There are essentially five ways to teach your dog behaviors that lead to rewards: Shaping, Luring, Capturing, Modeling and Molding. Often, a combination of these is used when training your dog. Rewards are normally some kind of a treat that your dog likes but it could also be praise or a toy.

     Shaping: When you shape new behaviors, you reward your dog for each closer approximation to the desired behavior. For example, if you want your dog to retrieve an object using shaping, first you might reward him for just sniffing the object. Then reward him for picking it up. Finally, you would reward him for bringing the object to you. The scientific term for shaping is successive approximation.

     Luring: Another way to teach your dog new behaviors, is to use Luring. Your dog follows the lure (usually a treat in your hand) until he has performed the desired behavior. For example, if you want to teach your dog to Sit using a lure, you hold the treat in front of your dog and move it in an upward arc. If your dog follows this movement with his head moving upward, he will finish in the Sit position; then you reward him.

     Capturing: Capturing involves waiting for your dog to perform a behavior that you wish to strengthen. The moment he performs the desired behavior without incentive, click and reward him. For example, if you want to teach your dog to lie down using capturing, you would wait until he chooses to lie down, then click (using a clicker to mark the exact moment of the desired behavior) and reward him. For more on clicker training go to: www.clickandtreat.com .

     Modeling: Your dog can learn new behaviors by modeling. This is where the correct behavior is observed in one animal, and then replicated by your dog. It is not easy for a dog to learn new behavior by modeling after a human, but they can learn simple behaviors by watching another dog perform the behavior. For example, if you have two dogs and only one knows to Come Back When Called, you would call the dog that already knows the command to you and reward him when he comes to you. Then when the dog that doesn’t know the command comes to you, reward him also.

     Molding: Molding is when you physically assist your dog into the correct position. For example, when teaching your dog the Down by molding, you would gently push his withers (shoulders) towards the ground until he is in the down position, and then reward him.

Contact Information

Tom Beitz is the owner of the Academy for Puppies and Dogs and is an authorized dealer for Pet STOP Hidden Dog Fences. Tom can be reached at (716) 628-0651 to answer your questions or he can be found on the web at www.smartdogtrainer.com . E-Mail: Tom@Smartdogtrainer.com

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