Fesshole 🧻
I'm a teacher. Some of my best behaviour tips come from dog training videos, but there isn't really a way to tell my colleagues which doesn't sound terrible.
Mar 19 at 3:20pmWeb
Show threadfritzoidsMar 19

@fesshole

I read "Don't Shoot the Dog" as a teenager... and boy did some of the principles in that book help when dealing with small children.

Show threadSvavar the NeurospicyMar 19

@fritzoids @fesshole

If only Kristi Noem had read that book.

Show threadPasswordsarehard4Mar 19
@svavar @fritzoids @fesshole probably wrote it because of her. Can’t be that many psycho puppy shooters out there, right? Right?
Show threadfritzoidsMar 19

@passwordsarehard4 @svavar @fesshole

it is very kind of you to assume my teenagerhood was not that long ago.

Show threadSteampunk_ProfMar 19
@fesshole Works both ways 😁
Show threadAlison WilderMar 19

@Steampunk_Prof exactly! I always say my dogs are so well-behaved because I use my "disappointed kindergarten teacher" voice when they're bad. It works!

@fesshole

Show threadLeo Schuldiner🤘🏼Mar 19
@fesshole xD I remember talking with some friends (also parents like me) and we all agreed that todlers are like baby dogs. I mean, it is fully accepted to say that a dog has the intelligence of a 3 year old person. Why not the other way around? I feel you. I am also a teacher and work with kids, teenagers, adults and elders
Show threadM.S. Bellows, Jr.Mar 19
@leoschuldiner23 @fesshole At a small ranch rodeo once, I saw a demonstration of cattle dogs, which like sheepdogs will herd and separate animals both on their own and as commanded by whistles and hand signs. I asked one of the trainers, a middle-aged woman, how in the hell they train them so well. "Pressure and release," she answered. "Dogs, horses, kids, husbands. Doesn't matter. It's all just pressure and release."
Show threadLeo Schuldiner🤘🏼Mar 19
@msbellows @fesshole PURE WISDOM. PURE WISDOM.
Show threadermo | Rune MorlingMar 19

@msbellows

Savage quip!

@leoschuldiner23 @fesshole

Show threadAllinrep ☕️Mar 19
@fesshole Every parent who is also a dog owner knows exactly what you mean.
Show threadermo | Rune MorlingMar 19

@fesshole Maybe if one were to use the term "Positive Reinforcement Learning Strategies", and then follow it up with "These are strategies that, in adapted forms, have proven exceptionally effective in e.g. Service Dog training. Note that the underlying principles can be surprisingly effective in the classroom as well."

That way, the focus is on the principle and the strategy, while keeping the implication "surprising" rather than potentially devaluing to the sensitive listener...?

Show threadeestileib (she/hers)Mar 19

@ermo @fesshole

"These strategies work on mammals generally"

Show threadPasswordsarehard4Mar 19
@eestileib @ermo @fesshole I was thinking more along the lines of “ developed for use with limited and non-verbal individuals with an emphasis on toned responses and visual cues”.
Show threadViolet MadderMar 19

@eestileib @ermo @fesshole

The parts of the brain that handle emotions are very old, and they're very similar across many types of animals.

The fancy thinking parts of our brains are new, and riding around on top of that old limbic system trying to tell it what to do-- which doesn't work very well even in adults. Knee-jerk fear and so on is built to work faster than rational decision-making.

Children don't have very developed thinky parts yet. Even grownups need to understand that handling your own emotions is a lot like training yourself like an animal. It takes consistency, repetition, and time.

Show threadeestileib (she/hers)Mar 19

@violetmadder @ermo @fesshole

Re : "everybody needs to train themselves like an animal", Aristotle compared the conscious mind to a rider on the back of a powerful horse (the passions), which I thought was a good analogy because it still makes it clear you aren't getting anywhere without passion.

Show threadMostlyTatoMar 19
@fesshole
In many ways there is little psychological difference between humans and dogs or they wouldn't live so well together. You can train both of them using similar principles, you just have to adapt the methodology.
Show threadꓤɔᴉʇɐʇSMar 19

@fesshole Turns out the fundamental principle of selection (as in "natural selection" but without the natural part) also applies to learning: If you make it easier for a given behavior to exist, you will start seeing more of it over time, while if you make it harder you will start seeing less.

(Side note, the core principle of selection applies to literally everything in the universe and that realization has been occupying my mind ever since)

Show threadAndi HMar 19
@fesshole
We used to watch "Supernanny" and "It's me or the dog" and think the same.
Most problems happen when you put them (dog/child) in charge, or don't set boundaries of what is right and wrong... applies to both.
Show threadcbudMar 19

@fesshole

The Cesar Milan chhhh to get them to break from their mindset.

Show threadcbudMar 19
@fesshole
compliance equals comfort
Show threadUniversal Basic FriendMar 19

@cbuddenhagen @fesshole we studied Cesar Milan in dog training class as an example of a guy who has no idea about dogs but is really good at taking human audiences on an affirming narrative.

That's why he works in entertainment for humans instead of training for dogs. We studied several celebrities like this and had an assignment comparing them with films of real animal behaviour professionals. It was fascinating.

There was a whole genre of them while I was at uni (defunct now I believe), they taught us to spot them: narrative about moving from laissez-faire chaos to structured hierarchy, with a heavy focus on establishment hierarchical of roles. All things that are totally irrelevant to dogs but adored by white boomers who crashed out after going to restrictive schools.

Show threadcbudMar 21

@coolandnormal @fesshole

Cool. I don't have a dog.

Show threadUniversal Basic FriendMar 21
@cbuddenhagen @fesshole that makes perfect sense
Show threadSOIMDMar 19

@fesshole

You could just say that you learned the tips during professional development on Animal Assisted Intervention. Most trainings cover tips for working with therapy animals and students. No one has to know which side you pulled the methods from.

Show threadArianne BMar 19
@fesshole well, we are social mammals...
Show threadBob DaBuilderMar 19

@fesshole Movie: "If a Man Answers", 1962. Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin

God, I'm old!

Show threadMidgePhotoMar 20
@fesshole They know. ;)
Show threadTradecraft WritingMar 22
@fesshole “I’ve been studying this behavioral psychology book…” (never said that it was human behavior)