Chewie has recently learned to touch a small blue cone attached to my boot!
It took just a handful of repetitions to teach this behavior, because I used the idea of “transferring actions.”
I started with a behavior that Chewie already knew, touching her nose to a blue cone. Then, I made a few changes to my behavior, while Chewie continued to do this same behavior.
Here are the teaching steps we used.
Step 1: Chewie touches a blue cone when I place it on a large, red block.
Step 2: I place my boot on the red block.
Then, I use my hand to set the blue cone on my boot.
Step 3: Now, I place my boot on the red block.
Chewie touches the blue cone on my boot!
I have at least one upcoming training project that is going to require me to have two hands free. But, I also needed to have a way to present and remove a target.
I realized that a foot target would work well!
I was pleased with how quickly Chewie learned this new version of targeting, and I’m looking forward to using it as we work on teaching other behaviors.
One last quick note. When planning these sessions, one thing I considered was that I do not want Chewie randomly trying to touch her nose to my boot during our everyday activities. So, I am deliberately placing my boot on a raised object (the red block) when I am using the boot target.
If my boot is on the ground, touching the target or touching my boot does not lead to reinforcement. Chewie has quickly figured out this difference because of her history with targets and with cues. She does not try to touch the boot target at all unless my boot is on the red block.
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