, although I´m often struggling to put them into action. My dog (Border Collie rescue) is a beautiful soul with a great recall, but I just can´t motivate her to work with me when we´re in the house. The one thing that gets her crazily excited (more than anything else) is diving after rocks that I flick in the water. The issues/thoughts I have: there are obviously safety concerns as she might catch and swallow a rock, so I have to be super-careful. b) it´s an outdoor activity and can´t be used for indoor training c) can I use her excitement to transfer the value to another activity (which I can play with her indoors and outdoors) and if yes, how would I accomplish this? She is not interested in retrieving any floating items from the water btw. Thank you Susan and understand if my questions goes beyond the scope of commenting here, but maybe this might be an idea for a future podcast (practical use of reinforcers other than food and additional suggestions for transfer of value).
Hmmm, I've noticed one of my dogs gets a bit ho-hum in scentwork class. I've been using the same 2 to 3 reward. I'm going to switch it up and see how class goes tomorrow night! Thank you! I assumed I was offering enough variety, perhaps not. ;-)
it gives another "lightning bulb " for different things on my experience with my dogs during time . I myself discover that it also works for me. namely: when someone gives me an UNEXPECTED SINCERE compliment, I feel a whole lot of dopamine is released, which I can use for a whole week 😅😅😁😁.....and even later on . simonne/belgium
My understanding is (in humans), the quicker and the higher the dopamine peak the quicker and lower the trough of demotivation and depression - which means we usually return to the thing that gave us the quick hit and we go in a viscous circle of highs and lows. I can imagine what this would look like in a dog, kinda cray cray. Keeping the dopamine release slower and not as high seems optimal - an even keel, but is easier said than done.
To make it even more confusing, I read a study In humans where they did an experiment of rewarding kids for tasks they already liked doing. At first the reward increased their playing behaviour but then the behaviour slowed below baseline and extinguished. The experimenters were measuring dopamine and it played a part in extinguishing the behaviour. The kids did eventually return to liking that task again but it took several weeks. I suspect that may also be transferred to dogs. If they already like doing it (self-reinforcing), then probably not a good idea to throw em treats.
I personally really like it when things get sciency and technical so I wouldn't mind more of that - however, I understand that these videos/podcasts should primarily be pretty condensed and light in order to appeal to a broader audience. BUT! If you choose to make like, a separate and longer video of deep diving, I and a few others would watch it with great interest.
I also like to mention that your explanation about dopamine helped me on a very personal level as I am currently trying out medication for my ADD and it made me choose dopamine boosters over serotonin boosters which made a significant difference. Furthermore, as someone with ADD it's generally difficult for me to absorb information, but your method of explaining things combined with your energy (even your speech pattern) really makes me pay attention. So, big kudos to that.
I'm so thankful for you channel. There's so much i still don't know and it gets frustrating. So many questions i worry about ridiculously. What if i start with too good a reinforcement and i ruin everything. I'm concerned my dog will never get to play with other dogs. Maybe we need a 2nd dog for him. We don't have him under full control yet. He'll be 2 in August. He can be snarky, although inconsistently, and it has been so hard to find someone who can help me recognize the visual cues to look for. We want to be able to take him places, take him with us, worried about flooding our are we making a big deal? Ugh. My husband doesn't remember three details and it is frustrating. Aka lure vs reinforcement and when. He thinks I'm a pain and i want to cause physical harm sometimes. We've worked very hard to get the little bit we are with him. We need to go see our family and we don't trust anyone with him. We aren't 8 and 10 anymore with our collies who somehow figured it out and were just wonderful by our standards as kids. Blah blah blah blah blah.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ very interesting thanks you again Susan
As someone whose life is completely ruled by the effects of Dopamine (or rather the lack of inability to produce it) I watched this with interest. Are you aware Susan that Parkinsons disease is caused cells in the part of the brain that produces dopamine dying off. Dopamine is responsible for the initiation and maintenance of muscle movement. So I completely sympathise with the rat that didn't want to climb the barrier to get to the bigger pile of food. It is incredibly difficult to make a physical effort when your muscles won't function properly. There are some days when I can barely get my feet off the floor. Despite all the medication I take every day I can only dream of having enough Dopamine left over for just getting moving to enjoy the effects of a spike 🤣🤣
Thank you as always for such an informative podcast! I was just curious if you are going to do a podcast on what you did to help This! enjoy training? I have a border collie who's birthday is probably within a few weeks of This!'s and we've really struggled with keeping him motivated with training and I know he has also had gut issues. Would love to hear your journey with her!
