newsletter Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Smart Dog University

5 Easy Steps to a Well Trained Husband

October 9, 2015

dog training, Frederick, dog training, Smart Dog University, husband, train, kids, puppy I was buzzing through town the other day when I spied a dog training franchise. The slogan on their truck said something like “No, we DON’T teach husbands or kids.” I had to laugh because here at Smart Dog University, that’s exactly what we DO! In addition to dogs, we teach husbands, kids, wives, neighbors, co-workers, and relatives.

Here are some tips that will help you get that husband (or whomever) behaving a little more like you want.

The best part? Unlike the franchise, you don’t need a special collar to get your husband to do what you ask. Ditch the crazy training advice from the pop-up franchises and start doing what works.

Bonus: the tips we offer won’t get you in trouble with the law when you try them on people (unlike those collars that franchise uses to “teach”). Use those collars on people and you’d wind up in jail for abuse — if it’s against the law to use them on a person, why would we want to use them on our dogs?!

Step 1: Determine what you WANT to happen.

Example: You want dishes in the dishwasher.
Phrase it positively, like I did above. In other words, “Put the dishes in the dishwasher” is way more powerful than “Quit putting the dishes in the sink!”

Step 2: Determine what might make doing what you want a little easier than doing the thing that bugs you.

Example: Leave the dishwasher door open so it’s obvious and clear — and easy — to put the dishes in the dishwasher. Or put a little sign near the sink that says “Dishes in the dishwasher, please.”

Step 3: Decide what motivates your husband (kid, aunt, sister, etc.).

Example: If your husband enjoys it when you say good things about him to your friends, be sure to mention it to your friends (within earshot of your husband) when he does something good.

Everyone is different. “Atta boy” works well for some people, while cash works for a different subset, and public praise is what does it for another person.

Step 4: Close enough is just as good as perfect.

Example: Breakfast and dinner dishes found their way to the dishwasher, but there was one coffee cup in the sink at the end of the day. One coffee cup in the sink is way better than two plates, a knife, and two forks, right? Right! So take it and be happy about it!

Step 5: Be generous with that reinforcement.

Example: Your husband likes to be praised in front of your friends, so if he’s been better about getting some of the dishes to the dishwasher, tell your friends how helpful he’s been around the house. Give him the credit he’s earned!

Whatever you identified in Step 3 above, be ready to pay it out in bulk when you get something close to your goal behavior.

Notice that none of those steps involved any special equipment?

Focusing on a tool — especially one that’s illegal to use on people — is where that franchise made their mistake. Qualified professional trainers understand that behavior can be modified in people, dogs, horses, fish, cats, birds, just about anything — without special equipment.

Here’s where good, experienced, and educated trainers can come in and teach the whole family, not just the dog. We CAN teach husbands. We CAN teach kids. Heck, we can teach you how to modify your co-workers’ behavior if you want!

We understand what motivates and what reinforces behavior. We don’t need no stinkin’ “special equipment!” And neither do you. Now get out there and get those dishes in that dishwasher!

Talk back! Leave a comment below.

Tell us the coolest thing you taught your husband (coworker, kid, neighbor) to do using the principles outlined above.

Pay Attention to THIS to Teach Your Dog Faster & Easier

August 5, 2015

There’s a little secret that dog trainers know and use that only a few dog owners take advantage of.

It’s free, it’s easy, and it’s dead simple. This one thing can mean the difference between years of frustration and years of enjoyment with your dog. It requires no special knowledge, no advanced training, no equipment. It’s more powerful than any correction, “no,” or discipline.

It’s the power of noticing what your dog does right and reinforcing it in the moment.

People ask me how I teach my dogs to understand “No.” I disappoint every one of them when I answer that my dogs don’t know that word. “But how do you teach them what you want them to do without that word!?” they wonder. Easy: pay attention to my dogs when they do stuff I like. Take two seconds to praise them, play with them, or otherwise provide something they love when they’re doing the stuff I like.

The power of “yes” will beat 100 “no’s.”

Why notice the good stuff?

Dogs (and people) do what works. If chewing on the couch feels good to the dog, he’s not likely to quit chewing on the couch. Most people jump right into the “No” zone, skipping over the “yes.” Behavior is governed by rules, thankfully. There are five rules, but two of those rules apply specifically to this situation.

Behavior that is reinforced will happen more often.
Behavior that isn’t reinforced will likely go away.

