Do I lure, shape or command?
The difference in dog training methods
My brain kept going after posting “When do I add a cue/command” yesterday. I went down the rabbit hole of looking at Luring vs Shaping a new behavior in a dog after I mentioned the question I get asked so often of “wouldn’t it be easier to just tell my dog what to do?” so I figure I’ll just keep it flowing here!
When you are training your dog (which, by the way, is a LIFETIME of fun and games not a “one and done” class"), it can seem easy to pull out a tasty doggie treat and lure your dog to do something. But, we have to pause (“paws!” haha, get it? I said…nevermind…need more coffee) to ask ourselves “What learning is taking place in my dog’s brain if I lure”?
Luring can actually take way learning opportunities for your dog.
Human thinks: “I’m helping my dog by showing them exactly what I want! BRILLIANT!”
Dog Learns: They learn “I follow a smell and I get the treat.”
However, before you disagree and go away, let me say there ARE benefits to luring. Shaping also has it’s downfalls and can lead to frustration and long training sessions of what feels like a staring contest with your dog.
We always want to look at our purpose and desired outcomes - in other words, our human agenda - as we are training a behavior.
We will now look at Luring vs Shaping a behavior and the benefits each has so you can choose when you’d like to use either method. Let’s get the definitions out of the way so we know what we’re working with…
What is “Shaping”
Shaping, in short, is breaking down a complex behavior into manageable steps. It is operant conditioning with positive reinforcement and behavior modification all in one. In psychology, we define it as the entire process of training a behavior that would not normally occur. For each action closer to the desired outcome (successive approximation), a reinforcement or reward is provided until the target behavior is achieved. This known as shaping and is a form of behavioral modification frequently used to teach both animals and children. (Gasp, there’s that “animals and children” learning parallel again!)
Shaping can create a “thinking dog” who understands the behavior we want and can choose to perform that behavior whether or not we are around telling them what to do.
Capturing is similar to shaping but we use it to mark (“Capture”) a naturally occurring behavior, like SIT, DOWN, BOW, STRETCH.
What is “Luring”
Food Luring is showing the animal something it wants, usually food, and using it to encourage the animal to move in the desired way. In human psychology, luring is often called “bait and switch” in which we lure a person into thinking there is a behavior with a high payoff, inform them of the impossibility of carrying out this behavior, then offer a new, but less rewarding decision. It’s not that far off from the dog training version, but with animals, we usually use luring to help the dog engage in movement, rather than simply sitting and staring. (But, yes, luring can still be used with animals and children!)
Prompting is a sort of catch all term for luring. You can lure with food, body gestures, hand pointing or similar.
What method to use?
Many people start and stick with luring because you can see quick results and shaping just seems difficult. However, luring can take away learning opportunities for your dog because we are simply leading them into a position or behavior. And for them to really understand what they are supposed to be doing, we have to “fade the lure” then “add a cue”, and if you’ve read my post on “When do I add a cue?” you know that it’s best to add the cue AFTER the dog is already doing the wanted behavior in a way that your love. So basically, you’re going to lure, then shape, then cue a behavior. So, Luring becomes a sort of “starting” point in training, but does not really help your dog learn.
The games we use in training are much more about shaping your dogs brain and helping you and your dog become a fantastic team that learns together.
Benefits of Luring:
Helps to give your dog initial information that something is supposed to happen.
It clues your dog to know you’re asking her to move or do an action.
Appear to have fast results (thus giving the human bragging rights about how smart their dog is!)
Appears to be easy
Requires fairly little knowledge and understanding of dog training
Anyone can use it or be taught to use it
Has a history of success for simple actions (SIT, DOWN, SHAKE)
Develops a pattern which can be used to calm dogs or give them a success!
Drawbacks of Luring:
Relies on “pattern training” rather than the dog’s understanding, so it requires a handler to repeat the exact same technique over and over for a number of days.
Rewards dog inactivity (if you do nothing but stare at me, I’ll lure you with a piece of food)
Can become a lazy habit for both trainers and dogs.
You can often set your dog up for conflict because they WANT the treat but are scared of what you are asking them to do. A dog in conflict may refuse to learn in the future because they are suspect of you and treats (your luring makes them do things they don’t have a strong desire to do).
Limits your creativity (you rely on luring your dog into position rather than thinking about your dog’s needs and motivations)
There is a limit to what you can teach your dog (so many complex behaviors can not be taught with luring).
Can mistakenly teach the behaviors you wanted to end (ie hesitation, non-compliance, distraction with a reward, do any behavior/get a treat)
Training Tip: Be aware of the response and behavior your are rewarding. Did you reward the behavior you want? Or did you give a treat because you felt bad for your dog who didn’t do anything?
