dog training
Animal Training Using Shaping
NOTE: I have a new pet behavior blog located at http://www.SoMuchPETential.com/blog. Thanks!
Have you ever ‘shaped’ behavior? Sure you have. We all have. If you’ve ever taught a child to talk, write or tie a shoe, you shaped that behavior. If you’ve ever learned to sing or play an instrument, you didn’t begin by playing Bach. If you’ve played baseball, you had to learn how to hit a home run. Your skill set was shaped.
Shaping is behavior science strategy for teaching behaviors by breaking that final ‘target’ behavior down into smaller increments known as successive approximations and reinforcing the animal at each incremental step until the final target behavior is learned.
I love using shaping to teach my pets new behaviors because it is so much fun for both of us – fun for me to challenge myself in being the best teacher I can be and fun for them in trying to figure out the ‘game’ or what it is they need to do to earn the reinforcement from me.
What are other benefits of using shaping?
You can teach your pet a behavior that he otherwise may find very confusing such as when I taught Sam to take a bow or scratch his nose. (the things we get our pets to do)
You can fine-tune a behavior your pet is already doing such as teaching Sam to stay sitting for longer periods of time.
You are encouraging your dog to offer new behaviors, try new things and think out of the box to solve problems.
So, how does it work? Here are some basic steps:
Identify the final behavior you want to teach.
Identify your reinforcers for each approximation. Know which reinforcers are of the highest value. As you progress in difficulty and distractions, you may need to increase the value of your reinforcers that you are offering.
Make a plan that lists all of the closest approximations to the final behavior. The first approximation may or may not be even remotely related to the final behavior.
(Optimally begin in an environment with minimal distractions.) Teach each approximation with positive reinforcement and once performed without hesitation, move on to the next approximation and repeat the process until the final behavior is achieved.
Notes:
It’s good to use a marker or bridge when the approximation is offered, followed by the reward because you more than likely would not be able to give the reinforcer to your pet quick enough to reinforce that specific behavior without a bridge. The marker can be a clicker or it can be a word such as ‘good.’ You will need to first teach your pet association between the marker – conditioned reinforcer – and the treat before using the marker in training of other behaviors.
When teaching new behaviors, reinforcers need to be given immediately after the behavior (approximation) and every time.
Size of approximations matters. If your steps in your plan are too small, your learner may satiate on the reinforcer too quickly and may not be interested in the training. If your steps are too big, it may become too difficult to understand and your learner may lose interest. There is no magic formula here. This is where the fun comes in – for you to figure out how big or small to make your steps and adjust along the way by the feedback your animal is giving you; and for your animal in trying to figure out what you want him to do to get his reinforcement.
If your animal is not learning what you want him to learn, instead of shrugging it off to his being dumb or stubborn, take that as feedback from your student that you need to change your lesson plan.
Shifting to the next approximation. There are several ways – one is to observe the tiny variation in which your pet does an approximation and reinforce the one that is closest to the final behavior. Another way is to withhold the reinforcement for the current approximation and wait until your pet tries to figure out what he needs to do next to get that piece of cheese or whatever your reinforcement is. CAUTION that the second way can set the occasion for some frustration so try to be a better observer and go with the first way!
Below is a video of Canadian assistance dog trainer Donna Hill teaching her dog to move a light switch.
Have A Jealous Or Stubborn Dog? Why I Can’t Help.
NOTE: I have a new pet behavior blog located at http://www.SoMuchPETential.com/blog. Thanks!
It happens SO often. When you ask pet owners about problems they are having with their pets, it boils down to their pet being dominant, jealous, dumb, stubborn, territorial, vicious, a pest, or just plain BAD.
Well, here’s the thing. When you tell me your dog is jealous, stubborn, or unmotivated I have absolutely no idea what it is 
that your dog is actually ‘doing’ that causes you to see him as jealous, stubborn or unmotivated. When you tell me your bird is dominant or vicious, a number of different pictures go through my head – none of which could describe how your bird is behaving.
Descriptor words like jealous or stubborn really serve no value when it comes to behavior modification. They are adjectives that are better known as constructs in the science world.
In a recent course I took from Susan Friedman, Ph.D., she described it this way: “A construct is a kind of label that goes beyond a description of observed behaviors into the realm of hypothetical explanations for why an animal does what it does. While a construct may give a summary for a pattern of behavior, it serves as no help when it comes to developing a plan for changing the behavior with the most positive and least intrusive strategies.”
