When we start a new behavior we may use a couple different “methods” to do so. Luring or capturing. The luring meathod involves moving the dog into a position with the use of a treat in your hand. After the dog has done this a couple of times, we “fade the lure” i.e. remove the treat but use the same hand gesture. ex: food lure in your hand held close to your dog’s head and moved slowly up and over his/her head…typically causes the dog to sit down. This method allows us to get our dog into the physical position of placing it’s butt on the floor which is the “behavior” we want to teach and reinforce. Using luring, we don’t have to try to “force” a dog to sit by using our hands to push the dog’s butt on the floor (old training methods). We fade the lure (remove the food) when the dog has realized the body position we want and the hand gesture we were using to lure the dog becomes the visual cue (i.e. for sit the hand signal of palm facing the trainer and bent like a cup). Capturing involves the dog offering a sit, us marking the behavior with a “yes” and then reinforcing with a treat. You can capture, mark, and reinforce behaviors constantly and put them on a verbal cue as the dog begins the behavior.
Starting a New Behavior
