will take his dog into the pen, close the gate, and 

 remove his dog's leash. The dog is allowed to 

 roam about the pen for a few minutes to accus- 

 tom itself to its surroundings. The handler then 

 begins the conditioning to "Good." 



a. Step 1. Whenever the dog is near the han- 

 dler, and especially if it is looking at him, the 

 handler says "Good;" i/2 second later he takes a 

 cube of food from his apron and places it in his 

 dog's mouth (fig 4). 



Note. Timing is essential during this and all future 

 stages of conditioning. The procedure must always be: 

 "Good;" V2 second pause, appearance of food. The handler 

 must not give the dog any cue or signal, such as reaching 

 toward the apron or bending over before the word "Good" 

 is said. This procedure is continued for several trials, 

 until the dog starts watching its handler and waiting 

 for food, or otherwise exhibits what is termed "begging 

 behavior." 



b. Step 2. The handler waits until his dog 

 looks or moves away from him before saying 

 "Good," followed V2 second later by food as be- 

 fore. When the handler is sure his dog is re- 

 sponding to "Good" and not other signals, such 

 as various body movements, he can begin "shap- 

 ing" his dog's responses. Conditioning of "Good" 

 is considered complete when the handler can 

 "shape" the dog to move away from him with 

 the word "Good." Training time for the average 

 dog is five or six trials, each lasting 10 to 15 

 minutes. 



27. Exercise in Shaping Procedure 



a. Step 1. To shape the dog's behavior into a 

 certain response, such as moving away from the 

 handler, he says "Good" whenever his dog looks 

 away from him until the dog repeats "looking 

 away" consistently. 



b. Step 2. The handler waits until his dog 

 makes a slight move away from him before say- 

 ing "Good," and continues this until the dog re- 

 peats "starting to move away." 



c. Step 3. The handler waits until his dog 

 takes a step away, then several steps, or until 

 the dog moves 4 or 5 feet each time, before saying 

 "Good" and have the dog return for food. 



d. Step U. When the dog repeats "moving 

 away," the handler may wait to say "Good" until 

 the dog moves in a desired direction. The in- 

 structor must insure that the handler doesn't ex- 

 pect too much of his dog at one time. The handler 

 will have to wait a long time for his dog to ac- 

 cidentally go to the right spot in the pen. He will 

 have to wait again to get his dog to continuously 

 go to that spot, and he must expect only slow re- 



Figure 3. Handler wearing military apron. 



suits. During this phase of training some dogs 

 will become quite confused, and many will con- 

 stantly hestitate until they are sure they are 

 performing the correct action. Many handlers 

 will also become impatient or discouraged during 

 this period, especially if they see other handlers' 

 dogs progressing faster than their own. The in- 

 structors must constantly remind the handlers 



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