Benefits of Shaping:
Fun time spent with your dog for a lifetime of bonding and learning
A long lasting effect on your dog’s brain
Teaches your dog they have some control over their behavior and the consequences that action or behavior brings (a powerful tool for having a calm and confident dog). This is call “Agency”.
Can help build confidence in shy or fearful dogs
It can ease aggressive behaviors in dogs because they are learning they have options as to how to act rather than simply barking, biting or lunging to make something go away
Drawbacks of Shaping:
You need to tap into your dog’s motivation so that they are willing to move and work. If you haven’t figured out what your dog likes or doesn’t like to do, eat or play with, then this is your starting point.
Humans can get impatient. We want our dogs to be successful so humans usually feel anxious if their dog isn’t doing what they want them to do immediately. We quickly try to “help” our dogs by luring or prompting so that we feel success.
We need to understand how our dog learns. When shaping a new behavior, you get to learn a lot about your dog. They learn by association of one item or action to the consequence or feeling, but does your dog like food rewards? play rewards? are they a thinker or a doer? All of this information plays into how we shape our dog.
You can end up rewarding sloppy behavior if you don’t pay attention to what your dog is doing.
Your dog may end up being REALLY smart and you have to come up with new games!
What you need to consider when choosing a training method:
What are you trying to teach? Clarity breeds confidence in both you and your dog. If you are not crystal clear what you want your dog to do, take a pause (heehee, every time!) and write down or think through the outcome and exact behavior you want. If you are clear, you can help your dog be clear. Once you know what you want your dog to do, you can break the behavior into small steps and decide if you want to lure your dog into a perfect position, or if you can have fun shaping them into that same perfect position.
Does your dog have an over the top excitement response when shown food? Sometimes when a pup is shown food they get very excited and stop listening. Then they try every trick in the book to get the food. If they have a strong history of “SIT - TREAT” rewards then often they can’t move past that because they will simply sit in front of you and stare for however long it takes to get that treat in their mouth. If they get REALLY excited about seeing food, you may not have any opportunity to lure a behavior.
Do you know how to “fade the lure”? Once you use a lure, you must fade that lure so your dog does the behavior on a cue (the cue may be verbal, but also could be physical like “I stop, you sit” or “I grab your leash, you turn around”.
Are you learning with your dog or are you stuck on your own agenda? Most of the time when we lure, we are trying to get a quick response and success because it makes us humans feel better, like we have the smartest dog in the room! However, do we"? Or have we put our own agenda ahead of our dog’s need to learn and grow their brains? It’s hard to drop our agenda with our dogs but it really is the key to success.
I know, I’m giving away my hand on my favored training technique. I like shaping. I often use a lure/prompt at the very beginning only if I have to get a dog into movement and other reset options have failed. But shaping can lead to a lifetime of success because you and your dog know how to behave whether or not there are cues telling you how to behave.
Steps to Training:
Look for an action or a response to REWARD rather than “trying to create a behavior”. Reframe the way you think about “training” and look at it as a lifelong, interactive relationship between you and your dog in which you are both learning.
Practice the RMT (Reframe, Manage, Train) Formula - Think about what you WANT your dog to do; manage the environment to set them up for success and good practice; train for the behavior you want.
Commit to practicing your own body mechanics before adding your dog to the learning. When you focus on yourself, you can easily see where you may be adding in extra cues or confusing movements that are leading your dog to frustration rather than successs.
Have some FUN! You want learning with your dog to be a great experience and not a “drill and kill” practice that bores both you and your dog.
Keep track of your progress! It’s all too easy to forget all the little changes that are helping you and your dog move forward. When you have a written record of your progress it’s easier to focus on the positive outcomes rather than the setbacks.
Be aware of when your are rewarding your dog. You must become aware that your training sessions, and the behaviors you’re training, have a distinct beginning, middle and end. Do not end up unconsciously rewarding your dog for the wrong behaviors or allowing them to self reward with behaviors you do not like.
Have patience and allow mistakes! The dog needs to learn he has time to offer a response and if he messes up he doesn’t get punished. He may not get rewarded but you can encourage him to keep trying. Just like you!!
Reward, reward, reward! Remember to REWARD behaviors you want and like rather than focusing on all the behaviors you wish they would stop.
Realize that the dog is a reflection of you and your training abilities. This is a tough one for most of us because we think we HAVE to be able to train our dogs. However, it’s totally normal to need some help in being creative, adding new behaviors or perfecting your timing with your dog. Feel free to reach out to us or a qualified behavior-based trainer and ask questions!
Have you had success with luring or shaping a behavior? Or do you struggle with certain aspects of either? Let me know in the comments below.
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