The Foundations of Concept Training

Concepts are defined by a set of common attributes that characterise that concept which can be applied to novel situations or objects to recognise that specific concept in the future.

Examples of concepts that we can teach our dogs include:

• modifier cues that add information to other known cues, e.g. fetch the bigger ball, touch the object on the right, walk under the chair, station on the left mat
• match to sample, e.g. touch the object that is identical to the object I show, fetch the object that is the same shape as this object, indicate if the object I show is present in the set of objects in front of you
• quantity recognition, e.g. touch the card that shows the correct number that corresponds to the number of objects in front of you
• cue adduction to dynamically sequence previously taught cues, e.g. first spin right, then go through the tunnel, then leap up on the stool
• imitation, e.g. copy the behaviour I demonstrate
• combinations of concepts, e.g. touch the card that shows how many of this item is present in this mixed set

There are frameworks and methods to systematically teach each of these concepts to our learners. However, we first want to have the foundations in place to then make it easy to layer the discriminative aspects on top for each concept in the future.

The foundation required is primarily mechanical and communicative – the animal must be able to station, observe and clearly indicate an item cued by the handler in the presence of multiple choices. The handler must also be aware of their own movements including their base position, consistently setting up the choices, explicitly cueing an indication and clicking/marking and rewarding when the dog correctly responds to that cue.

This course will provide the required instruction and guide the handler to teach their dog each of these foundational mechanical components before teaching concepts work. Successful completion of the course will enable each team to then progress to further courses on teaching specific concepts to their dog.

Goals of this course:

1. To prepare each team for concepts work by focusing on the mechanical components of concept training
2. To create a fluent, automatic and clean loop for both the handler and the dog
3. To break down that clean sequence for the dog into three key components – default stationing, default observation of the handler and a fluent indication on verbal or gesture cue – and then string together a clean sequence of those components from default stationing to an indication when cued.
4. To provide each team with the required instruction, videos and guidance during the course to practice until fluent after the course

Please watch the demo video to determine if you already have the skills covered in this course. If you wish to film a short snippet of you and your dog demonstrating the sequence shown and email it to me, I am happy to guide you on whether or not the course would help you further.