Brixton recently won a contest on IG for a complete tasting set of Earthborn Holistic's K95 collection. He was excited, I was excited, everyone was pumped. I wanted to ensure that we properly thanked Earthborn by posting a pic of Brix loving his gracious winnings. In the way of most Instagram enthusiasts or amateur photographers, I wanted to capture an adorable shot that showcased both the food and Brix in an appealing way. Once all his food was lined up, I could see the shot - a winsome chin-rest with Brix wistfully awaiting another nibble of K95. Brixton and I have been previously teaching a chin rest for Fear Free vetting, but would the exercise generalize?
Not exactly. He was willing to interact, but struggled to apply the behavior to the cans of food. So we set about shaping the cue, and after ten minutes of incrementally adjusting his head movements, we had the shot!
Could I have lured his chin into position? Certainly. So why didn't I?
Because Brixton was operating his environment and the training in the way that best suited him and his style of learning. This is why I love shaping. Sure, the picture took us about 20 minutes to take due to teaching, but it was worth every minute - as now, Brixton offers a chin rest on SO MANY OTHER OBJECTS. By discovering the value in the exercise on his own, Brixton is thinking harder and more creatively in everything that we do together. And I do love a smartie pants kind of dog.
