Your analogy for shaping that you used with the human was great! I’ve heard of the concept before but it finally clicked after watching this video. Your suggestions and your examples are excellent and easy to follow. Thank you!
Absolutely loved this! It's so reassuring to see you put in your dog getting frustrated and offering a range of behaviours to see if this is what you want, and then showing how you deal with this. Also, to reaffirm that taking it back a step to make them confident again is a good thing! Thanks so much!
Hey Samantha, thank you for the feedback! I am trying to include more training "mistakes" in my videos, as they happen all the time. Glad you found this helpful!
Thank you so much for taking the time to post this beautiful video:)... but is helped me to train my two German Shepherd, Please continue to my more training video.
Loved the video. My trainer recommended shaping, but only had a text description - glad I found your video! You don't recommend long sessions - but is it okay to do several 5 min ones a day? Also what will happen if a session is too long? My puppy doesn't like to sleep, and seems to never get tired of snuffle mats and puzzle toys - but shaping exercises seem to tire her a bit!
Oh good I’m glad you found it helpful! Yes, it sounds like your dog likes to work and train, so several 5 minute sessions a day sounds just fine. It just depends on the dog! You might switch up the kind of shaping activity too, that will help with tiring her out!
Just found this channel and absolutely in love with the home made activities, my dog is not particularly motivated to work for his food and doesnt find his treats very interesting as well. Other than using toys and praise do you suggest anything else?
We have a husky mix that is pretty food-motivated in the right conditions, but gets frustrated very quickly (and then I get anxious not knowing what I've done wrong). I love the idea of shaping for him (and didn't understand it until your video - thank you!), but want something that's easy to start. He is too nervous for boxes just yet - do you have any ideas for very basic 'tricks' to teach him the idea of shaping?
Yes! Look at my head nod video. That one is a very simple shaping trick to teach and doesn’t involve any down time, so no time for the dog to get too frustrated. Keep going with shaping exercises! Once your dog gets it, it’s fantastic for channeling frustration! You can also look at my go to place video. That involves shaping the dog to target their bed
Thank you for this video! I just learned about free shaping today and came across this video. It's such a wonderful idea to try with our puppy. But I have one question that he always tries to destroy the box rather than interacting with it in other manners. Do you happen to have any idea how to encourage him to interact with the box more politely?
Thank you so much! I would start by upping the value of food you are using for the shaping. Something like chicken, beef, or cheese. This will make paying attention to you with the food a little more exciting to your puppy. I'd also take a few steps back and start clicking for the moment your puppy just looks at the box, then toss the treat away from the box. Click as the puppy comes back to the box and again toss the treat away. Repeat, gradually letting your pup get closer to the box, but you are capturing the moments they notice, or lightly touch the box, not try to smash or destroy it.
I came back to check the progress of my dog and shaping. I can get him to pick Up and drop a cup. And I can get two paws on the box. Idk where to go next. I came back for more tips. I am going to see if he will step inside a box lid
Hi, I've just discovered your channel - thank you so much for posting so much useful info for free. I tried the shaping this morning with the box, first sit in and then sit on the box (it wasn't big enough to lie in or on). You said that when you start you shouldn't do more than a few minutes so I stopped there. Should I repeat these shaping exercises before moving onto new one (such as the ball and cone) or repeat the 1st ones for a few days before trying something new? I'm worried that it will become learnt behaviour rather than shaping but also concerned to cause frustration by moving too quickly by asking for too many new behaviours. Also I wondered about the licking. I realise that Rigley was licking to the side of her mouth so it's more a yum-yum and not the same as a nervous calming signal (which I understand is more of a nose touch), but can the dog differentiate (I'm reluctant to teach my dog a behaviour that he normally displays when he's uncomfortable)? Thanks in advance
Hey Karen, thank you for your comment! These are great questions. Yes, I would keep the sessions short initially if your goal isn't to make whatever you are working on a learned, structured behavior. I would do at least 2 sessions with the same task, then move on to the next one. But also return to that first one you work on at some point to continue to reinforce multiple behavior offerings. With the lip licking, yes! Your dog will be able to differentiate it. You just may see them offer that behavior more during training sessions at first, which isn't a big deal. Hope that helps!
