Why Bother Shaping When You Can Just Lure?
There are so many skills we can teach our dogs through luring and it’s incredibly effective.
So, what’s luring?
Luring is when we use food or a target to guide a dog into position. For a down, you might bring the treat to the floor and slowly move it out until your dog follows and lies down. When used with intention, it’s a powerful tool. There’s much more to luring than dangling a cookie. Dogs need to learn how to follow a lure politely and that trained verbal cues override hand motions. This is important because you don’t want your dog relying only on luring.
A common problem is that many people accidentally move their hands when giving a verbal cue. The dog stops listening and just waits for the next hand movement. So, yes, luring works, but it takes thoughtful training and planning if you want clean, finished skills once you fade out the lure.
Now let’s talk about shaping.
Shaping is not entirely different. It’s the process of teaching through successive approximations. By rewarding small steps that build into a full behavior, you can train your dog new behaviors without the use of lures. Like luring, we break things down into steps, but in free shaping, we avoid luring.
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What’s the point if you could just lure?
Shaping is a skill worth mastering. Here’s why:
It builds real problem-solving skills in dogs.
Dogs learn to think, offer behaviors, and stay engaged in training.It sharpens your timing and observation as a trainer.
You’ll become more aware of what your dog is actually doing, not just what you think they’re doing.It’s essential for certain situations.
Can’t reach the dog? Working behind a barrier? Helping a fearful or aggressive dog? Shaping gives you options when luring isn’t safe or practical.It prepares you for training other species.
Not every animal will follow a lure as easily. Shaping is universal.It promotes thoughtful cueing and behavior clarity.
You learn to take a behavior from start to finish all the way to a clean, on-cue response without food in your hand.
Avoiding Shaping Mistakes
Shaping can lead to frantic dogs who throw every trick at you if you are not careful. Dogs that get frustrated when reinforcement doesn’t come fast enough, dogs that bark or escalate instead of pausing to think, and dogs that offer behaviors outside of shaping sessions just because you have treats on you are all avoidable through planning. To avoid this, teach stillness between reps. Learn when it is appropriate to reinforce the pause and let your dog be unsuccessful sometimes. That’s where the learning happens. If you plan your training sessions carefully, you will know how to move between steps during shaping and learn to shape like a pro before you know it.
Session planning is a skill that improves with practice. One of the best ways to strengthen this ability is by selecting a complex trick and breaking it down into as many small steps as possible. Then, go back and break those steps down even further into micro-movements. Once your plan is detailed and precise, try training the skill using your outlined steps.
During the session, stay flexible. Your dog may progress faster than expected or need extra time on a particular step. Every dog is different, and your plan is just a guideline, not a rulebook. With time and experience, you’ll find yourself naturally thinking in small training approximations, and you won’t need to write each step out as often.
Remember, a finished behavior doesn’t end with shaping. You still must get it on cue and do some proofing.
Is shaping right for you?
Shaping is not always easy, but it gives you more options and sharpens skills for both the dog and the trainer. Plus, it’s fun!
Ready to give it a try? A great way to practice is by choosing a trick to train.
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