“It’s all a matter of paying attention, being awake in the present moment, and not expecting a huge payoff. The magic in this world seems to work in whispers and small kindnesses.” – Charles de Lint
Did You See Your Dog Get it Right?
You walked to the door with a container of vegetable peelings, ready to step out and add them to your compost pile. Your dog followed you, of course. As you reached for the door knob, your dog paused and looked at you – just for a second, but it happened! He got it right. Did you see it?
Last night, when you were sitting on the couch, your dog walked up to you and sat. He got it right. Just for a second, he politely said, “Please, may I get on the couch with you?” Did you notice? Did you invite him to hop up and sit with you?
Your dog, known to do some counter-surfing when the opportunity arises, glanced at the kitchen counter and then looked at you. He got it right. Did you see it?
How Often Does Your Dog Get it Right?
In each of these examples, the dog is doing something very polite, maybe something you didn’t expect. If you’re not looking for it, you can easily miss it and thus your chance of building a behavior that benefits you and your dog.
It seems that all the times when dogs do things we don’t like stick tight in our memories. Why don’t the times when they do something we actually like stick just as tight?
Sometimes we focus too hard on the behaviors we don’t like, in our efforts to prevent them. Prevention is important, but don’t let it overshadow your ability to notice when your dog does exactly what you want. Focus on opportunities to reinforce behavior.
Opportunities for Reinforcement
Observe the “whispers and small kindnesses” your dogs offer. When you do, you can reinforce them. Then, they will happen more often. That’s training in a nutshell.
The Environment
When training animals, we spend time carefully setting up the environment so that the learner is very likely to perform the behavior we want. We provide a quiet atmosphere in which the learner can focus without much distraction. We arrange things in the area to make it easy for our learner to choose the behavior we want. All this, so that we have the opportunity to reinforce the behavior we want to develop.
Reinforcement
Reinforcement is adding something to the situation after the desired behavior occurs that causes the behavior to occur more frequently in future training sessions. The simplest and most direct reinforcer is a treat, given to a dog immediately after he does the behavior you were looking for. Dogs like treats, so connections are made in their brains through this process that begin to sort of cement this behavior into their repertoire of options. Every time the performance of the behavior results in another treat, the connection becomes more deeply ingrained.
You’re Changing the Learner’s Brain
A reinforcer like a treat is often referred to as a reward, and it’s OK to say that, as long as you understand that making that connection between an environment, a behavior, and a reinforcer is literally changing the learner’s brain. After 40 years, I still get a chill down my spine when I realize that!
Why Do the Work if You Don’t Have To?
The layout of the environment is super-important. The environment includes you and your behavior choices, to “get” an animal to do the behavior you want so that you can reinforce it. But what if the environment is already in place and your dog responds with the behavior you want in the middle of a standard daily routine? Wow! Less input of energy on your part and more opportunities for reinforcement! All you have to do is notice. More reinforcement of the behavior equals more learning and a stronger behavior. This is similar to “shaping.”
Shaping
“Shaping” is the reinforcement of successive approximations of the desired behavior. It requires an understanding of learning, but it makes total sense. We all have to learn to perform the steps of a complex behavior set or stumble through a clumsy version of the behavior before we become good at it.
Trainers typically do shaping sessions just like any other training session. They go through a series of repetitions, each of which involves the learner doing a behavior that is reinforced with a treat. (There are, of course, other reinforcers – but treats are so easy to use and describe that we’ll use them as our example reinforcers here.)
Shaping also typically requires a marker: a clicker or voice cue that occurs at the same time as the behavior does, followed immediately by the treat. This is because the learner may get the treat for a slightly different behavior each time and we want him to make a clear connection between the exact behavior he did and the treat he got after he did it.
“Shaping” in Daily Routines
There are more details to the shaping process. I’ll be happy to discuss them in the comments! But the important point here is that when your dog offers you a behavior that is a step toward exactly what you want, you reinforce it. If your dog pauses at the door, looking at you rather than charging out, that behavior is a step toward your dog waiting patiently at the door every time you open it, checking with you to see whether he should go out or wait inside!
That’s akin to shaping. Give your dog a treat when he offers a split-second pause and watch that pause grow into a longer period of time and your dog waiting a little further away from the door. And you didn’t even have to do much arranging of the environment! Easy-peasy.
Noticing Behaviors You Like
To make these behavioral changes, you’ll have to practice your observation skills. Notice exactly what your dog is doing. We humans must train our brains to do what we want, rather than just be-bopping along and scatter-focusing on one thing after another. When you focus on what you want, you will automatically notice when your dog is doing it.
Recognizing how shaping works will allow you to notice the smallest changes in the direction of your dog’s gaze, the placement of his feet as he stops walking, and you will actually be able to observe the moment when he makes a decision about what to do next! That will allow you to reinforce the behavior you like before he moves on to doing the behavior you don’t want.
Preparation: Stashing Treats
Should you choose to accept the challenge that I’m about to offer, your preparation will involve having treats available in various locations around the house. Check out my blog post on Doorway Treat Holders for one good idea!
Think about the areas of your home where you would like to see certain behaviors from your dog. Kitchen? Living room? These rooms often have drawers, where you could stash a small container of non-perishable treats. The refrigerator is in the kitchen, and you can have several containers of treats available there, easy to grab.
Treat Bags
You can also wear a treat bag at your waist. People sometimes complain about their dogs trying to mug the treat bag, or dogs “only” doing what their parents want when the treat bag is visible. Wearing the treat bag regularly takes the significance out of its presence!
This is another part of arranging the environment to facilitate your training. If the treat bag is always there and you give treats specifically in connection with your dog’s behaviors, connections will be made between treats and behavior instead of between treats and the presence of the treat bag. Possible connections are everywhere, and you have the power to signify which ones matter!
Your Challenge
Give your dog 20 treats every day, each one for a behavior that he offered you. Develop your observation skills to notice when he could have run out the door and didn’t. Notice when his glance at the kitchen or bathroom counter showed you that he considered getting up there to grab something but chose not to. If you have a new dog, all the better! Reinforce pauses at the door, all four feet on the floor, looking at you, sitting, lying down, and more right now before he explores and tries out the behaviors you know you don’t want!
This is such a simple exercise, but it is powerful. Teaching dogs to respond to verbal cues and hand signals is great but helping them develop a repertoire of easy-to-choose behaviors that will always be OK is also wonderful. What about when you’re not around or when you’re “checked-out,” busy with something else, not feeling well, or otherwise not present for your dog at the moment? In return for the whispers and kindnesses your dog offers in terms of behavior, give him a well-stocked toolbox of behaviors that will benefit both of you.
“Have a well-packed toolbox and then set off on a journey of exploration and discovery.” – Neal Peart
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