It is routine for us to focus on making it through the steps of teaching a new behavior. What we often forget to do is go back to the basics.
When teaching a new behavior, the highest intensity of reinforcement typically comes in the beginning. The goal for the completed behavior is to have it on a variable schedule of reinforcement. Often when we experience problems as we train, we back up to earlier steps of the behavior plan. For example, as we teach more advanced heeling such as pace changes, we may back up to rewarding heel position to help clarify to the dog what we want.
With complex behaviors, such as heeling or retrieve over the high jump, I routinely have my students run through early piece of the behavior that have high reinforcement rates. I feel this greatly helps with the precision of the behavior as we add more difficulty.
Helpful Hints:
1. Write out your training plan for each new behavior
2. Remember that your initial steps should be marked by high rates of reinforcement
3. Regularly go back to the basics as part of your training. This will help keep your dog working hard for you as well as helping with precision "tweaking" of the behavior
4. Never move on if you have not succeeded at a step in your plan
5. If you have trouble, back up a step or break your criteria down further
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