Susan went on to teach us that “constructs are nothing more than concepts that can’t be tested; constructs provide us with excuses to blame or worse get rid of the animal; constructs increase the use of ineffective training strategies and strategies based on punishment; constructs give us a false understanding of the problem when we’ve only given it a name; constructs foster self-fulfilling prophecies because you get what you expect; and constructs end our search for actual causes we can do something about.”
Just the other day someone was complaining to me about problems she was having with her dog who became ‘jealous’ when she got a boyfriend. “Baxter is a good dog. He’ll grow out of it,” was her response when I asked more questions.
Hmm. How about, instead of labeling her dog’s behaviors with constructs, she asks herself the following questions instead: What does this label ‘look’ like in terms of actual, observable behavior? Under what conditions does the behavior occur? What is the immediate outcome the behavior produces for my dog?
The answers will help her determine clearly defined behavior-change targets, antecedent predictors that set the behavior in motion, and what consequences maintain or strengthen the behavior. For example, instead of saying, “My dog is jealous,”, she could say, “When I sit on the couch with my boyfriend (antecedent), Baxter paws and bumps me (behavior) until I give her attention (consequence).”
Now I can see clearly what the behavior is that my friend wants to modify with an alternative behavior she wants to see more of instead. Now she can create a plan to make changes in the environment to set Baxter up for success such as teaching Baxter a behavior that is put on cue, and that is given when she sits on the couch with company.
And in the end, everyone succeeds.
Dog Training – Teaching Your Dog ‘Drop’
NOTE: I have a new pet behavior blog located at http://www.SoMuchPETential.com/blog. Thanks!
‘Drop it’ is such an important behavior to teach your dog for so many reasons. Below are two strategies for teaching it by trainers who use positive reinforcement. Both approaches will get you to the end result of your dog dropping something.
Barbara Heidenrich
I know Barbara through the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators (IAATE), have been fortunate to have taken several of her workshops, and have written several articles for her Good Bird Magazine in the past. Barbara is an internationally renowned trainer whose experience inludes consulting in zoos and other animal related facilities around the globe. She has been a part of the development and production of more than 15 different free flight education programs and has worked with 20 different animal facilities. You can learn more about her at her website.
Below is an excerpt from one of her past Good Bird Magazine issues:
Puppies are notorious for chewing up all sorts of contraband. Despite my best efforts to keep all items I did not want chewed up from the floor, I knew there would be moments when my favorite shoes might end up in my puppy’s mouth. I decided to teach a strong ‘drop’ behavior.
To do this, I armed myself with Waylon’s absolute favorite treats hidden in my fist. I offered Waylon an acceptable chew toy such as a stuffed animal. As he was chewing, I place my closed fist full of treats next to the toy, when he would stop chewing and smell my closed fist, I bridged (said the word ‘good’) and opened my fist so that he could get a treat. This was repeated several times, until the presentation of my fist would quickly cause him to drop what was in his mouth. I then added a verbal cue as well. I chose the oh, so clever, word ‘drop’.
My next step was to raise the bar a bit. I offered Waylon something he enjoys more than a stuffed toy, his squeaky ball. This was followed by even more enticing items, including a bone. Every time Waylon dropped the item he received a treat, or in some cases I simply offered back the item he had dropped, or another fun chewable item. When the day came when he found a shoe, I walked up to Waylon as I would under any circumstances. This meant no chasing, yelling or shrieks that my shoe was in his mouth. I calmly gave him the drop cue and the shoe left his mouth unscathed and hit the floor. I also did not have a treat in my hand, which was not a problem. My goal had always been that the treat would be phased out from being hidden in the hand. This time I gave him lots of praise and attention, which worked fine as a reinforcer. Now I regularly reinforce with all sorts of things…a treat, giving back the item he dropped, attention, another acceptable chew toy, etc. I so enjoy that he will drop even the smallest item when cued. And he does it eagerly knowing something else he enjoys is sure to follow.
Domesticated Manners
Below is a video by London, England based Domesticated Manners.
Note the video has a disclaimer: I would suggest that you do not use this with dogs who are “protective” over their food or other resources but work with a qualified behaviourist / trainer who may use a similar exercise if they see it to be beneficial and/or appropriate in your particular case.
Dog Training – Counter Conditioning To Overcome Fear
NOTE: I have a new pet behavior blog located at http://www.SoMuchPETential.com/blog. Thanks!