Let’s take the couch chewing dog example a little further. If the dog is chewing on the couch, a clicker trainer is likely to find an appropriate chewable object (stuffed toy, rope toy, etc.) for the dog to chew on, redirect the sofa-chewing dog to the preferred object and then praise the heck out of the dog for putting his mouth on the dog toy. And we’ll make sure we notice and reward the dog every time he has a toy in his mouth. Because after all, the toy is what we want the dog to put in his mouth, not the sofa. And we’ll also be pretty darn sure to supervise the dog so he doesn’t get the opportunity to chew on the sofa when we’re not around.

We’re practically guaranteeing that the dog will choose the toy to chew on because we’ve paid so much attention to him every time he’s had the toy in his mouth. We can’t necessarily ignore the dog for couch chewing because that probably feels just as good to the dog as chewing on the toy. Because we can’t ignore it, we’ll do something a little different – we’ll distract and redirect the dog to the appropriate object, the toy. And we’ll also be sure that if we’re spending too much time distracting and redirecting, we’ll set some barriers up so the dog can’t get to the couch to chew on it until after we’ve gotten lots and lots of repetitions of praise and attention for chewing on the toys.

We aren’t stingy.

Dog trainers are generous with praise, play, and fun. It’s free! Give it away frequently! When raising puppies for service work, I start giving the puppy feedback right away about what things gets him attention and what things aren’t worth doing.

We look for the things that the puppy is doing that we really like. It’s much more fun to praise your dog than scold him, don’t you think? By paying attention to everything your dog does that you like, you’re setting the stage for a really fun life together, while making your job as teacher super easy and quick.

Here are some of the things dog trainers notice – and reinforce – that sometimes pet owners don’t even think about.

When the dog has all four feet on the floor, he gets lots of fun attention – I’ll pet him, play with him, and praise him.
When the dog picks up an appropriate toy, I’ll run over to play with him.
When the dog goes to the door to go outside, I’ll praise him and quickly take him outside so he can go to the bathroom.
When the dog looks at me, I will praise him, pet him.

If your dog is older, don’t worry – this works with any dog, no matter the age! It may take some retraining on your part to notice the good, but once you practice it for a week or two, you’ll want to do it because it feels so good!

The challenge.

For the next week, start to notice the things your dog does that are good (really, anything that isn’t bad is worth noticing). Praise your dog, pet your dog, play with your dog – do whatever your dog really likes so you can convey to your dog that he’s getting those good things because of what he did. The cause-effect part is important here: the dog needs to know that his actions produced the good stuff.

After the first week, if you haven’t already, start to drop out the corrections. See if you can reduce the “no,” “eh-eh,” “knock it off,” etc. Instead, if your dog is getting ready to misbehave, redirect him (“Fido, come over here” in a happy voice), get him involved in something appropriate, and praise him (or play, or give a treat, etc.) for following your lead.

4 Things Dog Trainers Do (That You Might Not)

July 9, 2015

Last month’s article (4 Things Dog Trainers DON’T Do), was sparked by a conversation I had with colleagues over lunch. After talking about all the things most professional dog trainers don’t do (that most dog trainers do do), it’s time to turn the tables and explore the four things professional dog trainers do (that dog owners may not).

The point of these articles is to shine a light on some things you may want to use with your own dog. These aren’t secrets really, but things you may not be aware of and that might lead to positive changes in your household and with your dog.

Crate

Most dog trainers crate train their dogs. Even if it’s just for the duration of house training and puppy teething, we’re fairly adamant about (1) teaching our pups to love the crate and (2) using the crate to both protect the dog and our belongings! While some people still feel that crating a dog is cruel, we’ve raised 15 pups in 15 years (service dog puppy raisers) and all of those dogs have been great in their crates.

Why crate? It saves our sanity and it protects our dogs from injury (and it saves our shoes!). Crates, when properly used, keep a dog out of trouble – they can’t chew up the sofa, dig up the carpet, raid the counters, or pee on the floor when they’re crated. They can’t raid the garbage, rip the curtains, or chase the kitty when they’re crated. It gives us peace of mind – we know that while we’re away the dog is safely contained away from windows, electrical cords, and other potentially dangerous items. We have a higher degree of confidence that there won’t be pee or poop to clean up when we return and it’s comforting to know that both the dog and our house is safe.

