All-Positive Monday 26 - Quest of The Blue Rug

The blue rug remains the focus of our training so far, and we're still working on a making it a place he will want to go on and thus make it a very attractive place for him to go to.

We worked more on shaping and then just getting the spot being a trigger for a reward even when not making it an explicit target of training. If he walks on it during the day, he gets a click and treat. If he walks on it while playing, I'll praise and give him a treat. If he lays on it, sits on it, plays on it, whatever, he gets rewarded.

I think doing that - getting him rewarded for being on, or stepping on, the rug is a good first step to getting him to offer it on his own during shaping. I've done something similar before - teach him a behavior outside of shaping, then have him refine, master, and fully reinforce the behavior during shaping and games.

Also found the Spanish word that I'll link to the rug, 'tapete'. Then I'll use "¿Dònde està tapete?" to tell him to find the rug.

That is the first "formal" game we'll play with the rug.

The other side effect of this is he'll get more "mat work" as well. The things learned here could carry over to that exercise as well, since the concept is the same idea: get to the spot where the "mat" is.

So that's where we are with the rug and our continuing practice in working with it.

The Square Blue Rug

I'm trying to think of things to do with the blue rug I had bought for him some time earlier. At first, he was
using it as part of where he laid in my room, but now that his new bed is there and the rug moved to the floor in front of his crate, I'm trying to think of new things to do with it.

Right now, I'm shaping him to sit and lay on it, and he got the idea pretty fast. But I wonder if that's all we can do with it. Perhaps I should see what else he comes up with. Maybe leave something he can pick up near by and see if he thinks of anything.

Or perhaps take what he's doing now and playing some sort of game where he needs to get on the rug to win. Things like that have always helped him. I think first I need to teach him what that's called (put a name to the behavior we've shaped), and then start to use that to play the game, helping him learn both the new cue as well as make the rug more important and rewarding for him to be on and get on.

Sounds like a good idea for next Monday, actually. Certainly can do that in an all-positive way.

"All-Positive Monday 16" - Canine Creativity?

This was something different. Today, I took Wally out to an open field and just waited for him to do something. When he did, I tried to go with it and see if I couldn't get him to extend it.

He started with his usual, the typical sitting and such that usually gets him rewarded, and I did reward it here as well. After a while, he was like, "hmm....what's up here?"

I pretended to ignore him and he sat next to me. I kept acting like I was looking at something and then he stood up on his back paws. I kept looking in the distance and he waved his paws up and down like "hey, I'm over here!". Turned and clicked and gave him a treat. He kept standing up. I held out for a little while and he started with the paws again. Another reward.

Next, the tail started going. Usually, this is a precursor to his barking (he always "winds up" his tail before he starts barking). It wasn't quite a bark, but he did make some vocalization. That got him another reward.

Then, I went back to "ignoring" him. He sat down for a moment just looking at me. He sort of "gruffed" and started looking around. I suppose he was looking for an object to grab or poke. He went over to the monkey bars (we were near a playground) and pawed the base. I rewarded that. I was hoping he'd act as though he'd climb them, but he didn't.

He came back. He sat, but I had gone back to the pretending again. He lied down. Still nothing. He tapped my foot with his paw. I looked at him and rewarded him. He did it again. Another reward. Again, but this time - nothing. Next, he put both his paws on my foot and barked. That got rewarded.

After that, we had some fun just running around before going back in because we were both getting quite hot.

Next time, I will have to do this near a light pole to see if he incorporates that into the things he offers!

Day of Shaping Puzzles

Today, we tried a little something different with shaping. Well, it's not shaping, per se, but more a test of how much he remembers from tasks we've gone through via shaping - and maybe a little shaping type responses from me (i.e. no direct commands)

First, I put the scale out to him. I didn't do anything else. He had to get on the scale and sit-stay on it. After that, I would act as though I'm checking his weight and he had to stay until I told him it was okay to get off.

When I put the scale out, he kinda looked at it strange, but then must have remembered something because he stood on it with his front paws and the back paws were on the floor.

I didn't say anything of course, just stood there looking at him. He saw no reward forthcoming, and tried something else. After a few tries, he got it and sat on the scale. I then did the rest and had him stay on for a little longer. Once finished, I rewarded him and let him off.

Next was his soccer ball. Since this is probably easy for him, I made him do a couple different behaviors. He could paw it, pick it up, poke it, or push it. Any of those, but he had to do at least two.

He did the poke almost immediately. Not surprising since that's one we've worked on quite a bit. I rewarded the poke and waited for something else. He kept wanting to give me pokes, but I wasn't paying any attention to those any longer. He tried some other stuff like sitting near me, but the picked up the ball. That was good enough.

Lastly, I had a towel laid out. This was for him to lie down on as if doing the "mat" training. This one he got pretty quick. At first he sat on it, but then he lied down and solved it quickly.

Not to bad, considering it's the first time I had him switch like this and had him basically to remember the whole thing from scratch and on his own.

