Clean Run Magazine - April 2008 - 39

Shape—don’t lure! It is important that you shape the behavior and not lure it. When you shape a behavior, the dog understands that if he performs the behavior first, then he can earn a reward. He will be more likely to want to offer the behavior to engage the prop or obstacle. Understanding, and thus distance and independence, can be built in very quickly. When you lure a behavior, your presence next to the prop becomes a big part of the cue for that behavior; and the dog will be much less likely to offer it once you start to build in distance and independence. Susan Garrett talks about the “transfer of value” in her training program (see her article in the Clean Run Special Focus Issue on Motivation, Drive & Self-Control). In the work of Ivan Pavlov, the dogs would salivate when the bell was associated with the food. This response is called a conditioned or a Pavlovian response. It occurs when the bell is presented before the food. When the bell was presented at the same time, or after the food, the dogs did not salivate. The bell had taken on the value of the food, exactly like click = treat. This transfer of value can be applied to your prop training by allowing the dog to offer the behavior first, and then presenting the food, not the other way around, which occurs in luring. While you are shaping this behavior, do not add any verbal or body cues. Stand in a neutral position and be patient while your dog offers behaviors with the prop. Step 2 Once your dog is reliably offering the behavior with the prop while you are very close to the prop, start backing away and ping-pong your distance until you are 5'-6' away from the prop. As you start to add distance, be aware of the placement of your reinforcement. The majority of your rewards should be in the vicinity of the prop, even if you are up to 5'-6' away; therefore, rewards (food or toy) should be thrown and/or delivered to the dog. I will vary what part of the behavior I reward the dog for. For example, if the behavior is to go around a cone, this is a behavior of motion: there is no exact point where the behavior is finished, so I will vary the reward from anytime the dog leaves me, goes toward the cone, goes around the cone, comes back to me. If the behavior is go in a box with four paws, then the behavior is complete when the dog gets into the box with all four paws, so I will vary the reward from anytime the dog leaves me, goes toward the box, gets in the box, gets in the box with all four paws. I will also use a release word such as O.K. for this behavior because my criterion is get in the box with all four paws and I want the dog to stay there until he is released. Therefore, I should also reward while the dog is in the box. Throughout this process, your dog should start each repetition at your side. Either have him in a stay or hold him by the collar; the dog should perform the behavior when you use the release word or release his collar. Do not use any verbal or body cues to get your dog to move away from you. If your dog is not enthusiastically moving away from you, you have progressed too fast from Step 1 to Step 2, or your placement of reinforcement may be poor. Step 3 Once the dog is reliably performing the behavior from 5'-6' away, he is ready for a cue. When you are adding a cue to a behavior, you should add it before the dog begins the behavior. Therefore, if you have been holding his collar, add the new cue just before you release his collar. If you have been starting the dog in a stay, add the new cue just before you give your release word. We will start Step 3 with a leg cue: Just before you release your dog, use the leg closest to the dog and point it toward the prop. Vary the distance from the prop and build up to 10'. Note: If your dog releases on your leg cue (before you say your release word), then work on this in a separate training session (your dog should only release on a verbal cue) and just hold his collar for the remainder of these exercises. April 08 | Clean Run 39

Clean Run Magazine - April 2008

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