I've been wanting to do exercises like this with my dog-- she's super smart and eager to please! But when I have a treat in hand she just sits and stares at me intently. How can I get her to break that concentration and try some other behaviors? Thanks for your help!!
I might start with a body shaping exercise instead! Take a look at my head nod video! This will be helpful for teaching her that she is getting rewarded for offered behavior and will translate well to objects.
Hi Sarah, love your work. Quick question. Please. I was able to “shape” my lab, Gigi, into getting up and then lying down on a wobbly table (coffee table height, just big enough to accommodate her body, barely) Took a few sessions. Not easy as she had to figure out how to raise her hind legs and then kind of shimmy up. Now, and I still haven’t added a command, I want her to sit up to finish off trick. No harm in finishing off the shaping exercise to this sit by using a direct sit command vs trying to shape a sit? If so, will I be able to get her to automatically sit on table or will it typically remain a two step trick: lie on table and then sit? Your thoughts?
Hey Ed, thanks! So if I understand this correctly, you would like the final trick to be "get on the wobble table, lay down, then up into a sit"? If I have that correct, I would definitely recommend cueing a sit directly instead of shaping it. I could see that being a frustrating thing for her to figure out on her own while also focusing on balancing. If she struggles with it, I would recommend strengthening her core muscles with teaching "sit pretty". It will take a good amount of core strength for her to be able to do this. But love the idea of it! Send me a video through Facebook or Instagram of the final trick - would love to see it!
It depends on what I'm doing with them. A lot of the time, I am using a portion of their actual meal to do training. If I'm doing something that requires higher value treats (like using chicken, cheese, etc.), I'll keep track of about how much I'm giving them so I can take out a portion of their meal for that day. I try to when I can opt for nutrient dense treats though so this acts as a healthy substitute for their lost portion of a meal. I'll try to make a video about this!
@@lilymasters708 I just learnt that too high treats with a food motivated dog are a distraction. This morning I followed Sarah's shaping protocol using kibble and it worked brilliantly. I was so proud of my dog. This afternoon I repeated with cat treats (the cat had woken and was observing and she's a kibble addict so I thought I would use something else). It was a disaster - my dog was obsessed with looking at the treats (even if I hid them - of course he knew that they were there) and couldn't focus on the box or anything.
This is a hard one! In that case, I would help them out. Invite your pup to get into the box by tossing the treat inside of it. Make sure your pup is physically able to get into it! You may experiment with using shaping to get her to stand on top of something first, to build up her confidence with putting her paws in/on something novel. Then come back to the box.
I have done shape training with my two dogs starting when they were puppies I use the “method” for almost everything I teach them but you definitely don’t have to. I found that shape training dogs makes for a free thinking dog which helps when they get older and you want to teach them something new, some other benefits would be confidence building, a dog who is ready to try new things and I have found that dogs who are shape trained usually pay better attention to their humans.
So many things! It is great mental enrichment, which will actually work your dog's brain in a new way. Increased trust and bonding with your dog, will advance your mechanics and clicker skills, teach your dog to offer behavior, provide your dog an outlet to help prevent things like destructive or "bored" behaviors, builds up the confidence of a shy or nervous dog, and actually teach your dog to pay attention to what their body is actually doing. There are many others, but these are the big ones!
Can you explain the point of the box training? I don't understand it. Is it to get her to always lay in a box? Or is it more for "trusting" objects/you? Like...if she saw any box in any room...is she gonna just go lay in it? Or is it about just listening and being attentive to you/trust you? Thank you!
Hey Allie! It’s just for fun, it’s a great mental exercise for dogs - not necessarily a behavior I am teaching to put on cue or anything. A lot of the shaping activities I do on here are just ways to get your dog thinking, burn some excess energy, and strengthen your bond.
Hey! Some of these, yes, some of them I took multiple days to teach initially. If your dog is new to training, it is ideal to keep training sessions short at first. Somewhere between 3-5 minutes, and making sure your dog is having fun with it. Over time their brains and attention spans will be able to handle more so you can add more in and increase that time. Hope that it helpful!
Yes! I actually use a "yes" marker instead of a clicker for lots of things with Wrigley as well - as long as your timing is still good with saying "yes", then it is a great marker word to use.
I'm planning on making a video on this! Try some higher value treats, like little bits of chicken, cheese, or tripe! It's all about finding something your dog likes and is willing to work for. If you free feed your dog, I also might think about getting them on a set feeding schedule instead.
