The other day, I realized that Daisy had not had a real training session in a while. It was time to shape a new behavior! She learned to lift a paw. We actually did three new behaviors that day, in separate sessions. I will probably tell you about the other two in future blog posts.
Training as Enrichment
The main reason for this training session was enrichment – giving Daisy a chance to exercise her brain by solving a puzzle: “How do I make this lady click and give me treats?”
How I Chose “Lift a Paw”
The chosen behavior, “lift a paw,” developed as we trained. When I’m doing more “serious” training, I typically have a solid plan for what the behavior will look like when it’s done. Again, this training session was intended to provide a fun, mentally stimulating activity for Daisy. We settled on lifting her left front paw. I’ll let the video explain what’s going on.
We Can Name the Paw Lift Now
Now that Daisy has the behavior under her belt, we have the choice to name it. My other dog, Albert, has names for each of his paws and will lift each on the appropriate verbal cue. He and I began that set of behaviors just as you see Daisy and me doing in the video. With all the rain we’ve had, I do a lot of paw wiping and it’s handy when the dogs know how to help!
Every dog needs a chance to learn a behavior through shaping and the technique will help you become a better teacher for your dog. Consider building this behavior for your own dogs. If you want some help, The Mannerly Dog is here for you! Feel free to ask questions in the comments about shaping, clickers, or whatever you find unclear.
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