RA560: Shape Up - Improving and Maintaining Your and Your Dog's Shaping Skills

Week 1 Lecture:  Dogs that Don’t “Move” – When is Okay to Prompt?

For dogs that have a history of reinforcement for “default” behaviors or that have a strong repertoire of cues, just getting them moving can feel difficult. They have learned to 1) look to us for information and 2) respond to cues for reinforcement.  What appear to be “default” behaviors are often behaviors that have indeed been cued, but those cues are very subtle and often unconsciously provided by the handler.  Our bodies, our posture, the way we stand, where our arms are or where we look, are all cues that the dog derives information from.

Dogs that are reluctant to move in a shaping session are often doing exactly what we taught them – “take your information from me”.  They may be responding to cues that you may not know you are giving. For example, looking at your dog’s eyes is a cue to the dog to look back at your eyes. This dog is working hard to get reinforcement by looking at you, and may be un-willing to break that gaze. Or sitting in heel because your formal posture is telling the dog to do so.

When dogs are reluctant to move it’s normal to want to help in some way, to get some action.  Handlers will talk to the dog, talk a few steps, use a hand target, set the dog up in a different place or change their expression, any number of things to get the dog to move.  Ask yourself first: Am I unconsciously cuing my dog to stay still?   Sometimes just giving your release or “all done” cue gives the dog permission to no longer look to you for information.  But in that moment be ready to click anymovement to get the dog in the game.

Looking for too large of movements for the first click is an often made mistake. Or waiting for something more indicative of the full behavior.  Often handlers feel the need to “set the dog up”, as in specific position next to the handler or a specific starting point, which in a very real sense is environmental management, taking away some of the choices we want the dog to be free to make, and encouraging the dog to again look to you for information.

In starting your shaping session, try to avoid any formality. Be ever observant. When you set the prop down or walk into the room with it, or release the dog from their bed (or where ever!), if you see the dog show interest, take a single step in your direction or in the direction of the prop, even if it’s shifting their eyes for a better look, that is your first C/T.  Don’t wait for something big as you may not get it initially.

If you know your dog will offer something bigger and so you do generally wait, what is the worst that can happen if you don't wait for that bigger movement?  The dog gets a few more clicks and extra reinforcement for playing the game. The goal is to get the dog in the game and the earlier, the better. 

If you feel the need to prompt, I’d rather you click “nothing”, and toss the treat, and click the dog moving back to you…. Get them in the game!  For dogs that have any understanding of offering behavior and the meaning of the click, this is usually enough to encourage them to start offering behavior. Only when they are in the game should you start to really refine your criteria.  Did I mention how important it is to get them in the game!?  :-) 

If you have a dog that is already in the game, use this judiciously if at all. Once offering, don't rush to prompt because there is a pause in offering. Allowing the dog to think about their options has value in learning.

What a Mess!

I think that most of us that have been shaping for a while learned early on that criteria should be increased incrementally and that it is often added “vertically”.  By that I mean that each criterion is like a step, that leads to the next step, and that leads to the next step until you reach the top, your goal behavior.  In reality, I have found that while sometimes that is very true, that just as many times the process is quite a bit messier than just “going to the next step”.

I don’t’ think I have ever seen a dog provide a single isolated movement, or a piece of criterion that didn’t also include some other movement or action.  There is skill in breaking out the small piece that you want to have meaning to the dog. Fluidity of motion while trying to keep your timing clean can become a very real frustration for both the dog and the handler.  With all that movement it can be hard to critically observe and mark only that criterion that leads you up the steps to the top.  Let’s face it, marking criteria is messy! It’s not always a clean, vertical process.

But, the need to mark specific criteria is real.  Deciding what that criteria is ahead of time isn’t always possible. So flexibility within the framework of forward progress is okay!  Some dogs will be more “vertical” in their progress, and some will take a slightly more round-about path. If it feels a little messy, that’s because it probably is, and that’s okay.  As long as you get more well-timed clicks then not and the dog is in the game, it’s all good. 

“Messy” as part of the process is one of the reasons I often opt for shaping with environmental management or structured shaping, where the criteria is more clear-cut and the options are fewer.  But this type of structured shaping doesn’t always benefit handlers wanting to improve their observation and timing skills. The path toward reinforcement is pretty well laid out, both a benefit to creating an end behavior quickly, but possibly a detriment in not allowing the dog choices that strengthen the behavior. 

You as a trainer will need to determine which is best for you and your dog in any given training scenario.  It is very tempting to forgo free shaping for an obvious and less messy path.  Especially if handler observation and timing skills are weak. But if you truly want to improve both your and your dog's skills, then practicing free shaping on a regular basis should be a part of your training.

What the Heck is a “Criteria Shift?”

Criteria shifts are changes in what criterion earns the click. Shifts can be upward or downward.  When I first learned to shape, I was taught to get 80% correct response at a specific criterion before increasing, or shifting criteria upward.  The math was easy enough, 8 out of 10. Some trainers use the number of treats in their hand to help determine how many reps were successful and earned C/T.

For some dogs though, 10 reps at a specific criterion isn’t necessary and for others, 10 may be too many or too few, and without 10 reps, it’s time to get out your calculator… which I did. I used to have a handy chart that told me exactly what ratio was 80%.  As I became more adept at reading my dogs and shifting criteria I changed my plan of when to shift criteria, not when I had 80% per se, but rather to when the criteria was predictable and the dog appeared confident. I can always drop it back down, but if I stay at certain criteria too long, then it’s easy for a dog to get “stuck”.  The longer the reward history, the more likely the dog is to remain at that criteria.

So my rule of thumb for increasing criteria is, if the criteria is predictable (which could be as little as 2 or 3 reps) and the dog appears confident, raise it. If the dog does not meet criteria 2 times in a row or appears confused or lacking in confidence for more than a few reps lower it.

Week 1 Exercises: Over, Under, Around, Thru

Choose a prop to shape one (or more!) of the above skills (over, under, around, thru). Possible props include but are not limited to: a stool, a chair, an ottoman, a post or cone, a hoop, a tunnel, a jump, a large basket etc.  Take a look at what you have available to you that you can use. No limitations here!

Think about your first click. What will evoke it? It may have very little to do with the end behavior, at least to a laymen’s eyes. Where will you stand in relation to the prop? What will your arms and body be doing or not doing? Where will you be looking? Many of us can answer these questions on the fly, but consider the advantages or disadvantages of those choices before your first session.  Consider how you will make it easier to earn clicks when criteria is not met.  Think about how you will add criteria or more difficulty when criteria is met. 

You might consider using a behavior your dog understands how to execute rather than starting a brand new behavior. For example, if your dog knows how to go around a cone, you might opt to shape that rather than cue it. Pretend as if they have never gone around a cone before - what is your first click? With known behaviors you may want to wait for more. Resist!  This is practice for you! It's about you learning to break down the small pieces toward the end result, not waiting for the end result to occur or something closer to it.  Phee already knows how to go around a cone. In the video below I'm shaping her as if she doesn't know how. Note the small increments. Then I add a different prop. The experience of being shaped around the cone, helps her to generalize being shaped to going around a new object.

Gold and Silver students: Along with the above exericse, let's start a conversation in the discussion forum about these specific skills of over,under, around, thru and in what ways they can be or are applied in our chose activities and sports with our dogs.