Feed from Toys

Most of the service pups I’ve raised haven’t eaten out of a bowl until they’re at least six months old, usually it’s closer to a year old. Food stuffed toys come in lots of shapes and sizes. As more research on the ways of the canine mind is gathered, there are more options for dog owners to entertain and feed their dogs. I’ve written articles on food stuffed toys (with videos, too), so I won’t go into detail here.

Why feed from toys? Feeding from toys provides a couple benefits to your dog (and to you!). First, it slows down those dogs that seem to inhale their food. You know them: you put the food bowl down and within 30 seconds that bowl is emptied and the dog is pushing the bowl around the floor looking for more. A food stuffed toy helps your dog beat boredom. Food stuffed toys are like puzzles for dogs. Those toys require your dog to use his brain power (and sometimes his jaw power) to figure out how to the food out of that toy. Solving puzzles like food stuffed toys can really work your dog’s brain, which in turn actually tires them out without you doing a lot of cardio work along side them. Not that cardio’s a bad idea, mind you

Use Management Frequently

If you’ve ever put your dog behind a gate while you answer the door, you’ve used management. I think dog trainers utilize management a little more frequently than dog owners, although I’m not quite sure why that’s the case. Very often, part of my training solution for a client who has called me to help with their dog’s problems involves management.

Why management? Often, management can take the place of training. For example, when we have a new puppy in the house, all our bathroom trash cans are placed on top of the toilet tank. Those trash cans will stay there until the dog is about six months old. That’s management! Puppies love to explore. They love the contents of a trash can! If, during their exploratory phase, they repeatedly find the rewards (what we call trash) in the bathroom waste basket, they’re actually learning to check waste baskets for goodies. If that waste basket is out of their reach, they’re less likely to learn to waste basket surf, as it’s just not an option for them. Other examples of management: gates to prevent access to certain rooms, fences to prevent roaming, crates to prevent house training or chewing disasters, keeping shoes in the closet to prevent chewing, and keeping counters free of food and crumbs to discourage counter surfing.

Brain Games and Training

Dogs are capable of some fairly impressive mental feats. Did you know your dog’s olfactory skills are capable of detecting one tablespoon of sugar in the amount of water it takes to fill two Olympic-size pools! Your dog can learn left from right? You can teach your dog the names of all his toys? Research on canine cognition has exploded and we’re learning that dogs are capable of a lot more training concepts than we ever imagined.

Why brain games? Often, destructive behavior results from boredom. Dog trainers keep their dog’s minds busy to ease boredom. A thinking dog is usually a more satisfied, healthy, and better-behaved dog. Professional trainers tend to use training to not only teach our dogs new things, but to bust the boredom rut. It’s easy for you to teach your dog new things, too! Invent a game of your own, sign up for a tricks class, enroll in a nose work or scent game class – the possibilities are endless!

Hopefully, you’re doing some (maybe all!) of these things with your dog already. Good for you! If not, consider adding one of these into your daily life with your dog. Then, when you’re ready, add another! You’ll find, I hope, that you – and your dog – are happier. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

Cues In-Depth: What’s a Good Cue? What is “On Cue?”

October 10, 2014

We started a series in June to bring the nuts and bolts of dog training directly into your email box. Everyone who has a dog can improve his or her dog’s behavior. But sometimes, just getting started can be overwhelming. Or the first little speed bump you hit on your training road can be just enough for you to say “I’ll get back to this later.”

We want you to be successful from the beginning and have your training take off like a rocket ship! To that end, here’s our latest article in the series. Last month we talked about cues (which used to be referred to as “commands”). We’re taking a closer look at cues because this is where some people sort of fall off the “training wagon.”

We’re going to look in-depth at cueing: first, what makes a good cue; next, what does it mean when a behavior is “on cue?” Finally, how do you actually get a behavior on cue?

What’s a Good Cue?

What IS a cue, exactly? Let’s start there. A cue is anything the dog can perceive – a word, an action, something he can see, smell, or even the appearance of an object. Have you ever seen a dog that goes crazy when you pick up his leash? The leash is a cue: the appearance of the leash means a walk is imminent. You don’t have to say a word; the dog is ON IT. Walk! Walk! Walk! Let’s go! Walk!

You can use a word (like “sit”), a hand signal (hand spinning above dog’s head to get the dog to spin around), the presentation of something (a leash before going for a walk) – anything your dog will notice.

