The training process clearly demonstrates how you can use a simple behavior (touching a small square target) to train something more complex (having the dog stick her head into a pot). By starting out with a behavior the dog already knows (touching the target) the learning process is nearly errorless because this original behavior can be used and shaped into the new behavior. Watch in the video how the trainer gradually lowers the target into the pot and also, importantly, how the trainer gradually fades out his hand.

Many dogs pay attention to not just the target, but also that the target is connected to the trainer’s hand. If he had dropped the target into the pot and abruptly taken his hand away, the dog might have gotten a bit confused at first. Instead, the progression of teaching steps are nearly seamless and carefully guide the dog toward the final behavior. For more ideas of behaviors you can teach to dogs (and horses, fish and other animals) using targeting, check out this post.

Watch on Youtube: The Russians are coming!

I always like clicker training videos that clearly show all the steps that went into training a particular behavior. If you know of other great videos that do a good job of breaking down the training process so that it’s easy to see the steps the trainer used to teach the behavior, let me know. I like sharing these kinds of videos because I think they help clicker trainers learn about good shaping and get new ideas for how to train fun behaviors.

If you’ve been around enough clicker trainers and positive animal trainers, you’ll find that everyone has an opinion about shaping, luring and targeting. And, trainers often don’t agree about which of these methods are best for training or if certain ones of these methods should even be used at all. Kay Laurence gave a very interesting lecture about this subject at the 4th Annual Art and Science of Animal Training Conference. This post is some of my notes and thoughts from her lecture.

Ways to get behavior: Shaping, luring and targeting

Shaping, luring, and targeting are three possible ways for teaching an animal a new behavior. Many clicker trainers are big fans of shaping, but have various opinions regarding how much a trainer should use luring or targeting. Here are a few definitions, just so we’re all on the same page.

Shaping: The trainer waits for the animal to do any approximation of a behavior and rewards these attempts. The trainer moves through a progression of steps, each step being closer to the final goal. This method is the most self-directed of the three methods that will be discussed in this post and the animal has the least guidance from the trainer. (Here’s a video of a rat being shaped to do a simple behavior.)

Luring: The trainer uses a piece of food to guide the animal through the motions of the behavior. During this method, the animal is highly dependent on the trainer for guidance and direction. After the initial training, the lure is gradually removed. (This video shows a finished behavior that was originally taught using luring.)

Targeting: The trainer teaches the animal to touch a target. Then, the target is used to initiate the behavior or to guide the animal through the behavior. Depending on how the target is used, this method can be a more trainer-directed type of learning or a more self-directed type of learning. (Here are several video examples of using targets during training.)

The test: Which method is best?

Kay Laurence wanted to know which of these methods was the best for teaching a behavior. Would self-taught (free-shaped) behavior be more reliable or resilient? Would luring result in an animal who fixated on the food and didn’t actually learn the behavior? Could a trainer get the same end result no matter which method the trainer used to teach the behavior?

To test these ideas, Kay taught three behaviors to three of her border collies. The three behaviors were stepping into a box, going out and around a cone, and walking along a line on the ground. Each behavior was taught to one dog using luring, one dog using shaping, and one dog using targeting. So, for example, the first dog was taught to step in the box using luring, to go around the cone using shaping, and to walk along the line using targeting.

What were the results?

All three methods were successful for training and all the dogs were able to learn all of the behaviors, regardless of the teaching method used. However, the learning process and final outcome were slightly different for each dog and each behavior, depending on the teaching method.

Over all, Kay reported that the shaping method seemed more successful for teaching the step into the box behavior and the luring method seemed more successful for teaching the walking along the line. All three methods worked equally as well for teaching the dogs to go around a cone.

So, for a trainer who is skilled in all three methods, one of these three methods of teaching is not necessarily better than the other two. When deciding what training method to use, you should consider the particulars of the behavior, as well as other factors that might affect the teaching process and the outcome.

Choices, choices, choices

So, if all three of these methods can work, how does a trainer know which one to choose? When formulating a training plan, begin by considering all your options. Consider your skills, the animal’s skills, the particulars of the behavior, and your relationship with the animal.

These different methods require different skills on the part of the animal and on the part of the trainer. For example, for luring to be successful, the animal has to have learned a high degree of discipline around food and the trainer needs to understand how to fade out food lures. For shaping to be successful, the trainer must be able to anticipate behavior and avoid frustrating the learner. For targeting to be successful, the trainer must have the mechanical skills to handle the target, clicker, and food, all at the same time.