This explains why my puppy with gut issues had no interest in treats or training or playing unless it was with other dogs. I put it down to teething, or not being food driven, or second dog syndrome - until his appetite really fell off and he was drastically loosing weight ... (the worst thing I did was follow the vets advice when I first got him and mixed kibble in with his raw food). On the up and up now after quite a few scary months thanks to a nutritionist/homeopathic vet and a restorative raw diet.
Susan Garrett you are amazing. SO MUCH information. You not only help my dogs you DEFINITELY HELP ME. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, @PAULA B!
As always love the podcast. I learn something every time 🤗
Awesome! Thank you, Judy!
I just saw a video that said you shouldn't give dogs avocado. It causes gut problems, vomiting, and diarrhea.
That was super informative! Thank you .
Fascinating!
This subject is very timely as I was watching a live stream on Instagram with a trainer who mentioned food that causes dopamine spikes and wanted to know more. 😊
Do any of these studies say which neurotransmitter took over when the dopamine level dropped?
Reviewing this podcast and had an a-ha moment. Basically Dogs That programs have shaped humans into dealers of dopamine hits for dogs 😝
This is very important information. I will use this in my training every day! I have a new affection for bananas and pumpkin seeds.
I feel like I need a lot more information here... Does this mean that if I use the exact same reward to reinforce my dog for being in her hotzone, then she is no longer getting a dopamine for that? This seems to imply that there is no more reinforcmentat all after that dog has gotten to largest value treat you have? I love this deep dive and I love Science, but I feel like I have just enough information to be confused...
Thank you for all your videos
Glad you like them, thanks for commenting!
Very interesting. All my dogs are different and have different crazy levels. I have to watch this again and go back to the thing before the thing (I think I got it but this new video gives me a reason to do more research)
Very intresting and helpful. I'll look at it in the future when training with my dogs!
I have learned so much from these podcasts and doing the create games, Home school the dog and currently Recallers program but this particular podcast has shown me a mistake I have made. I currently have a 10-month-old standard poodle pup. She was originally owned by an 82-year-old lady and she gave her to me when the dog was six months old. Before she gave me the dog, twice a week I would meet the lady and the dog at a park and walk/play with her. I told the lady about crate games and home school the dog and did both these programs with the puppy however, she could not walk her safely on the lead outside her small back yard. So the old lady could be involved in working with her puppy we did lots of restrained recalls. This was really the only time the dog was loose outside of the home. This is now her favorite thing on earth. Now she is older and walking well on a loose lead in the reinforcement zoon I have started to try and go for some walks and just let her walk free but as soon as I unclip the lead she stops and just stands there. Now I know it is the "thing before the thing". I have been doing things like playing tug before unclipping the lead but as soon as we just start to walk she stops waiting for the recall.
Thank you
hi susan my dog blu is an American Eskimo he has a bite history and has Aggression issues. blu also has trust issues. how can i train him to be a nicer dog? he feels my son and others are a threat . Blu goes after my son when he is off leash. he goes after my neighbors outside when on leash. what can i do to stop blu from being like this?
Love the science and the clarifications
This is wonderful! I have been a science fan and a psych RN who LOVES brain science for decades and I learned a lot that I know will help me with my new(ish) to me rescue pup. She actually shows signs of both too much and too little dopamine. Hyper hyper hyper in the world but gives up easily with training if she doesn't get it right away. Thank you!
Love geeking out with you Susan! This is fantastic!!!!!! ♥️😊🐾🐾♥️ 🐶 Thank You! 🍪 😋
Thank you very good information
For a heel lure I feel like most dogs are very very engage with the technique. They are working for the release of the treat . Although they can smell and see and possibly even taste the treat something as basics as kibble can appear to drive a dog to be glued to a hand lure.
It isnt until the very end or at the moment of the release treat that dog disengages so the simple presence of the treat isn’t what disengage it’s the when complete possession as been attained This is like why many dogs disengage sits stays etc once the treat is attain.
dogs can sometimes see the red reinforcement release almost as a break because this possession / the quack of dopamine as been released and falls sharply
Think a come or recall command . They come get the reinforcements then they are ok one to the next thing .
Great podcast. Very interesting
Such a brilliant explanation of dopamine and the brains of our dogs, and ourselves. Now I know why I really enjoy planning my vacations even a little bit more than actually going on them. I love to travel and have always wondered why there's a bit of a let down once I actually am ON the vacation. I think planning it is more than half the fun! Game on! Now I will apply that to my dog training too. It's a little like putting the carrot in front of the donkey - we will work toward the goal because the action of working toward it is in itself so rewarding. Perfect!