Do Some Dogs Learn More With Shaping Than Others? If So, Why?

I have pondered this question on occasion.

As those who have followed this blog for a while may know, I'm in love with shaping. Part of this is from its use being the key to unlock the beginning of our relationship and part of it is the sheer success the method has brought to our efforts.

The trade off for this is:

• Time - shaping takes a lot of time for complex tasks. The trainer also has to be able to break things down, sometimes prior to the session, taking more time.
• Difficulty - even Wally has gotten somewhat frustrated or confused with some sessions. That is likely my fault in some degree, and some of the blame lies with his past or his personality, but the effect is there.
• Randomness - there's some measure of uncertainty with what a dog will do when left to his own ideas. This isn't so much a problem for me, but it's something that's often inherent to the process. Tracking progress is mildly difficult since the dog may 'stall' at different points in the process, seemingly for no reason.
• Minimal Guidance - again, not typically a problem for Wally and I, now, but there are times where I have to remember not to "give hints" or outright redirect him. This may well prove a challenge for a newcomer (either dog or human or both!) to the method. In the beginning, this was the first obstacle Wally overcame.

And for that price, I wonder if there's something extra that's getting learned.  Personally, I believe there are some "extras" that get learned along with the end task. These "extras" often build up even if reaching the goal doesn't happen that session. 

"Extra" benefits of shaping:

• Creativity - When the dog faces a new challenge, or a twist on an old one, he is more likely to try something since that has brought good things in the past.
• Confidence - I always say dogs teach themselves when asked about shaping. They are putting the clues together to solve the mystery. I believe this gives them more confidence.
• Less Pressure - With the lack of guidance can come the lack of worrying about "doing it right" and more about "hmm...what if I try this?". For less confidence dogs, or ones with softer/submissive personalities, I think this is a very good benefit.
• I don't know how to sum this up, but the dog tells you what he knows. He knows he should have got a reward. He knows something worked last time and wonders why it's not working. I think that's developing some part of his intelligence/logical thinking.
• Fun - there can be no "point" to shaping and still be fun and helping the dog learn how to learn using shaping. It can be random, free-form, just "whatever", and the dog is still practicing the process.

So I certainly still believe there's a lot of benefits to shaping, but do they all manifest to all dogs? If not, why and can they develop the potential positives of the method while minimizing experiencing the potential downsides? Would it be worth it to "convert" dogs who are learning decently without shaping to learning with shaping training? Is a "mixed" approach to shaping viable? For example, introducing a task using other methods, then refining or fully teaching using shaping?

Is there some personality of dog that tends to do better with shaping? Could it be related to breed traits? Perhaps herders do better with shaping since their job requires on-the-fly thinking and less "overbearing" guidance? Perhaps an independent breed, like a Husky, would do better since it seems like "it was their idea all along?" 

Not to mention trainer personalities. Are there some human personalities better suited to using shaping, or is shaping more a skill than a style and as such is not really impacted by personality?

What does everyone think? Has anyone had experiences trying shaping with multiple dogs? For those who have, could you tell the results were different due to personality or other traits, or were the results basically even? I'm interested in hearing what everyone has to say!

Shaping Games To Keep His Mind Sharp

It's been one of those days where not much in the training department is going to get done. I was able to steal away about thirty minutes to do more than just walk Wally around and let him do his business. Thank goodness he's very well house-trained. He kept poking at the door and whining and even opened it and was running back and forth in and out of the room, trying to get me to follow.

Anyway, during that small moment of availability, I ran through shaping basics with him. We went back to the first game we played with shaping where he just did something, anything, and I would reward it for a while, then stop and make him do something else.

There was no real point in terms of a final behavior. Instead, just him throwing out whatever to keep him in the mindset of trying something and seeing what happens, and when that doesn't work (i.e. he doesn't get food), try something else.

It's not a hard game to start or even teach. The hard part is getting the dog to get going, but starting that is easy if you just get ready to take whatever. I always start this game with him touching something since he is nosy...I mean curious...about things I touch. He has to see what it is, which means he's going to be following it with his eyes (and nose), tracking where I put it, and then going up to sniff it. All of those things can be marked and rewarded.

Once the object is down, that's when Wally really gets into it since he knows what's going to happen next. He'll poke it with his nose, paw it, even pick it up.

A lot of times, I don't even use an object anymore. I just sit somewhere near him and wait. I'll get a paw raised up or he'll stand up and come sit in front of me, etc. Once that starts, the game is on, and we just go from there with whatever I feel like rewarding. Now that he knows a lot of basic behaviors, it's easier for him to think of something else.

Though I did get a totally new behavior, which is why I love playing this game. He lied down. I kept ignore it just to see what he'd do. He put his head on his front paws. I quickly rewarded it. At first, he didn't get it. He thought it was just for lying down. I waited again, and he put his head down. Another reward.

The light bulb must have went on because he was now intentionally doing it. I would only have to wait a second or two and the head was going back down. In fact, if I waited "too long", he started barking...with his head down. Strangest thing I've seen.