You can do this without a clicker but you need some sort of marker word like “yes” in place of the click. This is such a precise level of training that the dogs need a way of knowing the exact moment they do something right. So just every time I would click, you could say “yes”
Sarah Walsh - Dog Trainer Thank you very much. I started and somehow naturally the words to use came. I don’t speak English so it’s in my native tongue but it works. Precisely as you say. And I noticed the tone of the voice and my body language also help. Your videos are great. Thank you. I am currently stuck at home with a broken leg so I was desperate to tire my dog and entertain and fill his day with some activity since the walks are rare and far between. Thanks again. It’s truly great what you do and share ☺️🤗❤️🐶
Your analogy for shaping that you used with the human was great! I’ve heard of the concept before but it finally clicked after watching this video. Your suggestions and your examples are excellent and easy to follow. Thank you!
Thank you for your feedback Sammantha! I’m glad you enjoyed the video :)
Absolutely loved this! It's so reassuring to see you put in your dog getting frustrated and offering a range of behaviours to see if this is what you want, and then showing how you deal with this. Also, to reaffirm that taking it back a step to make them confident again is a good thing! Thanks so much!
Hey Samantha, thank you for the feedback! I am trying to include more training "mistakes" in my videos, as they happen all the time. Glad you found this helpful!
I really appreciate the breakdown of shaping. This is the first explanation I have understood.
Thank you! And good I’m glad I could make it easy to understand!
Absolutely Fascinating
Absolutely love this video! Never heard about shaping before and I'm excited to try with my dog.
Awesome! Have fun with it!
Me to! Just did this with my 9week old Aussie puppy and it was great to see his wheels turn as he figured out what to do.
Great video. I’m
Going to try this with Rainn, my Dobermann puppy tomorrow. Sometimes I just want to sit down for 10 minutes 😊
Good luck! I totally understand that feeling!
My corgi loves this! Thank you so much.
Thank you for watching Becky!
Thank you so much for taking the time to post this beautiful video:)... but is helped me to train my two German Shepherd,
Please continue to my more training video.
Thank you so much! I appreciate you taking the time to watch
This was incredibly helpful. I have read about shaping a few times, but it really didn't make sense to me until you broke it down like this.
Yay! So happy to help!
This is only one definition of shaping too!
This is awesome, thank you! This should help with our new high energy dog!
You’re welcome Karla! Happy to have you here on my channel :)
Good girl wriggly!!!! Too cute
Loved the video. My trainer recommended shaping, but only had a text description - glad I found your video!
You don't recommend long sessions - but is it okay to do several 5 min ones a day? Also what will happen if a session is too long?
My puppy doesn't like to sleep, and seems to never get tired of snuffle mats and puzzle toys - but shaping exercises seem to tire her a bit!
Oh good I’m glad you found it helpful! Yes, it sounds like your dog likes to work and train, so several 5 minute sessions a day sounds just fine. It just depends on the dog! You might switch up the kind of shaping activity too, that will help with tiring her out!
Just found this channel and absolutely in love with the home made activities, my dog is not particularly motivated to work for his food and doesnt find his treats very interesting as well. Other than using toys and praise do you suggest anything else?
You could try using its meals to train, I usually use the first half of my dog’s meal to train and I give her the rest for free 😉
We have a husky mix that is pretty food-motivated in the right conditions, but gets frustrated very quickly (and then I get anxious not knowing what I've done wrong). I love the idea of shaping for him (and didn't understand it until your video - thank you!), but want something that's easy to start. He is too nervous for boxes just yet - do you have any ideas for very basic 'tricks' to teach him the idea of shaping?
Yes! Look at my head nod video. That one is a very simple shaping trick to teach and doesn’t involve any down time, so no time for the dog to get too frustrated. Keep going with shaping exercises! Once your dog gets it, it’s fantastic for channeling frustration! You can also look at my go to place video. That involves shaping the dog to target their bed
Thank you for this video! I just learned about free shaping today and came across this video. It's such a wonderful idea to try with our puppy. But I have one question that he always tries to destroy the box rather than interacting with it in other manners. Do you happen to have any idea how to encourage him to interact with the box more politely?
