Clean Run - July 2019 - 9

Everybody wants a dog sport partner who is focused, engaged, and confident! There is nothing in the world like
walking into an agility ring with a dog whose demeanor reads, "I know exactly what I am doing here, and I like it!"
the plank to be something they want to
work with, I can begin to use the plank
to train skills. In other words, I look for
evidence of the dog enjoying the plank
before it becomes a training tool.
Sometimes, this means that the technical criteria of the eventual end-behavior
must be put aside for a time. We get to
that after a certain degree of confidence
has been created.
For some dogs, confidence is built
quickly, but in other cases, it can require
quite a lot of baby-steps toward a confident attitude. It is always important to
allow the dog to lead this process at his
or her own pace.

For some dogs, you might need to take reinforcement a step beyond merely offering
a treat or a toy. If your dog is blasé about taking treats, for example, you can toss the
treat so that the fun of chasing the treat becomes part of the reinforcement. For some
dogs, a rapid-fire stream of treats can provide powerful reinforcement. Even a toy can
be made more interesting if it is tossed, or a treat-dispensing toy, such as a Lotus Ball,
can be used for a dog who enjoys that.
The reason for using a meaningful reinforcer is not to use it to try to entice the dog
to try new things but to effectively communicate that the dog has been successful for
trying something new, or for making a confident choice.
Confidence-Building through Choice
One of the cornerstones of confidence-building lies in allowing a dog to make choices
and then providing meaningful reinforcement for their attempts and efforts. Sometimes this is a valuable practice for a dog who is already trained in basic skills but
needs to build more confidence.
For example, about a year ago, one of my online parkour students sent me a video of
her dog, Piper, getting up on an object with all four feet. The behavior was technically
perfect, and it met all of the necessary criteria: Piper's handler cued the behavior, Piper carried out the behavior, and then she was praised and reinforced for the behavior.
However, it was clear to me that Piper was performing the behavior only because she
had been asked to do so. It was evident from her demeanor that she did not want to get
up onto the object. There was no enthusiasm, there was no joy, and there was no confidence in the performance. I suggested that Piper's handler put work on the behavior
aside for the time being, and focus on creating confidence, joy, and enthusiasm.

Although the desired end-behavior
is for Ruger to move forward between
the two ring gates, Jen praises him for
offering two paws on the gate, as he
explores the setup.
Meaningful Reinforcement
When working on confidence-building,
always use meaningful reinforcement.
I think of this as something that will
convey this message to a dog, "That is
it! You are brilliant!" And, of course,
this must be something that your dog
really wants. One of the biggest traps I
see students fall into is a lack of ability
to recognize that their dog is not all that
interested in a particular reinforcer.
Always be sure to use reinforcement
that your dog finds interesting, meaningful, and desirable in the situation at
hand. This is key. Your dog might be
keenly interested in pieces of kibble at
home and find that same kibble to be
completely boring while working in a
training class.
July 19 | Clean Run

I recommended that she allow Piper to choose to interact with the object in any way
that she saw fit. I instructed Piper's handler to praise and reinforce any choice that
Piper made with the object, and then toss treats away from the object for Piper to
chase, as part of her reinforcement. I asked her to focus on creating an attitude in
Piper that "choosing to do stuff with this thing is fun."
Several days later, Piper's handler shared a new video and Piper was changed entirely.
She was enthusiastic, confident, and showing interest in trying different things. At
that point, we went back to working toward parkour titling performance criteria.
I realize that this might sound a lot like free-shaping, but there is a subtle difference.
When you are free-shaping, you have a goal to try to move the dog to a particular
end-behavior. When allowing the dog to make choices to build confidence, you are
looking to create attitude, not a particular behavior. Any work toward specific criteria
is added back in later.

Peter alternates between offering a sit and a stand on the prop.
9

Clean Run - July 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - July 2019