Targeting shaping

[mariiasavenko]

My dog is really excited about targeting and really often does it with opened mouth. So instead of touching my hand with nose, he sometimes can take it into his mouth (no biting). Should I still click on it? Or I should ignore it and click only for a nose touch.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello, ad welcome to the forums!

This is a great question!

 

At some point in shaping behaviors we need to raise criteria so if we are aiming for nose touches, we should start getting selective and click for those only. Now, there is delicate balance in shaping and clicker training so we need to thread with caution: that is, when we raise criteria, and start putting some behaviors on extinction (in this case, we aim to extinguish mouthing by not reinforcing it) there is possibility that if the dog doesn't get creative and thinks to use his nose, and too many attempts to mouth go unrewarded, the dog may grow bored or just give up trying. So it's important to help set the dog up for success and we can do so by employing certain strategies.

 

For example, when dogs are really excited, they tend to mouth more, so perhaps you want to reserve this type of training for quieter times of the day (like after you have walked your dog, or you notice he is relaxing more). Or perhaps, you can keep your clicker hidden in your pocket with a few treats (many dogs get excited at the sight of the clicker) and when your dog is around you, like laying near your legs by the couch you can dangle your hand down and if he manages to nose touch to just take a sniff, you can surprise him with a click (keep your other hand ready on the clicker's lever in your pocket) and reward. Often times, we can get a split second nose touch right before the dog thinks to mouth, so if we are very quick to capture that, we can also reinforce nose touches that way.