What can an octopus playing a piano teach us about dog training? Honestly… a lot more than I expected.

In this episode I talk about the YouTube video where a musician spends six months teaching an octopus how to interact with a custom-built piano. What grabbed me wasn’t the trick itself, it was the process. He started with trust. He paid attention to what brought his learner joy. He built the environment around the octopus’s natural strengths instead of forcing a rigid plan.

And then there’s the crab drop... the simple little mechanic that created duration through curiosity and anticipation. That moment opened up a whole new way of thinking about behavior for me.

So today we explore relationship first training, learner-led creativity, environmental design, and how joy can shape cooperation more powerfully than pressure ever could. If you love watching learning unfold... and if you want to bring a little more curiosity into your own sessions... this one is for you.

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