Shaping- What Have You Taught?

[MrsD]

The 2 best things I have taught Jarrah totally by free shaping have been *head down* (puts his head on the ground between his paws) & *shake* which means he shakes his head (fast, like he has a fly annoying him). I have also started a head turn which he had started to get after 1 session before we went away. Pretty much everything else has been lured, I've never free shaped before, so he's only just learning how to do it (& so am I!).

[Roguedog]

I did some more tonight- shaped Cosmo on a dining chair with paws over the back of the chair and nsoe between paws- so praying on the dining chair! Super cute!! We went to do fetching tissue from box but started off with tissue in box and she just fetched the whole box!! Think i might have to start that one with the tissue by itself! We put opening the cupboard on cue tonight too

I am a very proud Mum!!

its a great trick! I recently taught my old boy "pray" and "bow" using shaping, he gets way too excitable with luring (big dope) but shaping works quite well with him. I also started him on opening his crate door when its bed time, got it pretty quickly for such a dopey dog.

[corvus]

Kivi does "back back" from free shaping. I haven't done much for ages, but for a while there I was teaching him to lift whichever front foot I indicated a small amount or a large amount depending on the "size" of my signal. Little signal = little lift and big signal = big lift. I didn't know if he'd be able to grasp that concept and some people told me he wouldn't be able to, but one way or another he seemed to be getting it before I lost interest again. I also did "touch" and "paw" with shaping, but I think I may have lured with those ones.

I abandoned the clicker with my hare because he seemed to think it was a bit pointless. Once he figured out what I was going to reward he took control and would ask for rewards whenever it took his fancy. I swear, wild animals just don't buy into these mind games unless they decide to just humour you. My hare doesn't humour people. He prefers to learn "human" and use it to teach me "hare".

[leopuppy04]

How many people lure to start with? I thought that was cheating so i gritted my teeth and didn't do it

Hehe - to me, while there is nothing wrong with luring to start with, it's not shaping, as the dog isn't experimenting to find out what the behaviour is, we are 'showing' them first... so to me, this is sucessive approximation, not shaping

It would annoy me too PF- Cosmo doesn't though, its literally like having an on and off switch

My understanding is that with correct training, the frantic offering of behaviours doesn't occur.

I agree - My dogs seldom offer behaviours willy nilly - once they know a behaviour a cue is added - simple .

Leo is a bugga to shape at times, so sometimes he does need the assistance .

As for what we've shaped....

a lot of our tricks and most of our obedience and agility work. It's far too much to write out all individually, but I would say that at least 80% of our training is shaped initially.

Some of our tricks i'll cheat and lure first, approximate later

Leo is a shocker in terms of 'shaping' with his body and no object concerned. So for that reason I have to have a very clear, step by step plan ready before I start training a new behaviour

[TerraNik]

I just shaped Jedi to stack plastic bowls! I have wanted to try and shape this for MONTHS and he just never offered a mouthing behaviour until tonight (probably something to do with now knowing the dumbbell retrieve)!! He's now consistently stacking 2 bowls the same size! I'll add another bowl tomorrow and then maybe I'll buy some bowls of different sizes.

I tried the same thing with Ahsoka and ended up with her nose targeting inside the bowl... She thought it was the best thing ever! I went back to working with Jedi and she consistently interrupted Jedi's stacking by planting her nose inside the bowl while Jedi was carrying it!!!! (she usually knows that it's not her turn and lies down while I'm doing things with Jedi) Who knows what I'll do with that behaviour!?

Next thing I'll shape is all 4 paws in a bowl. Should be fun!

Edited April 18, 2009 by TerraNik

[4 Paws]

I just shaped Jedi to stack plastic bowls! I have wanted to try and shape this for MONTHS and he just never offered a mouthing behaviour until tonight (probably something to do with now knowing the dumbbell retrieve)!! He's now consistently stacking 2 bowls the same size! I'll add another bowl tomorrow and then maybe I'll buy some bowls of different sizes.