Kay gave a list of four considerations when choosing between these three training methods. A trainer must think about:
1) The trainer’s mechanical skills and the mechanics of the behavior
2) The confidence of the learner
3) The skill of the teacher
4) The future use of the behavior

Some behaviors logically need more guidance or direction from the trainer. Most of us would not want to be free-shaped if we were being taught to use a chain saw or to scuba dive! Likewise, when training animals, some types of errors can be costly. Luring or targeting can often be used to minimize certain types of errors, since the trainer can more carefully direct the animal. On the other hand, for some behaviors, it might be much better to shape the behavior.

Be careful about discounting any one of these methods. I’ve heard some people say that shaping doesn’t work, other people say that targeting doesn’t work, and still other people say that luring doesn’t work. One reason why people say these things is that each of these three methods has lots of different variations. And, some of these variations work better than others, or work better in some situations than other situations, or work better for some trainers than other trainers, depending on the trainer’s skill level and the trainer’s history with the animal.

Is luring evil?

I’m only half joking with the heading of this section. Of these three methods, luring, by far, has the worst reputation. I’ve met many trainers who seem to think that luring is awful and should never, ever be used when training.

Kay Laurence believes that most clicker trainers dismiss luring because they have not learned good luring skills. Most people try to “lump” when they lure and train a behavior in one big piece. (What is lumping?) To be good at luring, a trainer still needs to know how to split behavior down into small pieces and needs to know how to efficiently fade out the lure.

I’ve seen some brilliant video clips of Kay and her students teaching complex behaviors using luring and then quickly and quietly fading out the lure and adding in a cue. Also, in the experiment discussed above, Kay was able to quickly start to fade out the lure because of each dog’s history with training and shaping.

A few final thoughts

Don’t discount a teaching method too quickly because it has not worked for you (or others you have known). See first how expert trainers use the method. Are they able to get results? What do they do differently that makes the technique work well? Do you like how the final behavior looks?

Want to get better at training? Watch the experts. See how they get behavior and see how they use each of these three methods. Then go practice with your own animals. Videotape yourself (or have a friend watch you) and try to decide how you could improve your shaping, targeting, and/or luring skills. Do you already know areas you could be practicing?

Which of these three methods, shaping, targeting, and luring do you use most often? Do you ever combine two of these together? What influences you when you are deciding what method to use when training a new behavior?

Yesterday, Eva gave us a presentation about dog agility and then we headed outside to practice some agility foundation lessons with the dogs. This was a lot of fun and also gave me a lot to think about. We played around with some really interesting ways to shape behavior. I’m working on a longer blog post about the day but, for now, here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

The brown and white dog is my parent’s dog, Ginger, who appears on my blog from time to time. Ginger had a great time! However, she was completely tuckered out afterward and slept the whole way home.

The last photo is ORCA (Organization for Reinforcement Contingencies with Animals) advisor Jesús Rosales-Ruiz working on teaching Ginger how to go over an agility jump.

We watched a fun DVD yesterday in the undergrad class that I am helping with as a teaching assistant. The DVD was one by dog trainer Virginia Broitman called The Shape of Bow Wow.

This DVD is an intro to shaping, or training behaviors in small steps. Shaping is a very important skill for animal trainers! It’s something that is easy to start practicing, but also something that can take a long time to master. Shaping is also a skill that frustrates many beginner trainers. It can be difficult to know how to break a behavior down into smaller chunks, what behaviors to reward, and what to do when things don’t go as planned.

Overall, I thought this DVD was a great introduction to shaping. Most of the animals in the film are dogs, although the techniques and tips discussed could easily be applied to a variety of species. (Several rats make a small appearance in the DVD, which made me pretty happy.) Virginia Broitman starts by covering some clicker training exercises and games that can be done with another human. These sorts of games are great for improving timing and accuracy before you start training an animal.

The majority of the DVD shows lots of lots of training sessions shaping a variety of different behaviors with about half a dozen different dogs. Some of the behaviors highlighted include head lowering, paw targeting, back paw targeting, and go to a mat. Virginia Broitman does a nice job in the DVD showing video clips from the beginning, middle, and end of training each behavior, as well as explaining exactly what she is doing at each step so that the watcher can follow along. The DVD also covers when and how to add cues once a behavior has been shaped up. There’s a lot packed into this hour long DVD!

