Cue Smarter, Not Harder
In it’s simplest form, a ‘cue’ is a stimulus that signals a dog to perform a behavior. Historically, and still in some circles, the term ‘command’ was used, but as dog training evolved and our relationships with our dogs changed we adopted the term ‘cue’ to better reflect our new philosophies.
In more technical terms, a ‘cue’, is a type of antecedent that elicits behavior. If you would like to read more on the “Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence” paradigm, visit the link below!
“Sit”, “stay”, and “come” are types of verbal cues, and are probably the types of cues that come to mind for most dog owners. However, a cue can be any stimulus, and once you have this realization you can begin to teach cues in a more practical manner.
Examples of cues that are non-verbal
When a dog is attached to their leash and their owner drops it on the ground that is a cue for the dog to lie down and remain there until released by their owner.
When someone knocks on the door that is a cue for the dog to go to a designated space and remain there until released by their owner.
When the dog approaches a closed door with their owner that is a cue for the dog to sit so that the door will be opened.
The cues listed above are good demonstrations of practical environmental cues, which any dog can learn to respond to, but getting to this point will require efficient training and good mechanics!
Initially, you will need to assist the dog in performing the goal behavior. There are several methods you can use to achieve a goal behavior.
Capturing- simply wait for the dog to naturally perform the behavior then deliver a reward (i.e. you wait for your dog to lie down on their own and you reward the behavior).
Free shaping- allow the dog to perform small bits of behavior that will work toward the goal behavior, deliver rewards for each small bit of behavior, steadily increase the amount of behavior the dog must perform before delivering the reward until you achieve the goal behavior (i.e. you want your dog to get on a platform so you first reward the dog for walking to the platform, then for smelling the platform, then for leaning over the platform, then for placing a foot on the platform, then two feet, and finally all four feet).
Luring- use a desired reinforcer as a magnet to get the dog to perform the goal behavior (i.e. you hold a treat in your hand and slowly move it from the end of your dog’s nose to the back of their head causing the dog to go into a sit, then you deliver the treat).
Targeting- use a physical target to get the dog to perform the goal behavior (i.e. you have previously taught your dog to touch a ball on the end of a stick. You begin placing the ball against an open door and reward your dog when they touch it. You begin requiring your dog to place more pressure on the ball causing the door to move. Then, you require your dog to close the door fully before rewarding).
Molding- apply physical force to get the dog to perform the goal behavior (i.e. you lightly tap the back of your dogs front leg and reward them when they lift their foot.).
Once your dog is performing the goal behavior through one of the above strategies with a 90% success rate you can begin adding a cue! For simplicity, I generally do not recommend jumping straight to teaching your desired environmental cue. First, I suggest teaching a standard verbal cue or hand signal.
Good mechanics will greatly increase your efficiency in teaching your dog a new cue! The sequence of events for teaching a desired cue should be as follows.
Say/perform the desired verbal cue or hand signal
Wait 1-2 seconds
Use capturing/free shaping/luring/targeting/molding to assist the dog in performing the behavior
Mark the moment the dog successfully performs the goal behavior with a “yes” or clicker.
Deliver the reward
Examples of bad mechanics you want to avoid
Being inconsistent with the verbal cue or hand signal you are trying to teach (i.e. sometimes you say “down” and sometimes you say “lay”)
Saying/performing the desired cue while you are in the midst of assisting the dog in performing the goal behavior (i.e. you are using a food lure to get your dog to lie down and you say the cue, “down”, while you are moving the lure.) When you layer these events on top of each other you increase the odds that your dog will not be able to process everything.
Repeating the cue (i.e. you say the cue, “sit”, and when your dog doesn’t immediately perform the behavior you repeat the cue “sit” several more times until they perform the behavior or you become frustrated. If your dog does not respond to the cue the first time it is rarely recommended that you repeat it (there are some exceptions). Instead, you must assist the dog in performing the behavior or decrease the difficulty level at which you are requiring them to perform the behavior.
Failing to mark the behavior in a timely fashion (i.e. your dog performs the goal behavior, sit, but you do not deliver the marker until the dog has stood up again).
Failing to provide a reward that makes the behavior worthwhile for your dog.
After several repetitions of the steps above perform a fluency test by again saying/performing the desired cue, but then waiting up to 5 seconds (instead of 1-2 seconds) for your dog to perform the goal behavior without additional assistance from you. If they are successful reward them heavily, but if 5 seconds lapses or your dog disengages from you this means your dog needs your continued assistance in performing the goal behavior before attempting another fluency test. If your dog is unfamiliar with the process of learning new behaviors or the goal behavior is overall challenging it will take more time for your dog to become fluent. Have patience! Once your dog is responsive to your standard verbal cue or hand signal you can now teach an environmental cue.
In reality, if you have already been able to teach your dog the standard cue for a goal behavior, teaching the environmental cue will not be any more difficult! You will simply “layer” the new environmental cue on top of the standard cue. The basic sequence is outlined below.
Provide the environmental cue
Wait 1-2 seconds
Provide the standard cue
Allow the dog to perform the goal behavior
Mark and reward when the dog is successful
You will repeat this sequence several times and then perform another fluency test in which you will wait up to 5 seconds for your dog to perform the goal behavior without additional cueing from you. Just as before, if your dog is successful reward them heavily, but if 5 seconds lapses or your dog disengages from you this means they need more practice, in which you assist them in performing the goal behavior by giving the standard cue.
Once your dog is able to perform the goal behavior in response to the environmental cue you can now focus on “proofing” the behavior by slowly adding new distractions (i.e. you first taught your dog to go to a designated area and remain there in response to you knocking on the front door, but now you have a friend stand outside and knock on the front door for a more realistic challenge).
Environmental cues are something I commonly help owners and dogs utilize in a wide variety of circumstances. They’re the perfect example of cueing smarter, not harder!
