#166: Why is Shaping So Hard?, Pt. 2

Drinking From the Toilet: Real dogs, Real training

In this episode, we discuss why we often consider shaping to be an advanced technique, why I think it doesn’t have to/shouldn’t be that way, why I think how many of us first learned about shaping is contributing to the problem, how the expectations we have around shaping (based on how we were taught) might be getting in the way of doing good training, the two expectations that can get in the way: that shaping is linear and that it should be spontaneous, changing how we think about shaping to consider the whole ABC contingency can allow us to do better training without having to struggle so much, how you can set yourself and your dog up for success and it is still shaping!, there is no cheating in shaping as long as you are being honest with yourself (and your dog), setting up for success means a lot more than just training in a low distraction environment, the shaping staircase is a great model for teaching someone about the concept of successive approximation, but it is limiting in real life application, consider building behaviors from components, the first “step” in your shaping plan may look nothing like the final behavior and it might even seem to be farther away from your goal than where you are now!

For full show notes, visit: www.hannahbranigan.dog/podcast/166 This podcast is supported by Karen Pryor Clicker Training's Brand-New On Cue! Training Treats: clickertraining.com/treats