Keep your End in View

When you’re working with your dog, unless you’re playing in a free-forming shaping session, it is definitely best to have a clear end in view.

What do you want the end behavior to look like? Before you pick up your clicker and treat bag, you should know what you want them to learn. Actively envision them completing the behavior.

Break down the steps. So, let’s say you want your dog to crawl. Break down the steps of learning to crawl into easily learned chunks. Your dog will likely need more than one session, which is okay! It gives you more time to plan.

When you get there, rejoice! and don’t overdrill.  it’s so tempting to have your dog go over and over and over the newly-acquired teeter, but resist that temptation!  It is best to quit training while your dog is still interested.  Then next time, you’ll be amazed where you start out!