#12 - Conversation with Theresa McKeon

This week we are talking with Theresa Mckeon from TAGteach
International. If you are in the dog training world, either
professionally or as a hobby, and aren’t familiar with TagTeach,
you should definitely check it out. TagTeach is a really cool way
of looking at teaching and learning. It’s an approach that applies
clicker training philosophy to teaching human learners. Like
clicker training with animals, TagTeach facilitates learning by
breaking skills down into pieces and giving instant and meaningful
feedback, focusing on building behavior and reinforcement, rather
than hassling about what not to do. Unlike clicker training with
animals, TagTeach also encompasses using positive, and precise
language to give clear instructions… but of course, we already know
you don’t have to speak the same language as your learner to teach
them. And that’s one of the things that I think is so cool…
TagTeach techniques work beautifully even when the teacher and
student can’t speak the same language at all… I mean literally…
like if one is from Finland and the other is Turkish. Or other
countries… either way. When the behavior that is being taught is
broken down into such small pieces that the goal is completely
black and white… either it was accomplished or not… then words
don’t matter as much, because both teacher and learner can tell if
that goal has been accomplished. But of course, it’s nice to have
clear language to give instructions when you can. And when you do
use words, it’s super important to be clear and precise. That’s one
of the topics we discussed… which is particularly relevant for us,
I think… because those of us who get very excited about our topics
often have a habit of flooding the listener with words. Theresa
calls it “passion talking”, and I’m certainly guilty of that on a
regular basis. We also talk a lot about the parallels between
teaching animals and humans. And we discuss our opinions on the
worst part about being a grown up. But first, I want to let you
know that my new online mentorship program, Zero to CD is
officially open for enrollment. Zero to CD is a comprehensive
mentorship program designed to help positive trainers just like you
earn their first competitive obedience title… even if they don’t
know the first thing about obedience. The program covers everything
you need to know compete successfully in Novice-level obedience.
Providing training, support, and accountability to keep you focused
and on track. Humans need structure and reinforcement too! And this
program aims to provide exactly that. Enrollment is limited, and
the next round begins May 1. So if you’d like to find out more,
visit: www.zerotocd.com For show notes for this episode, visit:
www.wonderpupstraining.com/podcast