Very helpful. Thank you.
Interesting topic. Thank you for the deep dive.
If you could, please take a simple game (e.g. collar grab), and explain how one might incorporate the Positive Prediction Error. If I'm using the same reward on the second and third success, I'm guessing that I'm not reaching a PPE and the dog doesn't get a Domaine release.
Thanks for all you do.
- John
Great suggestion, John, thank you!
Loved this! What do you recommend for high value rewards for food driven dogs? P.S. I have a 12 week old Havanese that I’m working with, so rewards have to be size appropriate.
Hi @Sandi K , it's our dogs who decide what's high value. You might enjoy this podcast episode on treats - ua-cam.com/video/xjiaOy_iWyw/v-deo.html
Hi Susan! Thank you for such great content, it’s invaluable even to a seasoned, balanced trainer like myself. One thing you touched on in this video was the potential for a dog failing and starting to get frantic, offering many things. (I believe it’s called stimulus control?) This, I think, is something that keeps a lot of trainers from utilizing shaping more. Do you have any videos on how to avoid the mistakes that perpetuate this? Thanks again!!
Hi @Sarahprelle thanks for tuning in! We have a short video on stimulus control - ua-cam.com/video/Kn3tIuQ7t9g/v-deo.htmlsi=jc90heYPKdCkj4UX - and another video for help with dogs who get over-excited when training - ua-cam.com/video/06CyHsE-bEY/v-deo.htmlsi=mcavNz7lw1yTTuBu
We also have a playlist for high drive dogs - ua-cam.com/play/PLphRRSxcMHy3tN5Z336OeZkYoF2dJ7gNY.html&si=oLTwy0vQgjn5Vkt1
Really important subject ! Thank you so much - your experience and wisdom are so inspirational 🙏🏽
Thank you, @cat barich!
Hi Susan, I just found your UA-cam channel. I’m very excited about learning more from you as I am within a few days of getting a new miniature dachshund. I’m retired and it’s been years since I had a dog and I have never attempted to “shape” a dog or myself with the dog. Please get me started on the correct way to building the dog’s happiness and our fun together. Thanks in advance for your efforts and hopefully a response to my request. Aubrey
Welcome and congratulations on your new pup, dachshunds are lovely little dogs 💕
While you're getting ready, our Puppy Essentials playlist will help you have a great start with them: ua-cam.com/video/rUIX5qW85tU/v-deo.html
Please, let us know how you and your puppy do!
This was a wonderful podcast. I like discussions on research-based information to back up what I am doing. I had no doubts that what you were teaching us was sound, however. I just enjoy research data. Win definitely can reach a dopamine high with the thing before the thing - the word "crate" can send him flying from a sound sleep to "the game is on" mode in 10 seconds or less. And I'm nothing if I'm not unpredictable in all areas of my life. So this year in Alumni, I have used that to my advantage by learning from other members about the different ways they use and mix up the games. Win gets very driven and motivated by change, like running to a reward two times in a game, then just praise, then the next time he gets one from my hand. Tugging is the only game that requires lots and lots of planning to get the dopamine fix and running to his food bowl is a sure win there. But, although he's high on life, you might say, and that's good for training, he can't shut down in the evenings and the dopamine may be why. This has been his nemesis for 3 years, since he was one. Around 5 or 6:00, he starts pacing, panting, up on my lap, off my lap, until he finally crashes around 7:30 and takes a nap. But he's never really relaxed and a simple, low-level noise can have him up and about again. I've avoided high-energy games after 5:00 (kind of like don't feed the Gremlins after midnight), in the hopes that this would help him calm down. But this isn't helping. How do I now take him down a notch for the evenings so that he can relax and nap and enjoy a peaceful evening. If I should shoot on one to the Recaller's site for this question, just let me know. Thank you again for this dopamine fix!
Hi Katherine, thank you for your lovely note! If you could get a video and share that along with your record keeping in the Recallers website that would be a super.
Hi Susan. I see balanced trainers talk about the E collar at a low level can lead to a dopamine release, say when used for recall. Is his possible? I always think of the e-collar as an escape/avoidance tool.
Hello there, we recently had a podcast about England's proposal to ban shock collars that you can check out here for more info on Susan's stance: ua-cam.com/video/GXh4K-EWnMA/v-deo.html
Absolutely love it! So much good information as always. Educational and thought provoking.
Thanks so much, @Crystal Ragan!