One of my favorite parts of the DVD was at the beginning, when Virginia Broitman discusses how to get dogs to loosen up and start offering behavior so that you can successfully shape new behaviors. Shaping can be a difficult skill for trainers who are new to clicker training. Many trainers also find that shaping can be hard for dogs (and other animals) who are new to clicker training. The animal must learn that offering a variety of different behaviors will pay off.

One tip that Virginia Broitman gives in the DVD is to give your dog food puzzles and toys. There are a variety of these on the market now. One of the most popular, which is sold at many pet stores, is the Buster Cube. Most of these toys have a way to insert food inside of the toy. Then, the dog has to push, pull, roll, turn, or shake the toy, to get a piece of food to fall out. Toys such as this are great for getting a dog to start experimenting creatively. The toys mimic what happens to the dog during the training process, some behaviors get rewarded, while other behaviors won’t get rewarded. These toys can help a dog learn to keep trying and offering behavior until something works.

Virginia Broitman also suggests spending time observing your animal’s natural behavior. The natural behaviors of a dog are different from a horse, rat, or cat. As well, behavior can differ greatly based on an animal’s breed and individual history. Look at the big movements and behaviors your animal does during the day. But, also look for and learn to watch for the subtle movements and smaller behaviors your animal does, such as movements of the head, eyes and ears. Observing an animal can give us ideas for easy behaviors to teach an animal first. For example, many people start clicker training a dog or horse by teaching the animal to touch his nose to a target. This is a good, easy first behavior because dogs and horses naturally use their noses to investigate new objects.

One behavior that is demonstrated with several dogs on the DVD is head lowering or the head dip. This is one behavior that I had a lot of fun teaching Ginger about a year ago. You can click here to see one of our shaping sessions working on this behavior. This clip is from a session part way through the training process, when she really realized what it was that I wanted.

If you are new to clicker training or have friends who are new to clicker training, I recommend checking out this DVD. Also well, if you have been clicker training for awhile, but want to improve your shaping skills, I also recommend that you check out this DVD. The many training sessions shown on the DVD will help you see how to break down behavior into tiny parts and give you lots of ideas for fun tricks to teach.

This DVD is available from dogwise.com here:
The shape of bow wow – Shaping behavior and adding cues.

This post led to some interesting discussions on facebook with my friend Miki. Miki is a clicker trainer in Japan who trains blind dogs. We’ve been talking about how texture cues and tactile cues can be so important for blind animals.

Miki shared one interesting video clip with me of a blind dog playing fetch with his owner. The dog would run across the backyard and stop where the yard changed from grass to concrete. Then, he’d tilt his head and listen for where the ball would land. Once the ball landed, the dog did a great job of running over and picking it up. Although this dog couldn’t see, he still did a wonderful job playing fetch. And it was clear from the video how important tactile and auditory cues were for him.

In response to my post, Miki did an experiment with her dachshund Nono, who is blind. She wanted to see if she could use different textured mats as cues for two different behaviors, stand and down. Here’s the video she made:

Watch on YouTube: Can the different texture of platforms be used as a cue for a blind dog?

One thing I like about this video clip is something that Miki says toward the end of the clip:

I think Nono doesn’t decide how to behave depending only on the feel of her paws. She has understood and discriminated not only the difference of texture and shape but also each object’s smell and sound when I’m putting and patting those.

I think this is important to remember when training any animal–whether the animal is blind or can see. We might think the animal is primarily using one sense or one property of an object as a cue. However, the animal is always paying attention to the whole environment and most behaviors will be controlled and influenced by multiple environmental cues.

Miki recently posted this video on her website, along with step by step instructions for how to train this behavior. You can find the video and instructions on her website here. Has anyone else trained different mats (or other surfaces) to mean different cues? I think this would be a fun training exercise for any dog or other animal. Let me know if you give it a try!

Recently I attended clickerExpo, a large animal training conference held in Kentucky. One session at clickerExpo that I really enjoyed was a lecture by Michele Pouliot called Going Up!: Elevating Your Freestyle Training with Platforms. Michele Pouliot is a top trainer, she’s worked for decades with the training programs for Guide Dogs for the Blind and is also well known for her performances at national and international canine freestyle competitions.

