5 Day Trained Final Response Challenge
Day 3: DIRECTION
I was visiting a friend and her family for dinner (pre COVID-19) and her young son had recently been given responsibility for loading the dishwasher after meals. As we finished dinner, she said “Load the dishwasher before you go play.” I watched as he grabbed the first couple plates, still caked with food, and stuck them haphazardly into the rack. When he had crammed what he felt was the appropriate number of unrinsed dishes into the dishwasher, he closed the door, declared himself done and went to go play. “Oh no you’re not!” my friend hollered. Back into the kitchen he came, only this time she says “I want you rinse all the food off of each plate and stack them in the rack like this (demonstration). Put all the glasses on the top like this (demonstration). And on this went.
Imagine if she had just been that clear in her directions from the start? She would not be frustrated and having to reload the dishwasher and her son would be off playing.
A Sit is a Sit, Right?
Remember the kid in the dishwasher example.No think about your trained final response training. That is how it is for our dogs.
To them, a sit is a sit. A bark is a bark. Right?
As you defined in the worksheet on Day 1, you have a desired behavior (dishes in the dishwasher). You also have specific directions for the way you want that behavior performed (pre-rinsed and placed in the dishwasher just so). How close to target odor do your dog to be? Where should your dog be looking? How long should your dog perform the behavior for?
In Day 3 of our challenge we are going to make sure your dog is clear on your specific directions and is highly motivated to follow them.
(Before you move on…if you haven’t already, complete the Day 1 Defining Your Trained Final Response worksheet.)
Using a Marker
Creating precision in your trained final response, such as the direction your dog’s nose is pointing when they bark, requires specificity and good timing. The use of a marker greatly improves your ability to do both which is why we wanted to do a quick review of markers before moving into the training exercise.
A marker is an audible noise (such as a clicker or the word “yes”) that allows you to communicate more precisely with your dog that what they are doing at a specific instance is correct and that they will be rewarded for it. It serves a bridge between the instant the dog does something right and the time they get their reward.
When you merely lob a toy at a dog when they are correct, or shove a piece of food at them, it is almost always impossible for them to take their reward and still be doing something correct. How do you sit and still catch the ball? How do you hold eye contact in a heal and take a treat? Markers also help compensate for the lack of precision we have when throwing toys and the lag in time it takes to get a treat out of pocket and into the correct position for delivery.
The more we can improve our communication, which is in large part timing, with our dogs, the easier it is for them to understand and succeed at what we are asking of them. And isn’t that the goal? As you watch the video examples below, you will see how we use the verbal marker “yes” to communicate exact moments of ideal performance worthy of reward.
Setup Instructions
STEP 1: Decide which specific part of the behavior, the specific direction, you are going to work on. You may have multiple things you want to work on but remember to break down your ideal trained final response and only work on one piece at a time. This will make your training objective clearer to your dog and help you make progress faster.
STEP 2: Set out target odor in a single prop. Make sure the prop you choose is durable and your dog can't knock it over or access source. We are only working on the TFR behavior. This is not a search exercise, so you only need one prop.
TIP: Consider how you can manipulate the environment and your setup to help increase your dog’s success. Example: in the second video below, we are working on rewarding Oma looking at target odor when barking, even if it means looking away from the handler. By placing the prop in a corner, it prevents her from being able to be directly across from her handler while barking and increases the contrast of her decision to look away for the hander towards target odor.
STEP 3: Run your dog on the prop and using your marker, reward them for moments of precise behavior in line with your ideal trained final response. Depending on the age, skill level, and energy of your dog, you can run the same prop multiple times or run this exercise in a new location with a different prop. Remember, that today’s objective is to isolate and reinforce a specific aspect of your trained final response. Especially for young dogs you may find mixing up the prop and target odor may distract them from the progress you could make using just one.
Puppies & Young Dogs
Especially with puppies and young dogs, this exercise is more about clarifying their understanding versus correcting any wrongdoing. In this video you see that Indy's puppy exuberance causes him to bounce back away from target odor when he starts barking. By waiting to mark and reward him for moving back towards target odor, he is now more motivated to focus his energy towards target odor the next time he barks. He still gets his reward and his handler gets the defined bark right at source that she wants.
TIP: When working young dogs, or working on a new aspect for the first time, lower your criteria of success. For example, if your dog is not familiar with barking while looking at the source instead of you, you may choose to mark and reward the first partial head turn away from you towards source.
Experienced Dogs
In this sequence we are reinforcing Oma for looking at target odor when performing her trained final response, even if that means looking away from her handler and source of reward. Note how we used a corner to increases the contrast of her decision to look away from the handler which helps solidify for her what exactly she got rewarded for. Also note how the use of a conditioned marker, the “yes”, was given at the moment she turned her head towards source. When she hears the word, you can see in her reaction that she knows what she just did is going to get her reward. It is very clear to her. The marker compensates for the bad toy throw by the handler. Had we only depended on the toy toss, it would have been very unclear for her and slowed our progress.
Today’s drill is not just about body orientation. It can be used to increase speed. In this video we see how the use of a marker the instant Tempe completes her sit behavior increases her motivation and speed to perform. It is common to want to fine tune multiple aspects of your TFR such as speed and body position. Just remember for the fastest and most successful training to occur, only focus on one at a time. This means that you have to lower your criteria in one aspect while working on another. Once you are seeing proficiency in both, then you can begin to combine them and raise your expectations.