A good cue is simple – it should be just one of those things. A good cue isn’t the word “sit” and the hand signal given at the same time.

A good cue is consistent. It should look or sound the same every time. It doesn’t matter who is giving the cue to the dog. Take some time to talk about cues with your family. Make sure everyone is saying or doing the same thing all the time. If someone calls the dog by saying, “Come!” while others say “Come Here!” the dog’s response (coming when called) will go downhill over time because the cue lacks consistency.

On Cue

What does it mean when we say a behavior is on cue, how can you tell if a behavior is on cue, and what the heck difference does it really make to you if your dog’s behaviors are on cue?

A cue is what tells a learner (most often in this article, I’m talking about your dog, but really, our lives are filled with cues, too) that the behavior he offers will work (or, in a training scenario, be reinforced). A cue is how you get control of all the behaviors your dog knows. In short: It’s the way you ask your dog to do something

So when a behavior is on cue, it means that you’ve identified for the dog the signal that means, “go do that behavior” and the dog understands the cue. Here’s an example: you ask your dog to sit and he offers a sit in response to your request.

If your dog throws out every behavior he knows when you hold a dog treat in your hand, those behaviors are probably not on cue. If they were, you could ask for a single behavior and get a single correct response. And when you think about it, wouldn’t that be a lot easier (and more fair)? I mean, would you like to do 15 things only to find out your boss only needed one thing done, but he let you go through all 15?! We wouldn’t dream of doing that to another person, but a dog doing it usually draws chuckles. We can fix this and make life a lot easier for you and your dog.

Aside from just being nice to your dog and making things clearer for your dog, cues strengthen your dog’s reliability. Do you ever wonder if your dog will come when you call? Having a clear and clean way to ask for that behavior (the cue!) is one of the building blocks to a strong, reliable, consistent come when called behavior. Without a good, clean cue, a good recall is impossible no matter how much you practice.

Put the Behavior On Cue

Now you know what makes a good cue, what an on cue behavior is, it’s time to get some of your dog’s behaviors on cue! Here’s how to teach your dog that your signals (the cues) matter.

Set up a formal training session with your dog (clicker and treats). Click your dog a few times for doing the behavior to which you’d like to add the cue. (Just wait for the behavior to happen. Ignore any other behaviors that your dog volunteers. No talking. No “directing.”
Once the behavior is predictable insert the cue just as the dog starts to do the behavior (say the word, or the hand signal, or otherwise insert the cue). Give the cue just once.
At this point, you’re giving the cue because the dog is about to do the behavior, not to get the dog to do the behavior. You are pairing your cue with the behavior the dog is doing.
Click and treat the dog when he does the behavior.
Insert the cue again right as the dog offers the behavior.
Click and treat the dog again when he does the behavior.
After several repetitions, begin to back the cue out of the process by just half a second. In other words, give the cue about half a second before the dog does the behavior instead of giving the cue just as the behavior occurs.
Click and treat every correct response to the cue.

If the dog offers another behavior or doesn’t do the behavior you cued, just wait. For example, don’t repeat the cue “sit, sit, sit.” Just say “sit” once.

Continue to systematically back the cue out of the process by giving the cue earlier and earlier.

If your dog ever waits or even pauses for a moment (doesn’t offer the behavior if you haven’t asked for it), click and treat that! Yes, click and treat your dog for doing nothing! Confused about that point? Here’s the quick and dirty explanation: you’re clicking the dog for waiting for the cue. So clicking him for not volunteering the behavior in the hopes of getting a treat from you, you’re actually reinforcing him for thinking!

Or, instead of clicking and treating your dog for pausing, go ahead and give him what he really wants – the cue (the opportunity to do the behavior to earn a click and treat). Your dog will very quickly see that the cue is really important and he’ll start to pay more attention to you (a nice side effect of teaching your dog cues).

Check Your Progress

When you think your dog has noticed the cue and understands to wait for it, instead of giving him the cue to do that behavior, give him the chance to do another behavior. So if you’ve been working on “sit” for instance, after working for about 3 minutes on just the sit, throw in a “down” cue. If your dog downs instead of sits, click and treat! He was paying attention! If he sits, simply ignore that behavior. Wait 2 – 3 seconds to see if he figures out that you asked for something different. If he doesn’t figure it out, take a few steps to reset him and start again (cue the “down”).

