Puppy Socialization: Shaping a Behavior

Shaping a behavior involves initially reinforcing an approximation of the desired behavior and gradually reinforcing better and better approximations until the puppy understands the behavior that is being reinforced.

The reinforcement can be in the form of a food treat, a game or, if your puppy understands it, praise. To strengthen a behavior the reinforcement must arrive at the instant the puppy is doing what we want to reinforce. It can be difficult to get a food treat to a puppy when it is going over a jump, or in the process of rolling over. That is where the clicker can help us.

With some exposure to "Click" followed by a treat, your puppy will quickly learn that the sound of the clicker means that food is coming. When that association has been made for your puppy, you have a powerful training tool.

The clicker is not necessary. You can use a short word like "Yes" to mean the same thing as the clicker. The clicker has the advantage of being a unique sound that sticks out from other background noise.

Your puppy will learn to look forward to the times you bring out the clicker. He will start to show you all the behaviors he already knows just to quickly figure out which one you will reinforce this time. If you don't reinforce the behaviors he already knows he may try something different. That is a side-effect of clicker training. Your puppy will offer behaviors that you have not seen before just on the chance that you might reinforce it this time.

During shaping you will be letting your pup know what works and what won't work. The clicker indicates "that works." We will use the phrase "try again" to indicate that the current behavior will not earn your pup a treat. Initially your pup will not understand what "try again" means, but over time (especially if you are not saying much during shaping) your pup will change his behavior when he hears "try again."

Do not worry about what the puppy is doing when he receives the treat. The important thing is what he was doing when you clicked the clicker. The click is the end of a repetition and the puppy is allowed to come to you to get its treat.

Make sure that you know what the click means and don't use it get your puppy to come to you. Using the clicker for something other than reinforcing a behavior at the instant it is happening will weaken your tool.

The order of events during shaping is:
puppy moves --> you click the clicker --> you give puppy the treat

The Click & Treat behavior that you perform is often abbreviated as C/T.

Have your shaping sessions in various locations. Puppies are sensitive to context and need to learn that the behavior is to be performed no matter where it is.

Shaping Sit

We will teach Sit as a command the pup must continue to maintain until you give an explicit release signal. The clicker provides such a release signal during the shaping process. You will need to decide on a release signal to use when you are no longer shaping the behavior. Some people use the word "Free" to indicate that the Sit command is over.

Initially use a food lure to elicit the behavior or an approximation of the behavior. Click and treat often when the pup is first learning a behavior. You don't want it to become discouraged. Teach your pup that learning is fun.

Raise your standards as you work but don't raise them too fast. If you've been luring the pup with food in your hand, take the food out of your hand and lure her into a sit with an empty hand. Make it harder to earn a click and treat. Have her sit a little longer before clicking her.

Once your pup can be reliably lured into the position, try teasing her by touching the treat to its nose and then quickly placing the treat behind your back. A quick whiff of the treat may be all she needs to remember to sit.

Take a break while your pup is still enthusiastic. Keep these sessions short. You'll be surprised how easily your puppy remembers what you were working on the next time you bring out the clicker.

Give extras for excellent performance. If your pup spontaneously sits without being lured or teased into the behavior, provide her with a handful of treats. This is known as a Jackpot.

Give the treat in a way that you pup needs to change it's position in order to get the treat. In this way you can be sure that your pup is learning the behavior that gets reinforced. Remember the click means "end of behavior."

If the behavior disappears during a session, perhaps because you raised your standards too quickly, go back to a level where you can reinforce your puppy regularly. You'll both win when your puppy is successful.

Shaping Touch the end of a stick

As with the sit, you will slowly raise your standards as to what you expect your puppy to do. Most puppies are curious about anything that is place near their faces. This is often the start of shaping touch. Place the stick close to his face and click any movement toward the end of the stick. If he touches the stick, that is even better.

Once your pup is touching the stick reliably when the stick is straight in front of its nose, start with the stick on one side of his nose or the other. Turning its head to touch the stick is a different action for your pup. Be patient with him as he figures it out. If he hasn't touched the stick after 20 seconds (this is a long time when you are waiting), then move the stick back in front of his nose so that he can be successful again.

Try putting the stick further away from the front of your pup's nose. Don't change the distance drastically. Just enough to have him stretch his neck in order to touch the stick. Later you can have him take a step to touch the end of the stick.

Don't be surprised if your puppy experiments to see what works and what doesn't. He may bite the stick. Don't click and treat if he does that. You want to teach him to bump the end of the stick. Continue to require your pup to do more to touch the end of the stick. Increase the difficulty very slowly.

Some things you may want to work on:

• will your puppy touch the stick when it is lying down, or does it stand up first;
• will your puppy touch the stick if you are not holding it;
• will your puppy follow a moving stick?

Shaping Eye Contact

With Eye Contact you may want to use the word "Yes" rather than the clicker to mark the desired behavior. With eye contact you are trying to teach your puppy that in order to get something she wants she will need to look away from the desired object and look at you. Patience is a key. Many puppies will look at their owners if they are not given the treat right away. These puppies learn eye contact easily. For them you work on increasing the duration of the eye contact.

Other puppies have already learned that staring at something long enough will bring it to them. With such a pup the first "Yes" & Treat comes the moment she glances away from the treat. When the pup is easily looking away from the treat but is still not looking at you, it is time for you to wait with the "Yes." You have already conditioned your pup to look away from the treat. After several seconds she is going to wonder why she hasn't heard "Yes" yet. Then she will turn her head toward you to find out what happened. That is your opportunity to say "Yes" and treat.