Shaping Dog's Behavior

The process of successfully shaping a dog’s behavior to go to the mailbox from the front door, return with clean intact mails, and drop it at the trainer feet will be done in a long but simple chain. A verbal command will be given to the dog to get the mail to see if the behavior is already there. When it is established that the dog has no formal training, the shaping process will begin. The first thing is to use task analysis to break down the task into its elements (Chance, 2014, p.1740). Positive reinforcement will be used in this process, the consequence that will be involved will be food and approval (Chance, 2014, p.133). Negative reinforcement will be used by the removal of praise will be applied when the behavior is not done correctly …show more content…
The first step on shaping chain will involve bringing the dog to the door, walking him to the mailbox, and then bringing him back to the door. The dog’s favorite toy will be placed next to the mail box and he will be trained to bring it back to the door and dropping it on the welcome mat. A verbal reinforcement of good boy will be expressed and a treat will be given. The dog will be instructed to repeat this process and reinforcement will be given for behavior that resembles the desired behavior (Chance, 2014, p.169) .The next stage of the chain will occur after this has been successfully trained in. The dog will then be walked back to the box and commanded to get the mail which will be inside a small wide mail box that contains a mechanic motion sensor hand that will put the mail into the dog’s mouth. The dog will be walked back to the front door to the welcome mat and asked to sit. The dog will then be commanded to drop the mail and a treat will be given regardless of the condition of the mail. At this point the first two chain will be performed and a primary reinforcement will be given until it is done without a flaw (Chance, 2014, p175). The last part of the chain will then be