Important Points

Ignore any uncued behaviors (behaviors that happen if you didn’t ask for them). If your dog gets clicked and treated whenever he offers the correct behavior (as opposed to only when asked for the behavior), the cue is meaningless to the dog.

Say the cue just once. This is often the hardest part of this for dog owners. They want to repeat the cue “down, down, down!” to get the dog to do the behavior, but what’s really happening is that the dog is getting a “muddy” version of the cue. The cue is “down.” Period. Say the word and then wait. And wait. And wait some more if necessary. Wait silently. When the dog does the behavior, click and treat! This silence and stillness helps the dog see the link between the cue and the behavior (and the reinforcer that comes from performing the behavior upon perceiving the cue).

Work on one cue and behavior within in a training session. The concept of cues may seem daunting to your dog, especially if he’s never had any reason to notice them in the past. After you introduce the cue to one behavior and your dog seems to catch on, go ahead and work on a different behavior.

Next month, we’ll finish up with cueing. Until then, work on getting two or three of your dog’s behaviors on cue!

Dog Training 401: Get Your Dog to Do WHAT You Want WHEN You Want

September 3, 2014

This is the fourth article in a series designed to bring the nuts and bolts of dog training directly to dog owners so you can work with your dog at home. Our past articles have explained the laws of behavior, how to change behavior, and how to get your dog to do the right thing. Logically, our next article covers how to get your dog to do what want when you want it.

Cues are our focus in this article. Cues are the key to getting your dog to do what you want, when you want. It’s how you label behaviors, and – once labeled – you can ask for (and get!) them whenever you want. Sounds cool, yeah? We did a video and article on cues not too long ago, but didn’t go into this depth — it’s a good overview.

What’s a cue?

Cues make all the difference in the world. Cues are how we tell our dogs how they can produce a favorable outcome. Back in the day, people used the word “command” when talking about dog training. That word doesn’t really fit into today’s well-developed training system. We aren’t saying to our dogs “Sit. OR ELSE.” We’re saying: “I’m giving you the chance to earn a goodie. Sitting now will guarantee you will be reinforced.” The difference may seem slight at first, but as the ripples go across the water, they get more pronounced. A cooperative dog is much more reliable than a dominated dog. (Applies to people, too!)

Why are cues important?

Imagine that you’ve got a dog who can do loads of things. He can sit, down, come when called, stay, roll over, speak, crawl, high five, play dead – you name it, he can do it! That’s half the battle: it’s what trainers call “getting the behavior on the dog.” Most dog owners can get that piece of the puzzle – getting the behavior on the dog. But where most people fall down is getting the behavior to happen when (and only when) you ask for it.

Cues are the solution to getting a handle on the “shake” behavior so your dog isn’t hitting you with paw every time he wants a treat. It’s how you get your dog to “speak” only when you ask for it. It’s how we get the service dogs to get something out of the refrigerator only when we ask. Can you imagine teaching the dog only how to do the behavior and then not finding a way to ask for it?! Nightmares, it gives me nightmares!

How many dogs have you seen who will run through their entire repertoire of behaviors. They don’t necessarily listen to what you’re asking for, they’re just spitting out behaviors until you click and feed them. How frustrating must that be for the dog?! Not to mention inconvenient and inefficient for us, the people.

Here’s a human example that might better illustrate the point. Your boss doesn’t tell you what he wants you to do when you come into the office. He just lets you do all the different tasks your job encompasses until you hit upon the right one. He then tells you

Cue types. There are lots of different types of cues. The ones most of us are familiar with are words (verbal) and hand signal (visual). Yes, those are the most common, but there are lots more! A cue is anything your dog can perceive. Dogs can perceive smell (this is how a diabetic alert dog does his job – he sniffs the bodies production of acidic ketones) and then perform a specific behavior (dog bumps his nose into person’s leg, indicating a change in blood sugar). Dogs also perceive sounds (other than your voice). Anyone’s dog bark in response to the doorbell? That doorbell is a cue for the dog! Touch can be a cue, too. Some dogs, if touched lightly on the shoulder, move over a step.

Cues in (your) real life.

Visual: Stoplight – red means stop, green means go. Signs – “Closed” means the doors are locked, “Open” means the doors are unlocked.

Auditory: Telephone ringing – someone’s calling you. Microwave beeping – food is done.

Smell: Smell of smoke – check the oven! Smell of bread: salivate, get butter out of fridge, etc.