Thank you so much! I would start by upping the value of food you are using for the shaping. Something like chicken, beef, or cheese. This will make paying attention to you with the food a little more exciting to your puppy. I'd also take a few steps back and start clicking for the moment your puppy just looks at the box, then toss the treat away from the box. Click as the puppy comes back to the box and again toss the treat away. Repeat, gradually letting your pup get closer to the box, but you are capturing the moments they notice, or lightly touch the box, not try to smash or destroy it.
I came back to check the progress of my dog and shaping. I can get him to pick
Up and drop a cup. And I can get two paws on the box. Idk where to go next. I came back for more tips. I am going to see if he will step inside a box lid
That's awesome! What specific tips are you looking for with those things?
Thank you so much for these videos!!
Thanks for watching!
Fantastic demonstration!
Thank you!
Hi, I've just discovered your channel - thank you so much for posting so much useful info for free. I tried the shaping this morning with the box, first sit in and then sit on the box (it wasn't big enough to lie in or on). You said that when you start you shouldn't do more than a few minutes so I stopped there. Should I repeat these shaping exercises before moving onto new one (such as the ball and cone) or repeat the 1st ones for a few days before trying something new? I'm worried that it will become learnt behaviour rather than shaping but also concerned to cause frustration by moving too quickly by asking for too many new behaviours.
Also I wondered about the licking. I realise that Rigley was licking to the side of her mouth so it's more a yum-yum and not the same as a nervous calming signal (which I understand is more of a nose touch), but can the dog differentiate (I'm reluctant to teach my dog a behaviour that he normally displays when he's uncomfortable)? Thanks in advance
Hey Karen, thank you for your comment! These are great questions. Yes, I would keep the sessions short initially if your goal isn't to make whatever you are working on a learned, structured behavior. I would do at least 2 sessions with the same task, then move on to the next one. But also return to that first one you work on at some point to continue to reinforce multiple behavior offerings. With the lip licking, yes! Your dog will be able to differentiate it. You just may see them offer that behavior more during training sessions at first, which isn't a big deal. Hope that helps!
My dog is scared of every box or container and won’t even try. Will put one treat on the box he’ll eat it then walk away and not try. What can I do?
Great. Thank you.
I've been wanting to do exercises like this with my dog-- she's super smart and eager to please! But when I have a treat in hand she just sits and stares at me intently. How can I get her to break that concentration and try some other behaviors? Thanks for your help!!
I might start with a body shaping exercise instead! Take a look at my head nod video! This will be helpful for teaching her that she is getting rewarded for offered behavior and will translate well to objects.
Hi Sarah, love your work. Quick question. Please. I was able to “shape” my lab, Gigi, into getting up and then lying down on a wobbly table (coffee table height, just big enough to accommodate her body, barely) Took a few sessions. Not easy as she had to figure out how to raise her hind legs and then kind of shimmy up. Now, and I still haven’t added a command, I want her to sit up to finish off trick. No harm in finishing off the shaping exercise to this sit by using a direct sit command vs trying to shape a sit? If so, will I be able to get her to automatically sit on table or will it typically remain a two step trick: lie on table and then sit? Your thoughts?
Hey Ed, thanks! So if I understand this correctly, you would like the final trick to be "get on the wobble table, lay down, then up into a sit"? If I have that correct, I would definitely recommend cueing a sit directly instead of shaping it. I could see that being a frustrating thing for her to figure out on her own while also focusing on balancing. If she struggles with it, I would recommend strengthening her core muscles with teaching "sit pretty". It will take a good amount of core strength for her to be able to do this. But love the idea of it! Send me a video through Facebook or Instagram of the final trick - would love to see it!
@@sarahcertified Thanks, Sarah! I will send you a clip via Instagram. Thanks for your interest!
This is an amazing trick and great video! I have a new rescue dog and I had so much fun teaching him this!
I’m so glad!! Thanks so much for watching!
How much do you reduce the regular meals when giving them so many treats?
It depends on what I'm doing with them. A lot of the time, I am using a portion of their actual meal to do training. If I'm doing something that requires higher value treats (like using chicken, cheese, etc.), I'll keep track of about how much I'm giving them so I can take out a portion of their meal for that day. I try to when I can opt for nutrient dense treats though so this acts as a healthy substitute for their lost portion of a meal. I'll try to make a video about this!
my german shepherd response:
click - bark bark bark
box - tear it up
treat - thank you
what treats are you using? thanks for the videos! Your dog is so smart.
