Criteria - How To Train It

This is the 4th Blog in the Criteria Series. Below are links to the previous Blogs.

Blog 1 - The Best Kept Secret in Dog Training - Criteria!

Blog 2 - Criteria What is It and Criteria in Dog Training

Blog 3 - Criteria Planning Sheet

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Thanks to the worksheet in Blog 3, you should have your criteria established and are excited to start training. There's just one question left to answer...how to train it! 

The question of 'How to train it?' is sort of like asking 'How to loose weight?' There are a ton of options, theories, myths, opinions, science and experience out there and deciding a course of action can be a head-spinning challenge.

I like to keep things simple, so personal experience has taught me:

• Agility should be fun for me.
• Agility should be a game for my dog (fun).
• Ultimately, I want my dog to be responsible for performing the trained action/goal automatically or with one cue from me (consistency so the dog knows how to earn rewards, which equals fun).
• I want to focus on rewarding the correct behavior (fun) instead of managing or threatening them if they don't do it (not fun).
• Life is hectic and I want to be efficient and have quality training time with my dogs (fun) vs. inefficient quantity time (not fun).

The Art of Rewards
As a dog trainer and especially a dog trainer in Agility, I've taken the luxury to train all sorts of ways and have tried almost every method out there. 


When it comes to training a new skill, hands down, I can say with confidence that a reward for correct/wanted behaviors works the absolute best in a criteria-based training program. The best part? It fits with a simple, precise and successful training/showing lifestyle!


In Blog 3 I mentioned that our job as Trainer to The Dog is to:

• Teach our dog the skill or job
• Impart information
• Instruct to improve performance
• Attain a required level of  knowledge or skill

How we do that is purely optional. 


However, when I think back on the mentors, teachers and trainers I've had in life, those that supported, encouraged and had my best interests at heart are the ones I remember the most and the ones who taught me the most (or was it that I was more willing to listen more?)...after years of success, trial & error, I've learned that it IS simple to be all of those things to our dogs.


Dear Dog - Criteria is GOOD!
Remember when I mentioned in my last few Criteria Blog posts that dog training is about the dog? Well, a reward system of training embraces that mantra. When I'm training one of the criteria steps defined in my worksheet, I start out using:

• Treats for...
• Rapid reinforcement as a way to tell my dog "Now THIS is exactly what I want and when you do that step, GREAT things come your way." My time at Chicken Camp (Day 3) really helped to reinforce this.
• I spend a ton of time reinforcing (i.e. making a positive impression) 
• I'm NOT stingy with treats. Actually, as fast as I can hand 'em out, I do.
• I don't move to the next step until my dog is doing the current behavior, independently, 80-100% of the time!

Once my dog is solid in the behavior I've reinforced, if appropriate I work to quickly:

• Take myself out of the equation by adding movement (of my position) while feeding/rewarding my dog.
• Look for an opportunity to toss food between my dog's paws so I don't have to walk to/from my dog.
• Add a release word.
• Make reinforcement variable.
• Often I won't jump in to help my dog because I want them to think things through and take responsibility and pride in their actions. Why deny my dog the feeling of accomplishment and pride when they figure out and get rewarded for a task? However, I may help them follow through when they make a move in the right direction and I will always reward in position and default to rapid reinforcement to help celebrate with them.
• I don't move to the next step until my dog is doing the current behavior, independently, 80-100% of the time! (Sound familiar?)

For each step in my Criteria Planning Worksheet I start all over with Treats For....(see above) and progress through the steps listed above as appropriate. It's really that simple and my dogs love the game that I've created.

It's good old Operant Conditioning at its best. It's proven, easy and works GREAT with a criteria-based training program.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Lisa

Criteria - Planning Worksheet

Welcome to Criteria Blog #3. 


This is a continuation on a discussion about the use of criteria in dog training. Here are links to the two previous blogs which will bring you up to date for this entry.


Blog Discussion 1
Blog Discussion 2
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Here is some great advice:


Make a goal you can be confident in and invest in the steps that lead to criteria.


To help myself and my clients, I created the Agility Criteria Planning worksheet* to the left. But before I talk about how to use the worksheet, there are a few important points to remember in order to make a criteria based training plan successful.

CIDT (Criteria in Dog Training) should be:

* a specific and consistent standard for a particular action/goal

* a clear yes/no judgment as to whether the criteria was fully met. Criteria is very clear cut. The dog either does the expected criteria or it does not. There are no excuses, no points for ‘but he tried’ or ‘it was my fault’ and no worries if they don’t do it. With that said...