Think of all the things you do in your life and why you do them. Most of them are cued in one way or another. It’s fascinating to realize how much we do depends on cues from either people or the environment.

Cue rules.

Simple cues are the best (one word, one hand signal, etc.)
Pick one type of cue (verbal or visual or smell, etc.)
Give the cue once (just once, this is so hard!)
Make sure everyone in the family (dog walkers, too!) uses the same cue
If you don’t ask for a behavior, you don’t pay for it

Here’s a little more on that last bullet point. Sometimes people say “But he’s sitting! That’s good!” Yes, sitting is good. But it’s good only if you’ve asked for it. Confused? Here’s an example to clear things up: A landscape service cuts your lawn by mistake – they read the address wrong and should’ve cut your neighbor’s lawn — but they still want to be paid because “well, we did the job.” If you pay them, they might come back next week – you’re an easy source of $120 each week! But if you tell them, “thanks so much, I’m very appreciative that you cut my lawn, but I didn’t ask you to do the job, therefore I’m not going to pay you,” they won’t be back next week. If you don’t ask for the behavior, you don’t pay it. Otherwise, the cue means nothing.

How to add a cue.

If you’re teaching a new behavior, adding a cue is really simple. First, you shape or capture the behavior (See Dog Training 301 for exactly how to do that). Once the dog is volunteering the behavior willingly, then it’s time to add the cue.

Timing is important. You want to be willing to bet $100 that the dog will volunteer the behavior before you start adding the cue. Let’s say you’ve clicked and reinforced your dog for offerin
g his paw and he’s always offering that behavior now. Good! The behavior is now predictable. We love predictable. Predictable lets us add the cue (word, gesture, whatever) immediately before the behavior is going to happen. We’re giving the cue because the behavior is about to happen, not to make the behavior happen in the beginning.

After 15 – 20 trials where you give the cue immediately before the behavior (and you’ve clicked and reinforced the dog for doing the behavior), begin to back the cue out of the sequence a bit. For instance, if you’re working on your dog’s “down” behavior, you’d begin by giving the cue right as the dog starts to lie down. Then, after 15 – 20 repetitions, you’d give your cue a second before the dog begins to lie down, clicking and reinforcing all the correct behaviors.

If the dog volunteers the behavior before you’re able to give the cue, ignore the behavior. Eventually, we need the dog to notice the cue and offer the behavior because of the cue, not simply volunteer the cue. By ignoring uncued behaviors, we’re helping the dog understand the value of the cue, of the “ask.”

Your homework: Take a look at the cues you already have in place.

Note which behaviors are “on cue” and which behaviors are still simply volunteered. Also how many behaviors have more than one cue (you’re moving and talking, for instance)? You’ll need that for next month’s article which will detail how to clean up your cues – the cleaner your cues, the cleaner (more accurate, consistent, reliable) your dog’s behavior will be!

Dog Training 301: Dogs Behaving Badly

August 7, 2014

This is the third article in a series designed to bring the nuts and bolts of dog training directly to you.

Our past articles have explained the laws of behavior and the tools to modify behavior. Logically, our next article covers how to teach behavior – how to teach your dog to do what you want.

You already know, from the last article, that teaching what you want your dog to do is much easier than telling him all the things you don’t want him to do. So: now what? Knowing what you should be doing provides only half of the solution. Now you need to know how to do it.

Consider the laws of behavior from our first article:

if you reinforce a behavior, you get more of it and
a behavior that doesn’t get reinforced goes away. With that information, you have the first piece of the puzzle: find the behavior you like, tell the dog you like it, and reinforce it!

Let’s look at each of those things in a little more detail so you can start teaching your dog new – appropriate and desirable – things to do (instead of the annoying and inappropriate things).

Gather your tools.

You’re going to need a way to tell the dog exactly when he does what you like and then reinforce that behavior, too. So you’re going to need two things: a clicker (or other similar noisemaker) and tiny, pea-sized pieces of food (the tastier the food, the better). Go ahead – use real people-food! It usually works quickly and – bonus – you can eat it, too!

Identify the behavior you like.

The behavior you like is probably the opposite of what your dog is currently doing. Finish this sentence: Instead of jumping (or whatever behavior you don’t like), I would like my dog to do ____________. You know you don’t like jumping. But what would you like the dog to do instead of jumping. You have to know that before you go to the next step. Focus on just one or two things like “stand” or “sit.” Your answer can’t contain “don’t jump!”

