Dawn Walton, a human therapist, and Jess Probst, a dog behaviourist, sit in Jess's house catching up on stuff that's happened in the weeks since their last podcast.
The only background noise is from the feisty Bean the black and tan Dachshund who doesn't settle for the whole hour of the podcast, while Jess's other dogs snooze happily.
They begin to explore the concepts of identity vs behaviour (continued in the next episode)
They talk about retreats and residentials, and the difference between trainers looking for 'what' behaviour is, and not necessarily looking at 'why' the behaviour happens. The 'what' is an important first step, but the 'why' must come after to create lasting change.
Once behaviour in a dog has been observed, we need to do a pattern interrupt, to change the state and see what's behind it. After the pattern interrupt, we then need to positively reinforce the new behaviour we want. Dawn also does the pattern interrupt with her clients, getting underneath the behaviour to find where it comes from, and then changing the programming of the brain so that new patterns can form.
Dawn introduces the concept of resting b**ch brain. It's like a resting b**ch face but for the brain!
Want to understand more? Listen to this episode now, and tell us your thoughts.