Episode 167: As Always, "It Depends" (The Ten Laws of Shaping, Part 2)
Chris and Ari return to Karen Pryor's Don't Shoot the Dog! to discuss another batch of guidelines from her "Ten Laws of Shaping"! Solid advice all around, with the added spice of some thoughts on where and when folks might want to consider veering away from them when it's in the best interest of the animal, the session, or the project.
For this second go around, we discuss Laws 4-7:
- When introducing a new criterion, temporarily relax the old ones.
- Stay ahead of your subject: Plan your shaping program completely so that if the subject makes sudden progress you are aware of what to reinforce next.
- Don't change trainers midstream; you can have several trainers per trainee but stick to one shaper per behavior.
- If one shaping procedure is not eliciting progress, find another; there are as many ways to get behavior as there are trainers to think them up.
Want to share your thoughts about the Ten Laws of Shaping, or anything else about training, animals, or behavior? Let us know at podcast@naturalencounters.com!