Mark the behavior you like.

The two new vocabulary words in this article are:

capture and
shape.

These are the two ways we’re going to “get behavior.”

Capture. When you capture behavior, you get the whole thing at once. Dogs don’t sit a little bit at a time – they either sit or they don’t. There’s no sitting halfway. So sitting is an easy behavior to capture. Lying down is another easy behavior to capture – there’s not really a way for a dog to “lie down a little bit.”

Shape. When you shape a behavior, it’s a lot like shaping a piece of clay. You start out with a big blob of clay, and then as you work your hands through the clay, you shape it to the size and dimension you’d like. It happens a little at a time – you can’t go from a ball of clay to a bowl in just one step; it takes time to get the clay moved around in just the right way to make a bowl. Shaping behavior is done the very same way: you start with a goal behavior, then from the raw material and you selectively click for closer and closer approximations toward the goal.

Real Life Example

Your complaint: The dog won’t listen.

(That’s not specific enough – what do you specifically want the dog to do?)

Your revised complaint: The dog jumps on visitors when they come into the house.

Desired behavior: The dog stands (acceptable) or sits (preferred) when people come into the house.

Behavior you’ll capture: standing or sitting.

After you capture standing or sitting, we still need to give that behavior a word (put that behavior on cue) and strengthen it so it will happen with distractions (when people ring the doorbell), and duration (so the dog can hold the sit for awhile, so people can enter and the dog remains seated). Next month’s article will teach you how to put that behavior on cue.

How to Capture

Have your clicker handy during the times you think it’s likely the dog will sit. Keep an eye on the dog and click whenever he voluntarily sits. It’s really important to note that at this step you’re not asking the dog to sit. You’re just marking it (with the clicker) and reinforcing it (with the delicious, tiny piece of food). Your timing is important: click the clicker the instant your dog’s bum hits the floor. It’s ok if he gets up to eat the treat – with enough repetition, the dog will soon understand that it’s the act of putting his bum on the floor that gets you to click him and he’ll be volunteering the behavior more frequently.

How to Shape

Shaping works best for behaviors that aren’t likely to happen all at once. Take, for instance, lying on a mat. If you plan to capture that behavior, you’ll be waiting a long time – it’s simply too much of a behavior to think that a dog would volunteer that entire behavior all at once.

To shape the behavior, place an appropriate sized mat (I use bathroom mats for this) on the floor between you and the dog. Stand with your feet centered in the middle of the mat, but behind the mat (not on it). Wait for your dog to voluntarily place a paw on the mat. Have that clicker ready – you’re going to click the same instant the dog’s paw touches the mat. Toss the treat off the mat so all the dog’s paws leave the mat. Tossing the treat off the mat sets the dog up so he’s able to come back onto the mat and earn a click and a treat. Within about 20 clicks, your dog will begin to understand that there’s something interesting about that mat and start hanging around in that area more often. Of course, the more often your dog’s hanging out there, the more often he’ll get clicked and treated! Before you know it, the dog is getting a click and treat every single time!

When you see the dog is getting clicked frequently (about 8 times a minute), you hold your click until the dog happens to put two paws on the mat. Repeat the entire process until the dog is putting three paws, then finally all four paws on the mat. The next logical step, after getting all four feet on the mat, is for the dog to sit on the mat.

After the dog is reliably coming to the mat and putting all four paws on the mat, you simply don’t click that any longer. Don’t say anything – just wait. Be ready, though, because you’re going to click the instant your dog sits. Don’t ask him to sit, most dogs will volunteer the sit.

After the dog has figured out that the new way to earn a click is walking onto the mat and sitting, then you’ll click (and always treat) only when the dog lies down on the mat.

It’s not nearly as hard as it sounds! I teach this in all my group classes at Smart Dog University, and I love the surprise in my clients’ eyes when they see their dog volunteering the sit and then the down on the mat!

Here’s our service pup in training, Levi’s, first shaping experience with the mat.

http://youtu.be/a_zWUa2IMZ0

Next month, you’ll learn how to associate a signal (word, hand signal, etc.) to that behavior so you can then ask for it when you need it. If you missed either of our two previous articles, be sure to go back and read them – it’ll make this “chapter” make a lot more sense!

Photo courtesy of Popofatticus.

Menu

newsletter