Musings on my own learning (and some thoughts on training, too)

My family and I have acquired a puppy. This is our first family dog and we are doing clicker training. As someone who is very tuned into learning + training, here is what I’ve learned about my own learning:

• I learn best when I take my own notes and organize things in ways that make sense to me
• I like to practice and talk myself through things
• I like to have a coach who can give me lots of feedback when I’m doing it wrong
• I am hyper-aware of what I do wrong (and beat myself up over it)
• I don’t give myself enough credit when I do things right
• I am more of a kinesthetic (hands on) learner than an auditory one

Now, what have I learned about training (OK, its dog training, so not the same, but some parallels):

• Be consistent
• Be timely
• Provide feedback on what you want
• Praise works
• You can’t train if your learner is unfocused
• Mood affects learning
• Telling ain’t training (right Mr. Stolovitch), especially when it’s a dog!
• Your reward is recognizing when “they got it”