It was the Fourth of July and everyone likes a good fireworks show on the Fourth of July, right? Wrong!
Not Sam, my parents’ dearly beloved four legged companion who loves playing outside ready to greet every passerby with a tail wag. Sam has even learned to ask to go out by ringing a bell or running to find my mom or dad, nudging them and running toward the door. It happens pretty often…but stopped briefly after my parents’ neighbors thought it be fun to have their own fireworks 
show on the holiday. At least it stopped at nightfall.
Suddenly being outside in the dark became a trigger for panic (rapid heart rate, tense muscles, running away). No matter what my dad tried, he couldn’t get Sam out the door willingly as soon as darkness descended. And, if he could get Sam outside by pulling Sam on a leash, the little guy would run charging back to the door. By day two, my parents let Sam stay in at night (he’s young and luckily can hold things until morning) until I could come over and work with him.
What did I do? I put my education to the test by using the most positive, least intrusive strategies I know to re-teach Sam that being outside after dark can be pretty darned fun. And in one night, that’s what he learned.
I used what is called systematic desensitization, a process of gradually exposing Sam to the fear-eliciting stimulus (outside darkness) WITHOUT unexpected loud noise, in small, incremental steps. The criteria for advancing to the next step was watching his calm behavior and only moving forward at a pace that did not elicit even the mildest of his fear responses. The beauty of systematic desensitization is that Sam was always in total control. His body language dictated whether we moved forward or stepped backward. And I don’t know about you but I like knowing I have the power to control my situation.
Here’s what I did. Starting far enough from the door where he was calm with his tail wagging, I gave him a treat, petted him and was silly with him. We slowly moved toward the door. If I noticed any sign of escape behavior, we backed up to where he was comfortable again. Then we started over. In the first session, we got to within about five feet from the door. We stopped and came back to it a half hour later.
By the next session Sam stood at my side as I touched the door, then opened it slightly without his showing any sign of tensed muscles or looking like he was going to run away. Fifteen minutes later we tried again and this time he touched his front feet outside the door before he backed up. That was time to stop for a half hour and start again. The next time we started with him at the door. He walked all the way through the doorway and I held it open so that he knew he could run the other way if he chose to. The choice was always within his power of his own body language. However, once he was outside, I raised the bar by grabbing a squeaky toy.
Suddenly all he could think about was playing. We got down the steps and I took off running. He charged after me and the thought of running to the door was furthest in his mind.
Sam had just re associated being outside in the dark with play because he had the power to decide when ‘he’ was ready to move to the next step and because I paired being outside with some of his favorite activities. That’d be eating, playing and getting attention. In scientific terms, that re association is counter counditioning a fear eliciting stimulus into a feel-good eliciting stimulus. Systematic desensitization on steroids my teacher likes to say. In other words, I drained darkness as an elicitor of rapid heart rate, tense muscles and running away and helped counter condition darkness into a predictor of good things for Sam.
And hey, I’m all for good things!
Dog Training – Positive Strategies For Curbing Guarding Problem
Note: I have a new pet behavior blog at http://www.SoMuchPETential.com/blog.
Thank you so much to trainer Therese McClain for letting me publish this article she wrote in 2000 about working on object aggression in dogs. You’ll see that she does not use any type of force, but rather worked from the perspective of…How can I set my dog up for success?
By Theresa McClain
I have a now 5 year old golden, who I adopted as a almost 2 year old. She had a serious guarding problem which we have overcome.
This is what I did.
When she would be laying on the floor chewing a bone, I would walk up to her, stop, smile and speak cheerfully and then drop a treat and move on. I tried to do this several times a day.
It didn’t take too long, before she stopped growling when I came near. She began to actually look forward to me coming near her and even got to the point of letting go of the bone to look up and smile in return..( she is a golden)
I then started stooping, speaking cheerfully and placing the treat on the floor, getting up and moving on.
After that, I would stoop, touch her rear (I wasn’t stupid), smile, speak cheerfully and place a treat on the floor.
It wasn’t long before I could stop, stoop, smile, pet her head, and place the treat on the floor.
I knew I was home free then. I then proceed to touch the bone, place the treat etc.
And finally, take the bone, give her a treat and then give back the bone.
She is a sweetheart and I can trust her with my grandchild now.
Now my question would be, how did you proof and escalate that to include someone swooping down and grabbing an item away from the dog? (setting up ability for people to reach down — including child or acquaintance — and take item away from dog safely?)
I think the last step I mentioned in my post was…taking the bone, giving a treat and giving back the bone.
