Clean Run - September 2014 - 19

the same time and place each time
(if you use a clicker at all for this
behavior). In each case in Figure 1,
the dog is clicked at the point
marked R+, and the reinforcement
is delivered ahead of the dog's
path to encourage the dog to continue forward out of the poles.
1A

Take a look at Figure 2. Let's say
you want to teach your dog to turn
counterclockwise around a pole.
Which zone(s) do you think will be
the most difficult for your dog to
move through? Which zone(s) will
likely be the easiest for your dog
to move through? You will need
to plan on giving more reinforcements to your dog for moving
through difficult zones, and fewer
reinforcements for moving through
those zones that are already easy
for your dog.
2

P
If you always click/R+ in the
same place, your dog will come
to expect a click/R+. When you
fail to click/R+, you will find that
your dog stops at that point,
waiting for the click/R+.

Instead, make sure to click/R+ in
a variety of locations throughout
a "zone," so that your dog is reinforced for passing through all
points of this area and does not
think to stop at any one point if a
click/R+ is not forthcoming.

Wrapping the Pole
When it comes to teaching your
dog to wrap a pole, cone, or jump
standard, think of the pole as being in the center of a circle and
divide the circle in to four zones.
September 14 | Clean Run

may find that the difficult zones
change for your dog. Be prepared
to shift how and when you click and
treat as you see one zone becoming
easier and another more difficult.

What Does This Mean for You
as the Trainer?
To help your dog become more
comfortable moving through the
orange zone, you will need to
click at various points within that
zone, always delivering the reward
(food) ahead of your dog in the
next zone-but, again, not always
in the same place within that zone.
Split each zone in to even smaller
sections, and make sure that you
are clicking for multiple points
within each zone and delivering
your reinforcement to corresponding multiple points in the next
zone. See Figure 3 for an example.
3

If your dog is turning
counterclockwise, which zone(s)
will be most difficult for your dog
to pass through? Which zone(s)
will be easiest?

For most dogs, the orange zone
will be the most difficult zone to
pass through because the dog
needs to turn away from you (the
source of most of the dog's reinforcement!) and toward the pole.
The blue zone will be next most
difficult, as the dog continues to
turn away from you and toward
the pole. Once the dog gets to
the green zone, however, he is on
his way back to you, so this zone,
along with the yellow zone, tends
to be the easiest zone for the dog.
This means that you will be looking
to click the most as your dog passes through the orange zone, and
reinforce the most in the blue zone,
at least at first. However, this does
not mean you will not click or treat
for the other zones as well, just not
as much as those zones you deem
more difficult. As you progress
through teaching this behavior, you

R6
R5
R4
R3
R2
R1
C6
C5
C4
C3
C2
C1

C1 corresponds to click #1 and
R1 is where the treat would be
delivered for click #1. C2 is for
click #2 and R2 is where the corresponding treat would be delivered, and so on.

Be Smart About Your Hands
Although this is shaping and offering behavior, you are still a variable. The way you deliver each
reinforcement can help or hinder
your dog's ability to get reinforcement for future attempts. In my
counterclockwise example, as the
dog passes through the orange
zone, and as I click and attempt to
deliver a treat in the blue zone, I
need to think carefully about which
arm and hand I will use to deliver
the treat. After all, after I drop the
19

Clean Run - September 2014

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