Capturing Desired Behaviors

To get your dog to exhibit good behavior, "catch them in the act" by marking specific behaviors with a click or a marker word (like "YES!") and then delivering a reward. Because brains are amazing, you will notice an increase in any behaviors that you reward. 

Reward anything you want to see more of: sitting, lying down, eliminating outside, going into the crate, dropping a toy, running to you, making eye contact, going to bed, being nice with cats, staying at your side on a walk, etc. Put airtight containers of high-value training treats all around the house so that you can give your dog rewards soon after marking a desired behavior.

Capturing is a very easy way to teach your dog what behavior "works.” They will think, "When I do this specific thing, I get a reward!! I want to do more of that specific thing! ! I love that specific thing!

A reward can be anything your dog finds truly valuable—treats, a game of fetch or tug, a door opening to the backyard, a food puzzle, etc. 

Note that While your dog is learning a new behavior, it is best to create a positive association around that behavior by rewarding the behavior as much as possible with high-value rewards.

To capture specific behavior with the goal of putting it on cue, manipulate your dog’s environment so that they are more likely to perform the desired behavior. Get creative! Here are some common desired behaviors and tips/tricks to get your dog to perform them.

• Sit… standing right in front of your dog, scoop your hand in front of their face and directly above their head, causing them to look up… and likely sit down as well.
  
  
• Down… wait to train “down” for a time when your dog is tired and likely to lie down.
  
  
• Come… put your fist two inches from your dog’s nose and click when they naturally sniff your hand; this will become the “nose boop,” or the visual cue for “come.”
  
  
• Drop-It… play tug with your dog and then drop your side of the toy. Wait. Your dog will be likely to drop their end of the toy in response, perhaps after playing with the toy on their own for a few moments.
  
  
• Leave-It… put a very boring item on the ground, stand in front of your dog, and wait for them to look at you.

Note that if you lure your dog with a treat into a certain body position, you will need to quickly “fade the lure” after three or four repetitions of the behavior. Otherise, the behavior will become contingent on whether or not you are holding a treat in front of your dog. Luring also doesn’t allow your dog to use their brain very much, which will create a pup that blithely follows the treat around (boring!), and not a pup who is thinking strategically (so exciting!).

Also note that if the desired behavior is not a natural behavior for your dog, you may need to “shape” the behavior by rewarding successive approximations of the behavior. To teach your dog to lie down on a mat, for example, you may first begin by capturing your dog walking toward the mat… before changing the criteria and only rewarding when your dog walks to the mat and puts at least one paw on it… before changing the criteria and only rewarding when your dog walks to the mat and puts at least two paws on the mat… before changing the criteria and only rewarding when your dog walks to the mat, puts at least two paws on it, and lies down… before upping the ante one last time and only rewarding when your dog walks to the mat and lies down with at least 75% of their body on the mat.

Figuring out how to capture a behavior can be really fun, as you may need to get creative in your approach. How can you set up your dog’s environment to encourage a certain behavior? When teaching your dog to take backward steps, for example, you could create a little alleyway of chairs, call your dog to you so that they have to go forward through the alleyway, and then slowly step toward them, causing them to back up. Or, when teaching your dog to “crawl” on the ground, you could ask your dog to touch their nose to your fist (if that’s a behavior they already know) while you are on the opposite side of a coffee table from your dog, causing them to have to slither under the coffee table to get to your hand. The sky's the limit when developing methods to catch your dog in the act of performing specific behaviors. And remember, the more FUN and GAME-LIKE you can make the experience, the better.

Once you are getting a specific, enthusiastic behavior from your dog on repeat, you can start to add the cue for the behavior (i.e. "sit," "down," "come," etc). See “Moving from Capture to Cue” for how to make this happen.