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The Joys of Shaping

6/17/2014

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Most people will find this of zero interest, but for us true "training geeks" pure shaping is like the Holy Grail of dog training challenges. I've dabbled in it before but usually ended up helping the dog out due to my lack of patience or skill. Mostly I knew that there are many other ways to get a behavior that would be much faster. That was until I took Sue Ailsby's Shaping class. I like to call her the Queen of Shaping. She says that pure shaping is the closest thing to getting inside a dog's head as we can get. And I totally agree! I have been having so much fun with these shaping exercises. I've learned that it's not about the fastest way to get "X" behavior, it's about letting the dog think and figure out on his own what is paying off with no help other than the click (and my enthusiasm). It's about the communication that is taking place between two different species as the dog "asks questions" with his behavior and you answer with a click or no click as he works to solve the puzzle. And it is also very much about training the trainer! You will hone your observation skills, timing, rate of reinforcement, placement of reward and you will learn when to hold out for a little more. 

For example: Shaping a dog to hold their muzzle to a post it note on the wall. Of course, you can hold the post it note in your hand and get the nose touch first and then move it to the wall, you can lure the dog to touch the target on the wall and then delay click to get duration, etc. etc. But what fun it was for me to try pure shaping as just an exercise to improve my training skills and my dog's. It really puts your timing and observation skills to the test! So, I put the post it note on the closet door in the office when the dogs were not in the room to see me do it. Then got my dog, treats, clicker, sat in a chair nearby...and just let the fun begin! Clicking initially for any movement or look in the direction of the post it note on the door, it really didn't take long to build that behavior. Watching them work to figure it out was just too much fun and each one was so different.

I've tried this exercise with all three of my dogs and was quite surprised at how things went. I expected Izzie, the Aussie pup, to figure it out the fastest and she actually took the longest. She couldn't just touch it with her nose, she had to paw swipe at the same time. Over-achiever! So I had inadvertently clicked the paw swipe. But once we got past that, she figured it out quickly. She was also the first doggie guinea pig to try this exercise and I got better at what I was doing with the next dogs.

Xera, the 2 yr. old German Shepherd surprised me, as well. I haven't done all of the foundation work and trick training with Xera that I've done with Izzie. There were more important fish to fry for Xera (namely: very serious reactivity to both dogs and people). I honestly thought she might try sit and stare, lie down and stare, but to my amazement, she threw so much behavior at me that I really wanted to abandon the whole "target the post it note" idea and go with some of the other stuff she offered. Plop onto her side (going to name that "Chill"), prancing paw lifts ("March"), very dramatic head turns back and forth ("Do you like spinach?"), spins, leaps, etc. She was cracking me up! She figured it out much faster than I thought.

But the highlight of this little shaping adventure was my senior citizen Border Collie mix, Skippy. He blew them all away with how few clicks it took him to figure it out! Granted, he has had more training experience than the youngsters. However we really haven't done much free shaping. Most of his shaping experience has involved interacting with an object that I put down in front of him. So I clicked his first step in the direction of the door which got a spin in that direction. Then his head turned in that direction and then he went straight for it. Three clicks to touch it and a few more to get him to hold his muzzle there. And what joy he had while doing it!  So besides Rally and Nosework, I have another activity to keep the old retired agility dog working in his golden years! 

I think I'm now a shaping junkie! Thanks, Sue Ailsby! Tomorrow maybe I'll see how many clicks it takes to get all three dogs to go sit in the corner and call it "Who's a naughty dog??" LOL!!

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Running with Dogs

5/14/2014

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I've been an off and on fitness fanatic most of my adult life. I say off and on because there have been those times where I become too obsessed with other things in life and something has to give. Lately, however, my lack of enthusiasm for running has been due to my running partner. He's getting up there in years and while he happily bounces around when he sees me going through the usual motions of getting ready for a run, he's slowing down. He's starting to lag at the end of the run and just can't handle the number of miles that he used to. 5 miles became 4, then 3, and now I think 2 miles is his max. And it is just too hard for me to get out the door in my running gear and leave him behind. My running partner is my border collie mix Skippy, and he will turn 13 in a few weeks. 

Nothing makes him happier than when I say "Do you want to go for a run?" (okay, except maybe "Time to eat!") For the past several years, he has always been the "chosen one" to go for runs. Lacey was unable to run, Xera is very reactive and requires too much of my focus and Izzie was just a pup. So that was always Skip's "job", and he does love his job! Now that Izzie is old enough, she is learning to be a good running partner, too, but I just don't have the heart to leave Skip behind when he is bouncing at the door. So my solution is to split my run into 2 parts so Skippy gets his time (whether it be 2 miles, 1 mile or eventually a walk around the block) and Izzie gets to build up her stamina, conditioning and distraction training until she can handle the longer runs. 

