Proofing

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Proofing

Posted : 8/31/2008 12:14:36 PM

Often, people have difficulty with behaviors outdoors that the dog can perform flawlessly indoors with few distractions. Part of this difficulty stems from dogs not being the greatest of generalizers. They need many more repetitions, and they need to be taught from square one sometimes if you change the location (the mental picture changes for the dog, so it seems like a new experience). The dog may know that sit means sit in the room with the ceiling and the slippery floor, but when you take him out to the back yard, there's no ceiling and the grass feels different. So, maybe, instead of expecting him to know that sit means sit there, too, you could help him out by going back to a simpler exercise, such as luring the sit once or twice before asking that he do it as well as he does in the kitchen. It's only by "taking it on the road" that you proof the behavior, and it may be that you have to go from the kitchen to the yard to the sidewalk to in front of the corner store, rather than from the kitchen to the downtown all in one leap and expect the dog to remember what sit means.

I thought this would be a good place to discuss proofing, and how we get in trouble by going too quickly for the dog in getting distance, duration, or perfection of a behavior. Thoughts?

Workingdoglover

Posted : 8/31/2008 3:12:15 PM

I see people do this all the time with recalls. They think that if their dog will come to them every time when it's in the backyard, it will also come to them every time at the park. Oops...!

I totally agree with you, though. People seem to think that dogs think just like people do. Not so much (which is a GREAT thing if you ask me!). I think that's why so many people have trouble training their dogs.

Liesje

Posted : 8/31/2008 5:16:36 PM

My biggest proofing issue with Kenya is smells. When we are at a dog show she does really well in the ring even with so many people and dogs on the sidelines. She often does better in the ring than at the training club because there are SO MANY smells on the field there! So for proofing various things, I do that on the field at our club. During agility or rally while we are waiting our turn, I take her along the back fence where ALL the dogs pee and work her there. Also, pet stores work well though there is not as much space and the floors are slippery so proper sitz and platz are more difficult.

My general protocal is train the new thing inside using marking and rewarding. Once she knows what it is, we move to the yard and get it "perfect" (without being proofed). For example, for "Fuss!" she can do a long heeling pattern with changes of pace, right turns, left turns, about turns, and getting to Fuss from staying at a distance or from Front. Once we have that, I take it to a nearby church yard or the commons lawn at school/work where there are usually no other people or dogs, but it looks and smells different. We work on longer, harder patterns there and at home while proofing shorter patterns out on walks, at the pet store, and at the training club. Also we have to make sure she is comfortable. Confidence and attitude will be as important for the BH as precision. Right now we could step into a trial and do the heeling pattern, but we are still working on her confidence, as she is so focused on precision and getting it right.