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Trust Code

“Go to people for opinions. Go to animals for answers.” -Alexandra Kurland

Sarah Owings Sarah Owings
Start: 01 Mar 2024
Next: TBA

Auditor:

  • Duration: 6 weeks.
  • Learning materials: Written lessons with video tutorials.
  • Access to other Premium members' threads for additional insights.
  • Certificate of attendance upon completion.
  • Lifetime, 24/7 access to course materials.
  • Join the vibrant Tromplo community.
  • Earn 4 loyalty program points.

Premium:

  • Earn 15 loyalty program points.
  • Personalized attention: Instructor analyzes 12 minutes of your training videos weekly.
  • Engage in interactive learning with homework and daily feedback.

No premium spots available

Watch this example of a Trust Code ritual in action from graduates Jennifer Will and her dog, Pie.

Trust is a construct.

How we interpret and experience this construct is fundamental to our lives, our relationships, and our ability to learn. We all know the sting and disorientation when someone betrays our trust, when our expectations or needs are not met, when we feel unsafe or unsure of what is about to happen, when we feel judged, penalized, or a loss of control over outcomes.

Although the laws of learning never change, gone are the days when training an animal is merely about the narrow suppression or construction of behavior. At the core of this exciting teaching and learning revolution, modern trainers are asking questions about trust. “What does trust look like for the animal I am working with?” “What is the measure of that trust?” “Can trust be measured?” “Under what conditions do I see trust occur?” Above all, what every enlightened practitioner wants to know is: “How can I build a strong trust account with the animals in my care?” And, “How can I repair trust when I’m forced to take a withdrawal?”

In this course, we will take a deep dive into what it means to “operationalize” trust in our day to day lives with our dogs (or any species with whom we spend our time). We will be asking lots of questions, putting aside our human assumptions, and doing our best to listen to what the animals tell us trust means to them.

COURSE OUTLINE: Premiums will be invited to pick topics that resonate most powerfully for them. In the interests of unhurried learning, I will also offer a Trust Code Pt. 2 for further study if there is enough interest.

Areas for Exploration:

  • Defining trust: what does it look like?
  • Taking a trust baseline
  • The ABCs of trust
  • Building trust with antecedents
  • Filling your dog’s emotional cup
  • Reinforcement patterns that invite YES
  • Portable safe spaces
  • Power of daily rituals
  • Happy husbandry stations
  • Working with extinction: “not now” and S-delta cues
  • From commands to cues to questions
  • Ask and answer communication for maximum trust
  • Expanding degrees of freedom in training
  • Play and possession
  • Stimulus control on toy cues for clarity and safety
  • Even in Australia: getting through the hard stuff and how to repair trust afterwards

Course Testimonials

Sarah’s keen observations and kind feedback were so helpful. I can hardly believe how much I learned in six short weeks. What I love most is that Sarah’s teaching focuses on the concepts and principles behind how behavior works. Now, months later, I find myself rereading her comments and learning even more!

Michelle Hansen

November 18, 2024

Sarah is an amazing teacher who is knowledgable, kind, and provides detailed, customized feedback tailored to you and your dog. I have learned so much in this course, refining constructs and training procedures that I thought I knew, but was able to go much deeper during the course. I love her examples, information, and way of creating a safe space to learn. We had so much fun during this course and made progress on issues that we are working on. I can’t wait for her to offer a 2nd level of this course! Thank you Sarah!

Anna Wong

June 30, 2023

Lessons:

  • Week 1 08 Dec 2024

    • Read this before proceeding to the first lesson

      Read this before proceeding to the first lesson!…

    • WELCOME TO TRUST CODE

        Hiya! Thank you for being here! I am humbled and grateful to get…

    • COURSE OVERVIEW: Share Your Goals

      Hey friends! Time for some big picture thinking. Below is a list of Trust Code themes. Many of these themes…

    • DEFINING TRUST BY WHAT IT ISN’T (HUMAN EXAMPLES)

      Trust is a complex construct. Sometimes it can be helpful to start a discussion of…

    • DEFINING TRUST BY WHAT IT IS (HUMAN EXAMPLES)

      photos from Catja Pedersen and Alamelu Sankaranarayanan I know that last assignment was none…

    • WHAT DOES TRUST LOOK LIKE?

