Learn to Shape
There are several methods you can use to teach your dog a new behavior:
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Luring is a technique where you use a treat to guide your dog into position. Luring works well for teaching positions- like sit, down, or stand.
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Capturing is a technique where you reinforce a behavior your dog does naturally in order to eventually put the behavior on cue. Capturing can be used to teach eye contact, speak, or take a bow.
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Shaping is a technique where you break a behavior into small steps and reinforce approximations of the goal behavior.
In this class, you will learn to use shaping to teach your dog new behaviors.
In shaping, you gradually teach your dog a new behavior by rewarding each step of the process while learning the behavior. This allows you to break complicated behaviors into small steps that your dog can learn and understand. Shaping is a fun and engaging process for the trainer and the learner. It builds your dog's focus and attention, since your dog is an active participant in the learning process.
In this class we will teach foundational behaviors for dog sports and tricks using shaping:
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Hand Targeting / Touch
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Tug and release
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Paw Targeting
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Nose Targeting
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Hold an Object
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Fetch
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As a final project, students will choose a more advanced trick that builds on one or more of these behaviors.
Pre-requisites: Beginning Obedience (at least one session). Dogs should be able to work off-leash around other dogs to benefit from this class.