I think shes just using kibble. I do that when I'm I'm shaping.
@@lilymasters708 I just learnt that too high treats with a food motivated dog are a distraction. This morning I followed Sarah's shaping protocol using kibble and it worked brilliantly. I was so proud of my dog. This afternoon I repeated with cat treats (the cat had woken and was observing and she's a kibble addict so I thought I would use something else). It was a disaster - my dog was obsessed with looking at the treats (even if I hid them - of course he knew that they were there) and couldn't focus on the box or anything.
Struggling with this! My pup will go back to the box and look at it then me. But won’t get back in the box!
This is a hard one! In that case, I would help them out. Invite your pup to get into the box by tossing the treat inside of it. Make sure your pup is physically able to get into it! You may experiment with using shaping to get her to stand on top of something first, to build up her confidence with putting her paws in/on something novel. Then come back to the box.
I would like to try this with my new pup. What are the benefits of these shaping games?
I have done shape training with my two dogs starting when they were puppies I use the “method” for almost everything I teach them but you definitely don’t have to. I found that shape training dogs makes for a free thinking dog which helps when they get older and you want to teach them something new, some other benefits would be confidence building, a dog who is ready to try new things and I have found that dogs who are shape trained usually pay better attention to their humans.
So many things! It is great mental enrichment, which will actually work your dog's brain in a new way. Increased trust and bonding with your dog, will advance your mechanics and clicker skills, teach your dog to offer behavior, provide your dog an outlet to help prevent things like destructive or "bored" behaviors, builds up the confidence of a shy or nervous dog, and actually teach your dog to pay attention to what their body is actually doing. There are many others, but these are the big ones!
Can you explain the point of the box training? I don't understand it. Is it to get her to always lay in a box? Or is it more for "trusting" objects/you? Like...if she saw any box in any room...is she gonna just go lay in it? Or is it about just listening and being attentive to you/trust you? Thank you!
Hey Allie! It’s just for fun, it’s a great mental exercise for dogs - not necessarily a behavior I am teaching to put on cue or anything. A lot of the shaping activities I do on here are just ways to get your dog thinking, burn some excess energy, and strengthen your bond.
Hi ! Do you train all these different behaviors in a day ! Is it ok to work on multiple things in one day ?
Hey! Some of these, yes, some of them I took multiple days to teach initially. If your dog is new to training, it is ideal to keep training sessions short at first. Somewhere between 3-5 minutes, and making sure your dog is having fun with it. Over time their brains and attention spans will be able to handle more so you can add more in and increase that time. Hope that it helpful!
@@sarahcertified Just curious did you go through KPA training ?
@@meganmcnickle6788 Yes, I have a KPA CTP certification - went through their dog trainer professional program!
@@sarahcertified I knew it !! 😊 I am currently enrolled right now ! Your videos have been an amazing help getting me through class.
My dog is not trained with clicker only yes command.. so can I say yes instead of clicker
Yes! I actually use a "yes" marker instead of a clicker for lots of things with Wrigley as well - as long as your timing is still good with saying "yes", then it is a great marker word to use.
That was enough food for my dog to last her a whole year! What do I do if mine is not food motivated??
I'm planning on making a video on this! Try some higher value treats, like little bits of chicken, cheese, or tripe! It's all about finding something your dog likes and is willing to work for. If you free feed your dog, I also might think about getting them on a set feeding schedule instead.
Dog are so smart! Would shaping work for your dog?
Where do you get the clicker to train
Here's a link: amzn.to/3KZa4DR
Is it possible to do without the clicker? I am not used to using it....🤷🏼♀️
You can do this without a clicker but you need some sort of marker word like “yes” in place of the click. This is such a precise level of training that the dogs need a way of knowing the exact moment they do something right. So just every time I would click, you could say “yes”
Sarah Walsh - Dog Trainer Thank you very much. I started and somehow naturally the words to use came. I don’t speak English so it’s in my native tongue but it works. Precisely as you say. And I noticed the tone of the voice and my body language also help. Your videos are great. Thank you. I am currently stuck at home with a broken leg so I was desperate to tire my dog and entertain and fill his day with some activity since the walks are rare and far between. Thanks again. It’s truly great what you do and share ☺️🤗❤️🐶