After that I did a lot of trading, bone for treat, bone for another bone, bone for a a highly valued toy. etc.. ( always something of the same or better value in the dogs eyes) I always spoke to her first, smiled and petted her head before any trade.
This speaking, smiling and petting actually became a signal (in a way) that I would be trading.
At first, she was very reliable with me, but not trustworthy with others. I gradually added other people she knew and liked. They had to follow the rules of course. They had to trade and they had to speak, smile and pet her head first.
She, of course was highly reinforced for this….lots and lots of praise and sometimes a jackpot of treats instead of just one.
This just took time…that’s all. She was better with some people than others at first. For instance, she was wonderful with my 9 year old grandson right off the bat, but gave his father (my son) a warning growl at first. When this happened, I took the bone, gave her a treat and praise, (for giving up the bone to me), gave the bone to my son to return to her and then he petted her.
One thing, I did not move from one step to another until she was comfortable relaxed and happy at that step. My criteria was not just that she was accepting of the step, but that she would look up at me in anticipation and smile. (Oh here comes mom and she’s got something good.)
I do not have to trade or treat now (it’s been three years), but did so for at least a year. She does not guard her bones now from anyone and anyone can take an object from her.
I never corrected her or used an NRM. I set her up to be successful and broke the whole thing down into very small steps…reinforcing the good stuff.
What precautions did you take when introducing additional people (did you talk to them in advance, give them direction on approaching dog, etc.)? How did you manage the environment so that dog was not faced with inappropriate grabs of objects too soon?
Yes, yes, yes. I decided who I would introduce and yes I did talk to them in advance and gave them specific instructions. I would even set it up by doing a trade first and then having the other person do a trade.
I did not do this when my home was busy and full of people etc. I did it when the house was calm and everyone was relaxed and in a good mood…dog included..
When my house was busy and full of visiting relatives, I simply warned everyone to “Don’t bother Kayla when she’s chewing a bone, she might bite!” and believe me the moms and dads and I made sure the kids didn’t bother her.
I have always supervised my dogs and set rules for my visiting nieces and nephews as to what they can and cannot do with the dogs. Even the best of dogs need a break from the chaos.
It probably would have been a good idea to put bones up when I had company but I never did. We have a whole basketful of them, and she would immediately run and get a bone when company came…. and just lay there smiling and chewing..
I also want to add that I (and eventually others) would sometimes just pet her when she had a bone and then move on. We didn’t always trade..sometimes just a kind word and a pet. I didn’t want her to become tense or anxious every time I approached her and she had an object. (bones were the major source of contention…rawhide was not allowed)
And so a lot of times, I would just have people pet her with me right there and then I would give her a treat for being such a good dog.
I should also mention that Kayla is very people friendly and simply loves people and children. She just had this serious guarding problem LOL.
The home she came from, she was loved, but handled very roughly. She was used to being yelled at and hit and having things thrown at her. She did not know how to play with people or retrieve.
I also took the time to teach her a food induced retrieve. I believe that this helped too. It helped with the concept of giving up an object and getting a treat in return. (of course, the dumb bell did not have the value of her chewing bones)
I used absolutely no correction with Kayla. I helped her get things right and then I reinforced those things.
If someone made a comment about her guarding problem, I simply told them “We were working on it”.
I believe the major turn around though was in the beginning steps. The rest just took time.
But it is getting to be a problem, so much so that I sometimes cannot even remove the empty bowl from her crate after she is finished to wash it or wipe down the crate floor.
I helped a friend with a dog that guarded her food bowl.
The first thing I would do is walk over to her bowl while she was eating and dropped a really yummy treat into it (or as near as possible if her head was in the bowl.) Remember to be pleasant and smile and talk sweetly.
You want to continue to do this at feeding times until you see her back up from her bowl to let you drop the yummy treat in.
We want her to realize that you don’t take, that you add and only good things happen when you approach her eating.
When she is backing up for you to add the yummy treat and seems happy at your approach, you can then stoop down and add the yummy treat….or…. better yet… add more of her food. In fact, you can give her only 1/3 and then add the other two thirds a third at a time.
I bet she will love for you to come over to her bowl then.
When all is going well, you can touch the bowl and add the food and eventually pick up the bowl, add the food and put it back down.
As for digging up her buried bones in the yard, I would do a little managing with that for awhile and make sure she is not around. We don’t want do undo all the work you will be doing with her bowl.
