Students in this class will learn the framework of behavior and learning: conditioning. We will learn the meanings of classical conditioning and operant conditioning -- including positive and negative reinforcement and punishment -- from a behaviorist perspective, as well as how these tools are used to train animals. Students will learn how and why to use positive reinforcement and begin to think about how to apply it to teaching various tricks.

This class is theory-drive and discussion based: it includes lots of examples and discussion questions. If there is time at the end students are able to introduce their pets to the group, but there is no hands-on training time during this one time class. Students will be able to apply what they learned right away afterwards, though!

Terms that will be taught:
* Behavior
* Stimulus 
* Response 
* Classical Conditioning 
* Operant Conditioning 
* Positive Reinforcement
* Negative Reinforcement
* Positive Punishment
* Negative Punishment
* Shaping


**Note: I also work part time on-call as a birth doula, and may be at a birth and need to cancel a class. In the event of this, a 1-class refund or make-up class will be offered, whichever you prefer.**