Clean Run - June 2020 - 45

ExErCiSE 2
In agility, lots of us use toys as reinforcers for our dogs, as
well as food. It's important that just like food, toys have
rules around them that help the dog understand the
game. We want the dog to clearly understand when the
toy has been made available to him and when he should
release the toy back to us. The great thing about toys is
that they open up many possibilities for us to reinforce
our dogs in creative ways, so having great toy skills allows
more opportunities in reinforcement.
This exercise assumes that your dog already enjoys playing tug with you. Toy play is complicated, and some dogs
will not always feel comfortable playing in all contexts,
and that's okay. This exercise helps dogs who like to play
to understand when the toy is "theirs" without playing
negative punishment games with the toy.
* Start by getting your dog into a good game of tug
with you.
* When the dog is happily playing and tugging on the
toy, ask him to release the toy using your release cue
(e.g., "out!"). If your dog has trouble with his release,
choke your hands up on the toy so that the toy becomes less active, and so that the dog has less room
to re-grip on the toy. Hold the toy as static as possible
until the dog starts to let go of the toy.
* As soon as the dog starts to open his jaws, cue the
dog to get the toy again with your marker cue that
signals that the toy is now available to him (e.g., "get
it!) and continue the game of tug. Make sure the
game is long enough to be reinforcing to the dog
(more than just a few seconds).
* Repeat these steps until the dog understands that
"out!" means to let the toy go and "get it!" means to
grab the toy and play tug. If, at any point, the dog
grabs the tug without being cued to do so, do not
continue to play tug with him but ask him to release
the toy again. Rather than snatch the toy away or give
him a verbal correction for grabbing the toy, the dog
is going to learn that if he takes the toy when cued,
there is a super fun game of tug involved! If he grabs
the toy without being cued to do so, the game ends.
* As the dog starts to understand the cues involved in
this game, start delaying the time between your release cue and your marker cue for the toy. In the beginning, this may only be a count of "one, one thousand," working up to greater spans of time.

I engage the dog in a game of tug and then ask him to release
the toy with my "out" cue.

WHy Do WE nEED rEinforCEmEnt on
StimuluS Control?
If we can give the dog a cue that means he may come obtain food from us, why is putting reinforcement on stimulus control necessary? Teaching the dog stimulus control
on reinforcement prepares him for stimulus control surrounding obstacles. When the dog understands what to
do and when he should do it, the dog becomes confident
in his job.
If we are able to get our reinforcement off of our bodies and in the path we want the dog to take, the dog will
learn to move forward and be seeking the obstacle ahead
of him. Reinforcement placed ahead is more functional to
maintaining behaviors once we are in a trial setting. For
example, if a dog is taught to do a two-on/two-off (let's
call it "feet"), and is always reinforced at the bottom of the
dogwalk by his handler, then it will only take him a few
times in the competition arena to learn that food is never
going to be placed by his handler at the bottom of the
dogwalk in this environment. However, if a dog is learning to wait for a cue to release him forward to reinforcement, then he is simultaneously learning to wait for a cue
to release him to go ahead to another obstacle.

By putting our reinforcement
in the path we want the
dog to take, the dog will
learn to move forward and
be seeking the obstacle
ahead of him.

in agility, lots of us use toys as reinforcers for our dogs, as well as food. it's important that just like food,
toys have rules around them that help the dog understand the game.
June 20 | Clean run

Clean Run - June 2020

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