Her lecture centered around using platforms to get and train precise behaviors. First, Michele stressed at the beginning that this is not anything new. Maybe not, but it can be so helpful for an expert to take something that seems simple enough and define and illustrate it in a way that gives it more meaning and makes the advantages clearer.

For many freestyle behaviors, Michele Poiliot first trains the behavior using a platform (or multiple platforms). The platform can be anything, an old doormat, a carpet scrap, a board, a small box, as long as it is easy for the animal to find. Having the platform slightly raised or a different texture makes it easier for the dog to distinguish between the floor and the platform. The appropriate size for a platform can vary, depending on the size of the dog and the task that you are teaching. Here are some examples of how this might work during training:

1) Train a dog to go from a heel position at your side to a front position in front and facing you with two platforms, one in each position. Once the dog learns the movement, add a cue and then fade out the platforms.

2) Train a dog to stand 10 feet away from you and wave its paw at you by having her go to and stand on a small platform, then do the waving behavior.

3) Train a dog to rotate his back legs while the front legs stay stationary by starting with the dog’s two front feet on a small raised platform or stool. Once the dog learns the movement and cue, remove the platform.

During the talk, Michele Pouliot showed some very nice video footage of the first example, a dog going from heel position to a front position. This is a behavior that can be hard to get correct–the dog swings too wide, or doesn’t line up correctly, or any other number of errors. Its a behavior that often looks messy at the beginning and then the handler has to clean up the behavior over time.

The platforms serve as targets that tell the dog exactly where he’s suppose to line up. The dog knows (and enjoys) going to platform 1 and platform 2. So, you can then arrange the platforms to get the behavior you want–going from heel to front.

The platforms help restrict the environment and limit the range of behavior you get during the teaching process. Rather than having to guess, the dog knows from the beginning exactly where to go. This reduces frustration or stress for the dog (and trainer) and gives cleaner behavior from the beginning because the dog is not practicing errors.

When we teach new behavior, we’re teaching the animal the muscle movement sequence for that behavior and cue. If the behavior is messy at the beginning and we’re required to go through a lot of shaping steps, we end up reinforcing a lot of behavior that we really don’t want later on. These approximations can then crop back up later on. If we can get clean behavior quickly, the dog learns the correct behavior sequence from the start.

I think there are many times when our training processes are not as refined as they should be. Even with good shaping skills, it’s easy to end up with bits of messiness or unwanted behavior while teaching a new skill. Platforms, pedestals and mats have plenty of applications in the horse world–everything from teaching a horse to line up to a mounting block to helping a horse learn to lunge in a circle. Good training is also about being creative. I saw some uses of platforms in Michele Pouliot’s talk that I never would have thought to use a platform for training that particular behavior. If we can figure out ways to constrain the environment, we help the animal be successful from the beginning.

The two lectures she gave in the morning were pretty interesting. In the afternoon, we had a handful of presentations so that some of my fellow graduate students could share their current research projects. This was great fun because it resulted in a lot of good discussion and conversation.

One fun thing about graduate school is that I get to interact with and learn from people who are involved in areas of behavior analysis that are pretty different from what I do. It’s fascinating to get to see different perspectives and approaches to teaching and training. At the end of the day, though, what I’m often left realizing is that good training is good training, no matter what species you work with or what task you are trying to train.

One thing that the speaker mentioned in one of her morning lectures was that when teaching a particular behavior, we should focus on training only one thing at a time. During a training session, only work on improving one aspect or feature of a behavior at a time.

Animal trainers often get in to trouble here! For instance, when teaching an animal to stay, work on increasing the duration of the behavior separately from increasing the distance between you and the animal. Don’t try to train both of these at once! This can be confusing to the animal and can slow down our training. When training, try to do what animal trainers refer to as a splitting, rather than lumping. (What is splitting?)

Taking lots of short breaks during a training session can make it a lot easier to be a good splitter. This is one thing I’ve learned from horse clicker trainer Alexandra Kurland. I often train in short sessions, 10-20 treats. At the beginning of the session, I decide what we’re going to work on during that session. Then, when I run out of treats, I take a short break before the next session. During the break I decide whether to work again on the same thing or whether we’re ready to move on. If the last session didn’t go so well, I might decide to move to something easier or different, so that the animal can be successful and understand what I want.