      In preparation for this course, I put out a call on Facebook for photos showing trusting interactions with animals. The…

    • THE ABCs OF TRUST

      Yogi Tea Wisdom   The ABCs of Trust According to Dr.

    • TAKING A TRUST BASELINE

      Tati, our new Jersey steer, falls asleep in my lap during grooming. Before any…

    • Nancy Butler’s Personal Lesson Thread

      Hi Nancy! This is where you can post videos and questions relating to any project work that does not seem…

    • Michelle Hansen’s Personal Lesson Thread

      Hi Michelle! This is where you can post videos and questions relating to any project work that does not seem…

    • Ginger Alpine’s Personal Thread

      Hi Ginger! This is where you can post videos and questions relating to any project work that does not seem…

    • Sherri Al-Mufti’s Personal Lesson Thread

      Hi Sherri! This is where you can post videos and questions relating to project work that does not seem to…

  • Week 2 08 Dec 2024

    • WELCOME TO WEEK TWO

      Welcome to Week Two! All of you are already completely inspiring me with your deep…

    • BUILDING TRUST WITH ANTECEDENTS

      A is for antecedents The theme for this week was originally billed as building…

    • WHERE IS YOUR ANIMAL’S CUP-FILLING PLACE?

      This is a picture of a very young Zoë and a very young me…

    • POWER OF DAILY RITUALS

      One of the most cup-filling times of day for me is centered around the…

    • PORTABLE SAFE SPACES

      The goal of On Your Spot is to capture ideal emotional behaviors and attach them…

    • HAPPY HUSBANDRY RITUALS

        This lesson is going to pull together several major threads we’ve been discussing this…

    • OPT-IN GAME: SHOPPING

      Control is an Illusion graduates will recognize the Shopping Game. However, in the context of Trust code, I want to…

    • WELCOME TO WEEK THREE

      Welcome to Week Three! As you all know, the tag line of this course…

    • EXAMPLES OF HAPPY HUSBANDRY SESSIONS

      As many of you are experiencing, figuring out just the right Happy Husbandry set up takes some experimentation. I thought…

    • FROM COMMANDS TO CUES TO QUESTIONS

      Just the Way Things Were A million years ago back in the dark ages…

    • ASK AND ANSWER

      When Tucker needed daily ice pack sessions on his knee after TPLO surgery, I started…

    • CLARIFYING ASK AND ANSWER HANDS

      It is common for dogs to mistake the “hands” ask cue for a nose target or some other cue they…

    • ALONE ZONE CONDITIONING

      Several of you are interested in conditioning an Alone Zone for your dogs. Alone…

  • Week 4 08 Dec 2024

    • WELCOME TO WEEK FOUR

      Welcome to Week Four! First of all I want to thank everyone for their…

  • Week 5 08 Dec 2024

    • WELCOME TO WEEK FIVE

      Welcome to Week 5!  Most of you have been working steadily on your Happy…

    • ASK AND ANSWER: NEXT STEPS

      Many of you have been doing a great job exploring different variations on Happy…

    • EXTINCTION, “NOT NOW,” AND S-DELTA TIME

      “We should not fear extinction. We should master it.” -Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz During…

  • Week 6 08 Dec 2024

    • WELCOME TO WEEK SIX

      Welcome to Week 6! Sadly, this is our last week of formal work together.

    • EXPANDING DEGREES OF FREEDOM

      When I first started working with Tucker in the shelter, the only place he…

    • EVEN IN AUSTRALIA

      Bad Days Happen….Even in Australia This lesson is appropriate for me to write today…

    • Final Thoughts: Celebrating Achievements and Continuing the Journey

      Farewell and Keep Moving Forward! As we…

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