Clean Run - August 2018 - 24

A: My staring at the toy makes it easy for my dog to understand where to look. B: Release equals reward.
C: Once my dog is really good at staring at her toy, I add a jump.

of your eye. Once you have him staring at
the bowl, see if you can slowly walk behind
the dog while he waits for permission to
eat without causing him to look at you.

Control Over Reinforcement

You can also use retrieve games (fetch) to
strengthen forward focus. If I tell my dog
to stay before I throw his toy, I want him
staring at the planted reinforcement (ball,
Frisbee, bumper, Lotus Ball) once it has
landed, until I release him to it.

Control over reinforcement is a way of life, not just a skill for agility. It means your dog
will listen to you when there is something else he would rather have or do. The contact
maintenance program calls for you to be able to use planted and thrown reinforcement,
so you will need to get your dog to run to both food and (hopefully) toys, and also get
him to come back to you.

If your dog has a lot of practice staring at
you for permission you might need an "ice
breaker" to get started with this training.
Restrain your dog on a leash (no stay) and
toss a piece of cheese or meat just out of
his reach (the closer, the better). He should
start at the food and pull to go toward it.
Tell him to "get it" while he is trying to get
to the food. After a few reps, you can add
the control back into the work by using a
stay command.
Important! Be careful not to teach your
dog to look back and forth from you to the
planted (or tossed) object. To get a steady
stare at the reinforcement, you will need to
give your release cue before the dog looks
to you. Your initial successes might only
be for a second or two. You will then build
up the length of the stare time. You won't
need your dog starting for any longer than
5 seconds, and many times it will be less
time than that. Go as fast as you can with
this training project.
24

I hope that you can see how your forward focus training will enhance your control over
reinforcement training. The fetch game I described is the perfect example, as it is also a
piece of control over reinforcement training.

If you can't get this control work done, you will have much less flexibility in training,
although a Treat & Train can be used in place of cue control. The trouble is, if you don't
have control over your dog when it comes to food and toys, you don't have control! Please
know that dogs can be brainwashed into wanting to listen and respond. Your control
training should be fun-lots of fun-for you both. For drills to strengthen your control
over reinforcement training, read my August 2017 article, "Don't Cross Me."
Tip: Anytime you call your dog off anything you are training control over reinforcement. When you get a correct response (dog comes to you) throw a party with a jackpot
delivered from your hand. Then-here is the key-immediately send your dog back to
what he wanted in the first place, if possible. It could be food, a toy, a pond, a squirrel (it
got a head start), or even a favorite person. You will have to balance the ratio; sometimes
he gets sent back to the prize, but not always. You don't want the dog thinking he always
gets to have everything you call him off of. Can you tell how wonderful this work will
be for your general recall?
Proofing Your 2-On/2-Off Behavior..................................................................................
We are trying to teach our dogs not to guess when they can break out of their 2-on/2-off
position. So, we are looking for things they have associated with the release command
enough times that they incorrectly think it is okay to break (release) when those things
happen. So to identify the things that are causing a problem with our contact behavior
and fix them, we need to proof.
"Proofing" a behavior is merely testing that behavior to see how well the dog understands
what you taught so that the behavior can get stronger. I proof every behavior that I teach
my dogs to one degree or another; it is part of navigating everyday life. There are two ways
Clean Run | August 18

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - August 2018