Remember, our job as Trainer to The Dog is to:

* teach our dog the skill or job
* impart information
* instruct to improve performance
* attain a required level of  knowledge or skill


Criteria - Plan It!
I'm a huge subscriber to the theory that a little bit of planning goes a long way in time management and training efficiency. So when it comes to planning my criteria, I use the worksheet* attached as a way to guide me through the thought and training process. While I'd love to share all of the details and tidbits of the worksheet in this blog, I've chosen to focus on just a few highlights. (For information on how to view the full 2-page sheet in detail, please e-mail me.)


Planning - Where to Begin (at the end...)
In my last Blog post, I mentioned that the place to start criteria planning was by deciding exactly what the end behavior was going to look like - from the dog's point of view. This is the information that goes in the top box of the worksheet.


Once the end behavior is known, I go to the next section where there are several lines available for planning each SMALL physical step a dog will do that will ultimately lead to the final goal/action listed in the top box.


A couple of tips:

• Focus on the physical actions of the dog during planning & training
• Think small steps the dog will do and be rewarded for (and don't be stingy with treats!)
• Start with a sterile environment. Once the behavior is solid, then you can move to proofing (another form I've created)
• Don't move on to the next step in training until your dog is offering the current step 80-100% of the time independently
• Are you Shaping or Back Chaining? As the worksheet indicates, if you start training at #1 you're shaping. If you start training at #8 you're Back Chaining
• Did I mention don't be stingy with treats and to reward, reward, reward?

Have Criteria...Now What?
Now you train it. But how do you train it? Stay tuned for the next Blog post.



* While I have made considerable additions/changes on its relevance to dog training, the base of this worksheet (sometimes seen as a stepping ladder via Terry Ryan of Legacy Canine) has been around for decades and used by scientists, students and researchers. (I wish I could specifically remember the exact resources, but I at least wanted to give a nod to those unknown authors).

The Best Kept Secret in Dog Training - Criteria!

I was in the process of writing a blog post questioning WHY dog handlers don't give the concept of predefined Criteria the attention it deserves...when it dawned on me. Have they ever been told of the need for planned Criteria?

So for the heck of it, I did a little surface research to see if Criteria is mentioned in common training definitions.

GENERAL DEFINITION OF TRAINING*
First, I looked up the general term 'Training' and found two relevant, accurate and interchangeable definitions for human & dog training. The definitions are 1) "acquiring of skill: the process of teaching or learning a skill or job." 2) training is an organized activity aimed at imparting information and/or instructions to improve the recipient's performance or to help him or her attain a required level of knowledge or skill.


While there were some great key words used, the word Criteria was no where to be found.

DEFINITION OF DOG TRAINING*
Next I looked up the term Dog Training. Dog training is defined as - a standardized program of training for dogs calculated to give owners mastery of their dogs at all times. 


OK, I can't help the sarcasm and getting a little off topic here, but REALLY?!?! That was the best definition Websters & Wikipedia and other referral sources could come up with? I'll have to devote yet another blog post to this topic called 'What IS Dog Training' . But back to the current topic...again, no mention of the word Criteria.


READING BETWEEN THE LINES
While the word Criteria was not specifically used in any of these definitions, words like...

• Process - a series of actions directed toward a specific aim 
• Instruction - a spoken or written statement of what must be done
• Skill - A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both
• Knowledge - all the information, facts, truths, and principles learned throughout time
• Calculate - to consider a situation carefully and decide what is likely to happen

....were used. So the question all dog trainers should be asking themselves is "How do I come up with a process? How do I give instruction? How do I teach a skill? How do I share the knowledge of what I want my dog to do? And how can I calculate what my dog is likely to do?"


THE HOLY GRAIL OF DOG TRAINING - CRITERIA
All of the above (Process, Instruction, Skill, etc.) uses Criteria as a means to obtain the wanted outcome. Think about it, Criteria is the necessary base to train specific behaviors. Need further proof, how about all of the pros use it (agility, baseball, football, etc.) so why shouldn't you?


Give Criteria some thought as it deserves attention when it comes to dog training. As a little tidbit, something to remember is that in dog training, Criteria is a bunch of small little steps that ultimately make up a specific end-behavior. 


I'll be writing more about criteria, but in the meantime, ask yourself "Can you define what the expectations are for your dog in a factual and logical manner? Do you have a clear and concise blue print to work or train by?."


If you answered 'No' then you need to add Criteria to your tool box. Not sure how? Well stay tuned for more on Criteria!


*On-line references used: Websters, Wikipedia & Encarta