Lure/Reward training: In this type of training we use something that our dog likes (food or toys) to maneuver them through a behavior. This teaches them the muscle memory of the movement. We fade the lure and replace it with a hand signal. The big advantage of Lure/reward is that it works really fast! and is commonly used to teach a behavior like sit or down.
Shaping a behavior: In shaping we teach a behavior in small increments and reward each step. We slowly build the incremental movements into the final desired behavior. The advantage of shaping is that our dog starts to figure out what we want and offer behaviors. This makes them a better learner! We will use shaping to teach our dogs to stand on a platform.
- Dog is on your left side.
- Leash is in your right hand.
- Clicker is in your right hand (optional).
- Feed from the hand closest to the dog. For standard heeling the dog is on your left side so you will feed with your left hand. Have your palm facing your dog, fingers down.
The heel position is a core behavior in dog training and it’s an amazing way to get our dogs in tune with us! We want to reinforce the heel position with our dog on our left side, their shoulder even with our left pant seam. You can start by putting several treats in your left hand, although you may find it easier to store the treats in your right hand and then pass them to your left hand to feed. Put your left hand on your dog’s nose and take one step. I suggest stepping with your left foot first. Mark and reward when your dog steps with you. When you get to the end of the straight-a-way, turn around and call your dog. Mark/reward as soon as they step towards you. Use a food lure to get your dog back into position. See below:
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- Put the platform on the ground while they are watching, there is a good chance they will come over to the platform to investigate.
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- Click/treat as soon as they show any interest in the platform.
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- Continue to click/treat any investigation of the platform. You can put the treat onto the platform which may entice your dog to put a foot on the platform.
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- Toss a reset treat away from the platform so that your dog can re-approach the platform to get more click/treat opportunities. I use the reset toss when it seems like the dog and I are stalled on the current repetition.
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- Remember to click first and then move your hand to get the treat. You may want to pause 1/2 second between the click and your initial hand movement to get the treat. We want the click, and not our hand movement, to be the signal that a reward is coming.
- Use “fast food” (multiple, rapid fire feeding) to build value if your dog gets four feet onto the platform.
- Say your dog’s name, then take a few steps backwards, then mark, then treat.
- You may need to prompt a few times as you take your steps away from your dog. Minimize the amount of prompting you do so that your dog approaches you when they hear their name.
- Remember to mark before moving your hand to get a treat.
- You don’t need to worry about a cue to get your dog onto the platform. The presentation of the platform is their cue to get on it.
- Continue shaping for four feet on the platform. Practice what we did in class. See the tips in the review section above.
- Keep your sessions short! Just one or two minutes maximum. Do lots of play in between your sessions and even within a session.
- Start with the lured heel that we practiced in class. See the lured heel videos in the review section above.
- Make an “alley way” to work in. Use an x-pen or practice near a wall or barrier. This will help your dog to stay parallel with you rather than curving in front of you.
- After a couple of lured heel runs, try using an empty lure hand. To do this, put your hand on the dog’s nose but dont have a treat in it. Take one step then mark (click or ‘yes’) and pass a treat from your right hand to your left hand. Feed your dog from the left hand. (see example in video below)
- Notice that when I lure or feed my dog, I have my fingers pointing downward with my palm facing the dog. This will really help you keep your dog in a good parallel heel position. We will revisit this later but its a good habit to get into now.
- Remember to keep your sessions short! Just one or two minutes with lots of play breaks.
Well, that’s about it for our first week… Have fun with the exercises, and try to spend a few minutes working on them each day. A few minutes in the morning and a few minutes in the evening will go a long way. Always look for ways to setup your home environment so that its easy for your dog to succeed. If you don’t have an x-pen you can do some heelwork next to a wall or in a hallway. Platform training at the end of a narrow hallway (where you have 3 walls) can be helpful by limiting the possible choices for your dog. Please remember to bring your platform to class each week if possible, we will be using them in class as well as for homework.
“The overriding goal is to thoughtfully arrange the environment so that the right behavior is easier to perform than the wrong behavior…” – Susan Friedman.