Anyway, that's about all we could do today, but at least he got some practice in and got to have some fun.

"All-Positive Monday" 12: Objects The Shaping Way

As planned, Wally and I worked on the four objects again (circle, square, bone, and ball) but with a new approach. This time, I just let him pick an object to touch, and when he did, I would click and treat him.

After he got going and understood what he was getting rewarded for, I started saying the name of the object, just as he touched it. So if he went to the ball, I'd say "pelota" just as his nose was about to touch it, and when he did touch it, he got the reward.

Hopefully, this will build up the attraction to the objects. I am also hoping he can make the connection easier with this approach. He's hearing the name just as he interacts with the object. Perhaps this let's him make a very direct connection between the two.

Also, going with the shaping approach takes me more out of the picture. This limits the potential for any pointing and touching I might do becoming part of the cue he keys on (though I have an idea for how to use that since he does seem attracted to what I touch). The shaping approach might get it to be just the object and his action on the object, which is what I'm shooting for.

Another benefit I'm hoping to achieve is the removal of frustration or confusion. With this approach, he's always right, and he is learning the name just the same. It is similar to the difference between:

1. "Where's the ball?" And then I tell him if he found the ball or not, which can then lead to try to remember what it's called and getting anxious/frustrated because he's having a hard time.

and

2. Wally going, "What's this called?" and I tell him what's it's called (ex. "hueso" or "cuadrado") and rewarding him for "asking" and touching the object.

Keeping Wally in mindset #2 keeps him upbeat and interested. Keeping him upbeat and interested keeps him in drive and engaged in the process. This also goes along with what he knows about shaping, the way I've approached teaching for the large majority of what he's learned.

The only downside is he can more likely get fixated on one object. While there's nothing, per se, wrong with this - especially at this stage - I do want him to interact with all the objects. So if he gets too fixated on an object, I temporarily remove it, and this gets him going to the other objects.

Today was a big success, and it could be a new way to approach the situation.

Girls Luv Wally, Practicing the "Mat", and thoughts on Shaping

Today was rather eventful. I thought about multiple posts, but I don't want to spam anyone so it gets all stuck together (let me know if you would have rather it been multiple posts, I can go either way). First event happened during one of our walks. We often walk by the neighborhood playground, and a couple little girls saw Wally (one of which "knows" him since she's seen him more than a few times), and they came up to Wally as usual and started caressing him and cooing over his fur. I was in something of a hurry but I couldn't bear to stop the little girls. Guess I have a soft spot for them, plus it's more socialization for Wally, which he could use.

Wally recognized the one he knew and met her when she came up and started sniffing her and accepted petting from her quickly. Her friend that day was not known to him and she was...forward with touching him. She wasn't hurting him, but she was holding the sides of his body as much as petting him.

Wally wasn't too keen on that but I let it go on to see how he'd handle it, and plus, he needs to learn to accept kids. They don't always approach/do things "right" with dogs, but he needs to not feel overly defensive about it. I also know he's not going to bite anyone, he'll just be sticking close to me and looking at me more than the kids and that's how I know he's had enough, so neither he nor the girl was going to be in harm's way. For Wally's part, he did sit still and started investigating the girl once the initial "Who are you?" type reaction passed. I think he also smelled the girl's dog too (she mentioned she had a dog) and that might have been half of what the sniffing was about!

If I would have been on the ball, I'd have put bread balls in my pocket and given them to both the girls to give to Wally. That was a bit of a wasted opportunity on my part.

Once I had some more time later on and before time for dinner, we did some more working on him going and settling on his "mat". I put mat in quotes because it's not so much a mat as it is "any rectangular shaped piece of cloth on the ground". We did more practice via shaping to refresh the behavior. We had done this a couple times before, but like with other things I tend not to ask so much for, it gets left behind a bit. With some shaping, though, he quickly remembered how it goes and he did a pretty good job of it overall.

Eventually, we won't be limiting it to rectangles - and we'll try it using the round rugs (like those kind you can get from IKEA), but for now, we're sticking to rectangles since that's the shape of the towels and blankets that's easy to get at.

While doing the shaping with him, I started to wonder why it works so well with Wally. It's unbelievable how he just took to it once he got over his initial fear about the method and gave it a shot. I read something that said visuals help speed up learning in humans significantly (the book, in the introduction of a computer programming book no less, said 89% faster memory and learning). I wonder if shaping doesn't "make it visual" for Wally - or dogs in general. Perhaps "visual" gets replaced with "behavioral" or that the step-by-step approach helps also form the mental images in his head about how to do the behaviors.

Marker training is also considered to act "like a camera" to "take a picture" of what the dog was doing and where and how. Shaping combines markers with "more pictures" and perhaps that is what really can help a dog speed up his learning if the trainer decides to go with it and can get the dog to buy into the process as well.

No idea if I'm not way off base with this line of thought, but it was just something interesting that popped into my head while thinking about how the "mat" session went and how fast he recalled it during shaping.