ABOUT THE BLOG

I am a behaviour analyst, whose clinical and research interests centre on behavioural interpretations of complex verbal behaviour and cognition. This blog is my attempt to navigate the world of dog training through a behaviour analytic lens as I learn new skills with the not so little Darwin, my first dog as a grown up.  My applied human work focuses largely on developing curricula to promote non-rote verbal behaviour in individuals with developmental disabilities and the reduction and substitution of behavioural repertoires that negatively impact on quality of life. 

While I do not claim that dogs and people are the same, the principles from which effective interventions are derived are and they find their roots in behaviour analysis.

As Darwin and I began our life together, I found myself searching for common ground between my work and the myriad of dog training strategies flooding my social media. I realised the only way I could understand the basics was to view everything through the lens of a 4-term contingency.  Hence, this blog. Writing things down challenges my thinking.

I am not a dog trainer, nor am I a dog behaviourist, I am a human behaviourist. I hope those of you interested in human behaviour and dog behaviour find my ramblings on a radical behaviourist's challenges on raising a puppy, if not interesting, mildly amusing. 

Francesca degli Espinosa