I think the take home message from all of this is that it helps to have a well thought out plan before you begin each training session. When we are trying to train too much at once, it is often because we haven’t thoroughly assessed where the animal is currently and what exactly, specifically, we want to work on in the current training session.

Want a few suggestions?  

Learning Games: by Kay Laurence. I love this book. Kay Laurence is one of my favorite dog trainers. This book has a ton of great ideas for behaviors to train, from the very simple to the extremely complex. The book is written with dogs in mind. However, I’ve also used this book to come up with ideas for behaviors to train to other species. There are many shaping exercises in the book that will really improve your training skills!

Reaching the Animal Mind: This is Karen Pryor’s newest book, published in 2010. The book includes stories and information about how our knowledge of animal training continues to grow and evolve. One reason why I like this book is that it includes a lot about recent science and research related to animal training, including some of the studies that have been done by my advisor, Jesus Rosales Ruiz, and his students at the University of North Texas.

Horse Books and DVDs: The clicker training store has a great collection of books and DVDs related to clicker training horses, including all of Alexandra Kurland’s books and DVDs.

Many of their best sellers are also currently on sale. As well, there are some special year end sales products that are still available at a discounted price.

So, be sure to check out the clicker training store, either by clicking on this LINK or by clicking on the banner image above. I am not sure how long the coupons will be good, but I’ve e-mailed the store to ask. I will let you know what I find out!

Also, if you purchase something, I’d LOVE to hear what you buy as well as your review, once you get a chance to read, view or use the product. I’m always looking for suggestions for new books, DVDs, and products to try.

Check out the video–even this whale thinks pet adoption is the right choice!

Even a Whale Thinks Pet Adoption is the Right Choice! from The Dog Saving Network on Vimeo.

This video is from my friend Chris of the Dog Saving Network. I’ve written a bit about the DSN previously on my blog. It’s an awesome organization that is on a mission to help shelter dogs by educating pet owners and promoting positive training methods.

One way they do this is through a show called Life’s Ruff. Life’s Ruff is an entertaining and very creative stage show that features regular dogs and their owners performing cool tricks. The show raises awareness about shelter dogs, encourages pet owners to spay and neuter, and promotes positive training methods and the benefits of training. If you’re not familiar with the Dog Saving Network, I encourage you to check out their website. And if you’re ever in Chicago, be sure to check out a performance of Life’s Ruff!

What is Constructional Aggression Treatment (CAT)?

I’ve written a bit in the past about using CAT with fearful horses. Fearful behaviors and aggressive behaviors are often very similar–the animal behaves in some way to increase the distance between his self and the unwanted animal or object. So, an aggressive dog lunges or bites to increase the distance between it and something else, just as a fearful animal runs away to increase the distance between it and something else.

With Constructional Aggression Treatment, we give the animal what he wants (distance from something) whenever the animal displays any signs of friendly, relaxed, or calm behavior. We start small, accepting any small signs of better behavior and later on build up more and more friendly behavior.

Treating Resource Guarding using CAT

So, for Rocky, the trainer and another dog would approach Rocky while he was chewing on a tennis ball. As soon as Rocky showed any signs of more relaxed or friendly behavior, the trainer and other dog would leave, which is exactly what Rocky wanted. Before beginning the training, Rocky could use aggression (snapping, biting, etc.) to get the other dog to go away. Now, only friendly or relaxed behaviors would make the other dog go away.

Not only did Rocky figure out the new conditions, but he started trying to interact with the other dog and actually started to play with the other dog and share his toys!! This is what CAT calls “switch over,” where the animal switches from wanting something to go away to wanting interaction.

With a bit more training, Rocky’s new behavior quickly generalized to other dogs as well. Last I heard, Rocky is living with a new dog, who just joined the household. He will pick up a toy, take it to the new dog and ask him to play. Now that’s successful training, if you ask me! Check out the video below, which shows clips from the training process.

On Youtube: Constructional Aggression Treatment (CAT) for Resource Guarding

**Side note: Please be extremely careful when working with aggressive or fearful animals! Work at a level where the animal does not feel stressed or frustrated. Also, take precautions to insure that people and animals do not get injured. For instance, with an aggressive dog, keep the dog on a leash. Or, with a very fearful or aggressive horse, start by working with a fence between you and the horse. **