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“Clarity” is a concept; what it looks like is in training that the dog does what we are asking or expecting them to do in a particular situation. And what causes them to do that is not the “clarity”; it is genetics, learning history, and current conditions—and the way all three of those things interact with one another.
The current conditions, and future learning history they produce, are what we have access to as trainers. How do we adjust those to help the dog get “clear” about what to do?
We have it hammered into our heads that consequences drive behavior, and so that is often the first place we look when we want to change behavior: What kind of consequences do we provide to make it clear what behavior we want or don’t want?
But you know what else is learned via consequences? Antecedents. And they don’t just tell the learner which behavior to do. They can make other consequences more or less potent at a given time, they can combine to make each other mean different things, and—very important to the concept of “clarity”—they can signal what is and isn’t available to behave for at a given time. And that can reduce the need to use punishment or extinction to clarify what not to do.
This webinar should enrich your understanding of antecedents, and your ability to efficiently and humanely use that understanding in practice.
This is a recording of a live webinar that was given on December 21, 2025.
“Clarity” is a concept; what it looks like is in training that the dog does what we are asking or expecting them to do in a particular situation. And what causes them to do that is not the “clarity”; it is genetics, learning history, and current conditions—and the way all three of those things interact with one another.
The current conditions, and future learning history they produce, are what we have access to as trainers. How do we adjust those to help the dog get “clear” about what to do?
We have it hammered into our heads that consequences drive behavior, and so that is often the first place we look when we want to change behavior: What kind of consequences do we provide to make it clear what behavior we want or don’t want?
But you know what else is learned via consequences? Antecedents. And they don’t just tell the learner which behavior to do. They can make other consequences more or less potent at a given time, they can combine to make each other mean different things, and—very important to the concept of “clarity”—they can signal what is and isn’t available to behave for at a given time. And that can reduce the need to use punishment or extinction to clarify what not to do.
This webinar should enrich your understanding of antecedents, and your ability to efficiently and humanely use that understanding in practice.
This is a recording of a live webinar that was given on December 21, 2025.