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I use shaping rather than luring with food or toys in my dog training. In the 80s, I was taught to food lure and correct, learned to do it well, and luring brought me a lot of success in obedience and agility. Luring can have benefits, but I decided to change. When I say I don't lure, it always gets a lot of comments and questions on social media, so in this episode, I'm covering the top ten reasons I prefer shaping.

 

In the episode you'll hear:

 

• The advantages of luring, how it can be easy to teach people, and its popularity. • What I heard from my mentors Bob and Marian Bailey about luring. • How my dog Shelby gave me my first “ah ha” about luring. • About a class I took at University and what I learned about backwards conditioning. • A review of Pavlov’s experiment with bells, food, and dogs. • What happens in dog agility and other sports with luring and dogs who love to chase. • How luring can turn into bribing the dog, and that dopamine kicks in at choice points. • What I noticed about motivation and treat bags when I was teaching dog trainers in Japan. • About pattern training and its relation to luring dogs. • How the value dogs have for the food can override everything. • The reason to know what you are reinforcing when your dog sees the cookie. • That shaping gives us layers to create complex behaviors. • Why I think shaping can become part of our whole life.

 

Resources:

 

1. Podcast Episode 171: Dog Training With Layered Shaping: Why Classical Conditioning Must Come First - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/171/ 2. Podcast Episode 174: Dopamine In Dog Training: Anticipation, Rewards, And The Transfer Of Value - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/174/ 3. Podcast Episode 145: 10 Ways To Teach A Dog To Lay Down And How To Shape It Without Luring - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/145/ 4. Podcast Episode 173: Target Training For Dogs: How, Why, And When To Fade Targets - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/173/ 5. Podcast Episode 172: How To Teach Your Dog Anything With My Training Plan - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/172/ 6. Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube - https://youtu.be/FxAeS2BNvKY