Here is your dopamine hit🖤
I find the science and psychology sides of dog training to be so incredibly interesting. I ended up taking 1.5 pages of notes just on this one. I would love to see more videos like it in the future!
"He was a big cray cray back then..." 🤣
WOW ❤️ this. Makes so much sense!
I am impressed of the explanation you give. I now have some help from you and your videos in my training with kids and horses and dogs and my lessons. This is all so good and this is making my world bigger and mutch easier to handle, train and explain to others. Thank you! 🐕
Thank you for this wonderful feedback, we're so glad we can help!
Thanks for all the helpful information! Will you do a podcast on what you feed your dogs? I am interested in learning more about the raw food diet, what types of meats you use, and how you ensure that everything is safe/healthy for your dogs.
Fantastic Susan! As always❤
Can someone give me an explanation of WHY you would get less dopamine hits from luring than shaping?
Hi @user-xx3yi7fk3m Susan covers it in the follow up episode to this one - ua-cam.com/video/FxAeS2BNvKY/v-deo.html
great as always. There is one podcast about ending / release signal?
Because this episode remember me how I train stationary stays : that the animal receives a succession of treats in variable intervals in keeping pose or station.
So I coming closer to deliver treats, or receive treat is not a predition of stop behaviors.
I usualy end using a "come" then a scatter treats or a toy play.
But maybe staying is not tiresome, at the moment, and the dog may want to offer the same behavior . So if a had a better release maybe the dog could signal that he wants to continue?
So just to be clear, are you asking for a podcast on how I teach the release cue?
Wow! My head is spinning. My dog loves loves loves to train... and I'm usually just using kibble as rewards. Maybe this puts her on the Buzzy side of things. Lots to think about... Also, a shout out on the clever graphics in this episode especially. Makes it even MORE entertaining 😁🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
@Carolyn Miller, thank you so much! And 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪 for you!
Thank you for your insightfull, science based, brillant, positive approach to life and dog training. I absolutely enjoy all your videos and have changed my dog training approch accordingly. Thank you.
Our pleasure! Thank you for watching our videos, @Susan Greene!
In the words of my generation, I suck, and yes you would say oh no no no you're just doing the best you can with your ability at the moment. And that is comforting. My one-year-old rescue dog is not motivated by food or play. After listening to your video about training outside-of-the-box and the shepherd motivated by bubbles, I thought what is my dog motivated by. she gets the most excited when she gets to run out the backyard in hope of chasing a critter. So I've been waiting at the door while waiting for her to give me a behavior so far she gives me a couple steps backwards so I click and let her out the door.
So from learning from your videos and I have Crate games on the way in the mail, I think I'm doing the back door as a reward correctly.
WOW. So interesting. So much in this to process. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it, @Martha Ruskai, thank you for tuning in!
Do dogs know our names?
love podcast
Genius Genius
Susan mentioned giving her dogs ground pumpkin seeds. Are they raw or roasted?
They are soaked then dehydrated at “live food” temperature ~115 F so yes, essentially raw.
Fascinating!😃
Fascinating
Wowww love this!!!!!!!! Thank you Susan G
You are so welcome! Thank you @Angela Insull
That was SO interesting!! Thank you!!! 😊
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you.
Thank you for another great episode!
Thank you too!
Awesome podcast Susan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Glad you enjoyed it, Allison!
Wow. Great episode! I love the science behind dog training. Susan your analogies make it completely understandable. Thank you!
Love love love your advices, always learn something. My dream is to come one day to Canada to meet you and train together with you my rescue dog, which I know for sure would be so beautiful and breathtaking, thanks for all the good work you do.
Love you to pieces and my dog would love you as well, I have no doubt about that when she would know what an incredible beautiful soul you are. But perhaps, who knows she is already dreaming of, meeting you in person and finally get her lazy owner work and play with her more often. Lots of love xo Lea from Spain
Wow very interesting thank you Susan, it makes sense human & for animals.🙏 I couldn’t get puppy to come even if I ran away untill I gave him some salmon kaboom 💥 he was then giving me his attention.😄
Thanks for digesting these complicated scientific papers for us! Amazing information
Always lovely to hear your insights 😊
Thank you @Nanette Lai!
Thank you for letting us nerd out with you 🤓.
I picked up some nutritional facts for both my dogs and myself in this one.
I find this fascinating. I’m pretty sure I have a dog with too much dopamine. I have to train her completely different than my other dog. This explains so much and is very helpful. Thank you, Susan!
This is an awesome dive into Dopamine. It's very helpful in both figuring out how to train my dog and what to use as rewards. Thank you.
