Dog In A Box

A few days ago I shared this video with a friend who is training a new puppy. It is a silly exercise  where you see how small of a box you can get your dog to stand in. It is based purely on shaping - no luring, no helping - just letting the dog figure out what it is you want. The only thing you need to play this game is a dog that understands the concept of shaping.  Although it is a bit silly, this is, like any clicker shaping game is a great, no pressure way of teaching your dog to think and figure out problems. I say "no pressure" because it is just a trick so if you mess it up it's no big deal.  Exercises like this are great to teach your puppy to deal with frustration and to think through problems. This particular exercise also has a bonus of teaching body awareness.

The premise of this exercise is to get your dog to stand in progressively smaller and smaller boxes. Since Rundle had never been asked to stand in a box before, the first box was the most difficult for him. You can see him trying to figure out what I wanted and he offered all sorts of behaviors to try to find the "correct" behavior that would earn him a click. Of course I didn't expect him to catch on right away, so I first rewarded for interacting with the box, then touching it with his paw, then for one paw in, etc., until all his feet were in the box. The smallest box was also difficult - not because he didn't know what to do, but because he needed to figure out how to fit all four feet in such a tiny place.  Of course this wasn't done all in one session, or even all in one day.  Short sessions are the best for this type of "thinking" style of training.