I tried the same thing with Ahsoka and ended up with her nose targeting inside the bowl... She thought it was the best thing ever! I went back to working with Jedi and she consistently interrupted Jedi's stacking by planting her nose inside the bowl while Jedi was carrying it!!!! (she usually knows that it's not her turn and lies down while I'm doing things with Jedi) Who knows what I'll do with that behaviour!?

Next thing I'll shape is all 4 paws in a bowl. Should be fun!

maybe this with the nose targeting in the bowl? http://www.canisfilmfestival.com/09_final_10.html

[Cosmolo]

I just taught Cosmo to lie down/ curl up in a washing basket! Pretty good considering she is 20kg and has lanky legs!!

[TerraNik]

I just shaped Jedi to stack plastic bowls! I have wanted to try and shape this for MONTHS and he just never offered a mouthing behaviour until tonight (probably something to do with now knowing the dumbbell retrieve)!! He's now consistently stacking 2 bowls the same size! :rolleyes: I'll add another bowl tomorrow and then maybe I'll buy some bowls of different sizes.

I tried the same thing with Ahsoka and ended up with her nose targeting inside the bowl... She thought it was the best thing ever! I went back to working with Jedi and she consistently interrupted Jedi's stacking by planting her nose inside the bowl while Jedi was carrying it!!!! (she usually knows that it's not her turn and lies down while I'm doing things with Jedi) Who knows what I'll do with that behaviour!?

Next thing I'll shape is all 4 paws in a bowl. Should be fun!

maybe this with the nose targeting in the bowl? http://www.canisfilmfestival.com/09_final_10.html

She already blows bubbles in a bowl... Cheeky minx probably thought she'd get treats for doing it without water!

[luvsdogs]

What's the longest it's taken to free shape with a dog that hasn't done it before?

[TerraNik]

I think it would depend on whether the dog has been exposed to the clicker before (may not have been shaped, but knows what the clicker means), how difficult the end behaviour is and the individual dog.

[Tatelina]

I just shaped Jedi to stack plastic bowls! I have wanted to try and shape this for MONTHS and he just never offered a mouthing behaviour until tonight (probably something to do with now knowing the dumbbell retrieve)!! He's now consistently stacking 2 bowls the same size! I'll add another bowl tomorrow and then maybe I'll buy some bowls of different sizes.

I tried the same thing with Ahsoka and ended up with her nose targeting inside the bowl... She thought it was the best thing ever! I went back to working with Jedi and she consistently interrupted Jedi's stacking by planting her nose inside the bowl while Jedi was carrying it!!!! (she usually knows that it's not her turn and lies down while I'm doing things with Jedi) Who knows what I'll do with that behaviour!?

Next thing I'll shape is all 4 paws in a bowl. Should be fun!

Hahahaha.. I want videos!

[Tatelina]

I need to learn this shaping business!! It sounds like fun!

[TerraNik]

I just shaped Jedi to stack plastic bowls! I have wanted to try and shape this for MONTHS and he just never offered a mouthing behaviour until tonight (probably something to do with now knowing the dumbbell retrieve)!! He's now consistently stacking 2 bowls the same size! I'll add another bowl tomorrow and then maybe I'll buy some bowls of different sizes.

I tried the same thing with Ahsoka and ended up with her nose targeting inside the bowl... She thought it was the best thing ever! I went back to working with Jedi and she consistently interrupted Jedi's stacking by planting her nose inside the bowl while Jedi was carrying it!!!! (she usually knows that it's not her turn and lies down while I'm doing things with Jedi) Who knows what I'll do with that behaviour!?

Next thing I'll shape is all 4 paws in a bowl. Should be fun!

Hahahaha.. I want videos!

I forgot to video this one! I'll see if I can find time on the weekend.

[Casima]

My Raffy took almost 3 years from when I got him to when the light bulb went on and he started to offer behaviours. But he is "special", all the other dogs I have worked with have done well in their first session, just start with something really easy, like interacting with an object that is nearby both you and the dog.

I find they only offer tons of behaviours in shaping sessions, which you want anyway. We have shaped all sorts of fun things as well as agility stuff, especially with Anna my newest dog, I find all the things we have taught via shaping are much stronger than things taught other ways.