Gracias por el subtitulado
Gracias por apreciarlo! 💕
Sapolsky is my hero! Watch his Stanford course!!!
This is really interesting, my dog can get quite frantic during training - throwing in extra behaviours etc, which does become frustrating for both of us when I’m trying to up the criteria. She does actually have excellent calmness outside of training, I think possibly we both need to learn to slow things down, maybe training is giving me too much of a dopamine hit too!!!!
Thanks Susan! Dopamine has my interest for many years now but I never thought about the possibility my dog can have too much of it! It opens my eyes, again 😀
As always, I love your videos, Susan! You are an exellent educator!
Susan this was a great start to my day. Great information and presentation!
What a grea podcast! Love knowing the how things work and the transfer of value, OMG it’s now clear as crystal. Thanks!
You are so welcome! Thank you, Angela!
Thank you for another great episode!
Thanks for the deep dive. Your insights always make me stop and think through whatever's going on with my dog. For instance, she came into heat. She's tired, cranky, and annoyed with the diaper. I don't think there's a high enough value treat to get any focus. So we've parked training for now. She can have treats just for being a cute trooper.
@Sande George, thank you for tuning in and being here for your dog!
So helpful
Thank you for watching, @Fallon Wertenberger!
Hi Susan, I’ve read your book shaping success and literally my dog is just like buzz( in terms of over high energy) He will not chill until exhausted. I am a recallers member and I’ve been playing the games and his listening skills are getting better as well as impulse control. My question to you how do I get him to be relaxed and chill when we are not doing anything. He literally lies on the floor for a minute then walks to another room or gets his toys. The only way he will relax is when he is in his crate. I’ve tried placing a bed giving him some treats when he is calmly lying down but that has not worked very well. What would you have done differently with buzz in terms of bringing down the dopamine so he would not be so high all the time?
The biggest change I would have made with Buzzy was to have a manipulated his training environment better so that he would have gotten a higher rate of reinforcement in his training. Following Recallers we do that for you with the bite sized games. You might be better to post about this in Recallers where you can share video clips of what “relax” currently looks like.
@@RaptorsGirl will post video on recallers. Thank you
Getting a puppy to add to our family soon. This will definitely be incorporated in his training. Thank you for another thought provoking podcast !
Brilliant and enlighetening! I wuld love more training examples though, I just need it inn with a teeny weeny teaspoon. Will watch again! Thank you so much!
Life changing!
Oh my gosh! So much great info in this one. Thank you so much for breaking down all that science into understandable concepts! I had several Ah ha! moments! I do have a question though, If we are making our training addictive and a re enforcement that is equal to the previous re enforcement does not produce the dopamine release do we have to use ever increasing value in our re enforcement to make the training addictive and motivational?
Well Lisa the key is the value needs to be great than what is expected OR it needs to be UNEXPECTED. So if you are following one of our lesson plans (and I suspect you are) then all R+ will be unexpected...ie the dog can't predict when it is coming.
Love this 😃 I think my boy is the epitome of high dopemine levels. He does so much better with quiet sniff walks than crazy running round with his doggy pals. Despite what HE wants😂
Fascinating info on when dopamine spikes, too much dopamine leading to over excited dog. I've begun feeding my Lagotto frozen banana slices and ground pumpkin seeds. He loves them both!
I love you and how you train. I am doing my best to train my Great Pyrenees 5 month old for service dog. And have been watching so many different ways to train. And of course every one you meet has a different idea of how to train a dog. Since I found you I have had to rewind and start over. I get overwhelmed over what to watch first. But try and take notes on every thing. I can not afford to pay anything until after November. But look forward to getting more training from you then. Until then I just keep trying my best to watch all your videos on UA-cam.
Love all your videos / it takes me some time but K9 Sadie and I are learning a lot and doing better I can go down the stairs and Sadievno longer pulls me thanks Susan and team ♥🐕🦺♥
I found this video very interesting thanks for all the great information. I've trained my dog with lures and she made me realize so much her 'problem' behaviors are telling me that this does not work for her. She knows its a bribe and outsmarts me all the time with it. She used to also get very excited about training but slowly over time it started become a drag, I think I understand a lot more now. When she get's her favorite treats she definitely goes into frantic mode and does every trick she knows sometimes without us asking. At least I understand a little bit more why that is! Thanks so much I'm looking forward to creating a new plan to work better with my dog and have a better relationship!
Thank you for watching, we are so glad you found us! Our dogs behaviour is the best feedback