Tuesday Training Byte: Three ways to communicate "Good job!"

Let me start by saying that dogs are great at understanding body language much more so than the spoken command. I will discuss the three primary forms of getting the dog to know it is doing the correct behavior: luring; capturing; and shaping.

Luring: I generally start out a new dog or pup with luring. Luring is when I use a favorite toy or treat to encourage my dog to do something like sit or put paws up on a low bench. I show the dog the treat close to his nose and then move it in such a way that he does a desired movement. For "sit", as I am facing my dog, I hold the treat by his nose, then slowly raise it up and toward his rump until his rear end hits the floor. As soon as my pup is in the desired position, I mark the behavior with a "Yes!" and give him the treat. After a few tries, I pair the motion lure with the command.

Capturing: This is when your dog without any encouragement from you naturally performs a desired behavior. For example, if my dog is trying to get my attention and I ignore his bad behavior, once he sits or lays down on his own, I mark and reward that desired behavior. I call this the "catch your dog being good" game. Rewarded behavior tends to increase the frequency of that behavior.

Shaping: This is gradually teaching your dog a more involved behavior by dividing it into increments and rewarding after each step. I use shaping when I have my dog retrieve a dumb bell or bumper. When he comes back, he must hold the toy /item and sit directly in front of me. He also must hold the item until I ask him to release it into my hand. Shaping is used for obedience competition dogs as well where we shape or chain the various steps into one exercise. Another example is sending the dog over a jump. Once over it, the dog must make a quick U-turn and come sit in front of his handler without any extra commands. Shaping is also used in training service dogs to complete a somewhat complex task. All three of these methods include marking and rewarding your dog, but help to make the desired behavior more clearly communicated. Happy training! Here is a short video of a dog completing the broad jump exercise that was trained using shaping. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/V7fSctYut-g

Photo from Dalmation Club of America. Dog is completing the broad jump exercise.