Our Toolbox 🧰 Learn About Sponsorships

Training is just like exercising. It takes hundreds, even thousands of reps to perfect complex behaviors like heeling.

Trainers speed up the process with a technique called assisted shaping.

Here’s how you can train faster.

Weekly Bite

How Dogs Learn 🧠

Dogs don’t master complex obedience behaviors overnight. They learn individual skills one step at a time through shaping.

Shaping: Reinforcing every step (successive approximations) on the way to the finished behavior.

This conditions them to enjoy learning new behaviors since they initially predict rewards.

As they improve, you raise the criterion—only reinforcing their best reps.

In other words…

Dogs learn through three phases: (1) Acquisition—form associations using rewards, (2) Fluency—refine with limits, and (3) Generalization—perform in all situations and contexts.

So how do you speed up the first phase?

That’s where assisted shaping comes in.👇

Shaping Methods 🏫 

⏩ Assisted Shaping: Use prompts to speed up learning.

▶️ Free Shaping: Let your dog figure it out on their own.

So, which method works best?

Assisted shaping gives clear guidance, keeps motivation high, and avoids ambiguity.

But like any method, it has trade-offs…

⚠️ May create sign tracking – Dogs can become reliant on cues to prompt behaviors.

⚠️ Prompts must be faded - The stronger the assistance, the harder it is to remove.

⚠️ Can create foraging – Dogs gravitate to where rewards are presented & delivered.

Let’s put assisted shaping into action! 👇️ 

How To Train Your Malinois Faster

1️⃣ Check Their Mood

Method: Put them in the right state to absorb information.

• Meet physical & mental needs — bathroom, exercise, and enrichment

• Ensure they’re in the right emotional state (too fearful → can’t learn)

2️⃣ Create Training Rituals

Method: Use cues that work anywhere to signal obedience, playing, or specific jobs.

• Use quick engagement cues like “Watch” or “Touch” before obedience

• Use an auditory stimulator like blowing raspberries before teasing with a toy

3️⃣ Set Them Up For Success

Method: Make the correct behavior the easiest choice by controlling the environment.

• Start in an area with no distractions

• Make sure they’re in a favorable position

• Use walls, platforms, and foot targets as needed

4️⃣ Guide Them Into Position

Method: Lure with gestures conditioned to predict motivating rewards. Prompt with leash tension, spatial pressure, and molding as needed.

• Present rewards as visible targets with a clear line of sight

• Control their head with it to oppositely influence their rear end

• Use your body and objects as targets to build positional awareness

5️⃣ Build Speed

Method: Train new behaviors as actions with a clear end state before adding duration.

• Use markers that release them immediately upon completion

• Reward quickly

6️⃣ Deliver Rewards Consistently

Method: Deliver rewards in the same place to reinforce correct positioning.

• Use markers that predict reward placement

7️⃣ Fade Prompts To Verbal Cues

Method: Gradually fade prompts once they’re proficient in the behavior.

• Introduce verbal cues before prompts to prevent overshadowing

• Speed up prompts to fade them faster

Result: You can now prompt behaviors with verbal cues, associated with rewards.

Want to make these reliable under distractions, from a distance and in new environments?

Stay tuned for next week’s guide on how to turn cues into commands.

TL;DR: Use physical cues to prompt behavior, mark, and reward them until you love it - then give it a name.

Weekly Treats

Sam’s Picks

• Youtube: STSK9 Demonstrating Assisted Shaping (LINK)

• YouTube: Michael Ellis Luring Belgian Malinois Puppies (LINK)

• YouTube: Michael Ellis on How Luring Makes Training Easier (LINK)

• YouTube: Michael Ellis on Why Reward Placement Is A Double Edge (LINK)

Tail End

Suggestion Box