Tootsie has been learning new behaviors. One behavior that we’ve been working on is “chin.” Tootsie targets her chin to the ground while she is in the down position.
I involve Tootsie as an active participant in the learning process. She is responsible for trying to figure out the desired behavior, and I am responsible for guiding her towards success.
After just a few sessions, she has figured out “chin;” she confidently targets her chin to the floor when we engage in a training interaction. Now it’s time to teach her to wait for the appropriate verbal cue.
If I had lured the behavior, this task would be easier. I could say my verbal cue, then immediately follow with my lure. I would repeat this until Tootsie understood the connection. But I don’t have a lure for this behavior.
Instead, I do this:
(You may have to turn up your volume to hear everything.)
00:05 – I reinforce for getting in the (down) position that is required to do the behavior
00:10 – I reinforce for offering “chin.”
00:15 – I reinforce for offering “chin.”
00:19 – I reinforce for offering “chin.”
00:23 – Tootsie offers chin, but I do not click. Instead, I softly say “okay” to release her. When she raises her head, I say “chin.” She does the behavior, I reinforce.
00:30 – Same as 00:23
00:38 – I verbally praise her for keeping her head up. I say “chin.” She does the behavior, I reinforce.
00:44 – Tootsie keeps her head up. I say “chin.” She does the behavior, I reinforce.
00:49 – Tootsie offers chin, but I do not click. Instead, I softly say “okay” to release her. When she raises her head, I say “chin.” She does the behavior, I reinforce.
1:00 – Tootsie keeps her head up. I say “chin.” She does the behavior, I reinforce.
1:06 – I verbally praise her for keeping her head up. I say “chin.” She does the behavior, I reinforce.
Some notes about this training session:
1. I begin the training session with a few reps of her offering the behavior; I want her to know what behavior we are working on.
2. Tootsie already knows that verbal praise, especially “good,” means that I like what she is doing and to keep doing it. This encourages her to keep her head upright until she hears the cue.
3. Tootsie already knows that “okay” is a release from the behavior she just offered.
4. Tootsie does not know what “chin” means, and she has never heard it before in a training context. But, Tootsie has played this game enough with other behaviors to know that when she hears a novel word it is likely to be the green light for the behavior she wants to offer.
5. This is just the start. After a few sessions of this, I will work on her ability to discriminate “chin” from other verbal cues. I may do something like ask her to “down” and then ask her to either “chin” or do a well known behavior like “sit.” She will have to really listen to be successful.