Attrition: The Hidden Force That Changes a Dog's Mind

Thirty-plus years and hundreds of dogs in, dog trainer Talmage Smedley keeps coming back to attrition. Changing a dog's mind trough small incremental lessons. Attrition in dog training means changing a dog's behavior through small, repeated, low-pressure repetitions that gradually reduce the appeal of the unwanted behavior while increasing the reward for the wanted one. Slowly wearing down of a dog's desire to do the thing you don't want. If you do this well, and you get a dog that believes the correct choice was its own idea. In this episode, Talmage Smedley and Tanner Smedley break down attrition—the topic of Talmage's latest Gun Dog Magazine column—and apply it to the situations bird doggers commonly run into. What is covered: What attrition is, and how it can be used in dog training Why a dog that COOSES the correct answer is more dependable, not less Why you shouldn't take the chase away before a dog has fallen in love with pointing Blowback, unintended consequences the result from too much force. Rolling a young dog to a stop on wild birds vs a hard correction "Ask once, then correct" When this advice is righted when it is wrong. Rebuild a gun shy dog by making it LIKE the gun, not tolerate it Using attrition on aggressive dogs Why it seems like it takes a long time to happen fast CHAPTERS: 00:00 — Around the doghouse: bow hunt, dogs going home, two gun shy rehabs 09:12 — What is attrition in dog training? 12:48 — Applications of attrition 17:36 — Don't take the chase away before the dog loves pointing 23:36 — Talmage's first dog, Rusty 24:48 — Using attrition while training an aggressive dog 32:48 — When "ask once, then correct" applies, and when it doesn't When training a highly driven dog, it's always about the mind. The physical actions will always follow if you get the mind right. 🌐 https://tsdoghouse.com 📚 Video dog training courses: https://tsdoghouse.com/dog-training-c... #gundog #birddog #dogtraining #pointingdog #uplandhunting #huntingdog #gunshydog #dogaggression