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HE WON’T_____________!!! |
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Luring is a training
technique that presents a food treat or toy to a dog in such a way that she
follows it with her nose and ends up sitting, lying down, standing, etc. It is a perfectly bonafide
training idea – if used appropriately.
The catch is that it can only be used a couple of times and must then
be phased out. The reason is that the
use of food or a toy is such a powerful tool that it is practically a
guarantee that when the dog “learns” to focus on one or the other THAT
becomes the lesson and any spoken words are not even heard by the dog. Sounds may be heard but no attention is
given to them. Just another example
that dogs are not verbal creatures. Used correctly luring gives
the dog an idea of the desirable behavior, that rewards are available, and
there is a way to earn those rewards.
Lures can be faded away very quickly if the handler understands these
concepts and begins to encourage the dog to offer behaviors in exchange for
the treat rather than simply “leading” the dog to perform them. No thinking takes place under those
conditions and thinking is what we aim for with positive training techniques. But, no matter how often a
trainer explains these ideas people get so caught up in the desired response
that they have a lot of trouble phasing it out. Hey, why throw out something that appears
to work in exchange for a technique that appears to have no positive results
at all! Well, we have to do just that
if the animal is to be able to perform a given exercise simply because we
offer the cue such as Sit!, Down!, Come!, etc. People often over use the lure and then
complain: He WON’T do X unless I have
food. Well, yes, that is
correct. That is what you taught the
dog! At various zoos in the U.S.
and around the world positive training methods are paying off. The point in working with the animals is
not to offer circus acts to the public but to improve the lives of the
animals and to definitely improve the management issues involved in moving
them from one location to another (for simple things such as cleaning and
repairing sites), treating wounds, cleaning teeth, and enrichment of their
environment. A hippo was taught to open
her mouth, and what a mouth that is (!!), to clean her teeth, an elephant has
been trained to put his foot through an opening in the bars so that he can
get a pedicure (nails do not wear down properly in zoo conditions), others are taught
to accept procedures such as drawing blood for important health studies and
all without fuss or bother – just a clicker or its equivalent and food
rewards. No lures, incidentally! Oh, about that HE
WON’T__________? title? Most often I hear that phrase in relation
to dogs responding to a cue for down.
Well, after seeing a huge tiger at the Portland Zoo sit and down on
cue I’m going to have a really hard time buying that story in the
future. No whips, chains, collars or
leashes. Just some goodies and a very
interested tiger participating simply because he wanted to do so. J Ah, the power of positive
reinforcement! T
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