And suddenly now I'm motivated again! Dogs make such awesome running partners. Nothing like barking, leaping, smiling dogs to get you to put those running shoes on! Skip starts me off on the first leg of the run at a nice, easy pace for a mile out and a mile back which is a great warm up for me and makes him happy. Then I switch into "dog training" mode when I trade dogs and grab Izzie, the youngster. She's figuring out that she has to run at my pace (and I'm motivated to run faster than I do with Skippy), she's learning to wait for my cue "okay-go sniff!" to pull over to check out that tree and learning that strange things (like remote-controlled lawn mowers!) are not going to eat her alive! She is doing great and will make a great running partner!

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Raising a Performance Puppy

4/11/2014

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As my Aussie pup, Izzie, has just turned 14 months old, I find myself looking back and wondering where did that first year go? The cute little ball of wiggling fluff and needle sharp puppy teeth is no where to be found. And in her place now stands a full grown (sort-of) dog that fits in with the rest of my pack like she was born to live in our household. This past year seriously was a blur!  And of course I have to ask myself...Have I taught her all the skills I had planned? Was her socialization solid enough to prepare her for her future as a performance dog? While only time will tell, I think I can safely answer "yes" to that question.

So what skills does a "performance puppy" really need? Of course, a performance puppy is still a puppy so all of the regular puppy stuff is the first priority. House-training and house rules, management to prevent the development of problem behaviors while the preferred behaviors are being installed, basic obedience, impulse control and of course, lot's of positive socialization. But beyond those things...what?

Being somewhat of an obsessive person, I have made list upon list of skills and behaviors to teach a performance puppy. With that being said, I can pretty much summarize my long, long list into 3 most important things:
  1. Attention Work
  2. Toy & Game Playing
  3. Trick Training

Attention Work starts with clicking any offered attention and paying up for it! I never nag or pester my pup for her attention, instead I wait patiently for it. For example, we get out of the car to head into the training building. But before we move away from the car, I stand perfectly still, keeping the leash short enough that she can't find entertainment "out there" and wait. Eventually she looks up at me. Click/Treat! Now we can explore the area and head into the building. She learns that she gets all the things she wants by looking to me. After repeating this same scenario every place we go, it becomes automatic...a default behavior. Regardless of what excitement is going on around us, we never progress anywhere until pup gives me attention. 

Toy & Game Playing is obvious in importance to all of us dog sport fanatics. Toy play and chase games bring out the prey drive in our pups and typically speeds them up. Toy play is great for teaching impulse control and rules for play, such as get it, drop it and teeth on skin ends the game. Toy play can also get the pup so aroused that it's difficult for her to keep her "thinking cap" on. This is useful information and something we can work on! Tugging, chase me, fetch, etc. all make playing with mom super fun and super exciting. This  has been one of the more difficult lessons for Izzie. She will tug like a maniac, chase and fetch BUT if treats are around, toys are dead to her. This is still a work in progress. While there is nothing wrong with rewarding her with food, she is a "foodie" after all, I do want to be able to have the option of using toys as a motivator or reward for her, as well. Little by little she's getting it!


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Trick Training is a very broad category that I lump many, many important skills into. Most importantly, it teaches a puppy how to learn, how to try new things, how to experiment with their environment, how to use their bodies. I teach tricks to help overcome any potential "issues" that may crop up. For instance, by the time Izzie was 4 months old she was showing signs of sound and motion sensitivity. While she could happily move around on a wobble board, sudden movement startled her and sent her tearing away. Certain sounds had the same effect. Teaching her to target objects with her paw and then transferring it to cabinet doors, drawers and any other things that move and slam helped her get past her fear. "Slam it!" was now a fun game that earned Clicks and Treats! The first time I put the target on the cabinet, she tapped it ever so softly. When the cabinet barely moved, she bolted! I had already clicked the instant her paw touched the cabinet so after bolting, she raced back to get her treat. Raising criteria little by little, she now will happily SLAM the cabinets by hitting it hard with both paws and stand there wiggling as she waits for her treat. 

Body awareness, balance and strengthening tricks include pivoting on a disk, getting all four feet inside a small bowl, sitting pretty, backing up, balancing on discs, wobble boards, and hopping on and off planks. Stretching (or "take a bow"), paw raises and my favorite rear leg lift trick "What do boy's do?" are all great for body awareness, as well as a few laughs!

Agility-specific skills such as sending to objects, circling objects, going through and under objects are also shaped as tricks. After shaping pup to get on an object, I then shape 2 on 2 off contact behavior by waiting to click as she exits the object and her front paws hit the ground. There is really no limit to what skills can be taught by way of tricks. And most importantly...it's fun!

While initially I thought that we were behind in our agility training, I've been amazed at how quickly it is all coming together thanks to our solid foundation!

So beyond the puppy basics, what skills do you teach your performance pups?


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"I'm a big girl now!"
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    Carrie Kelly

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