A couple of weeks ago my trainer introduced us to shaping. Described it as a good way to tire their brains out if you can't fully exercise them on a particular day. 'Great' I thought,will help us as am sticking to the 5mins/month rule...it's tough as am surrounded by beautiful countryside and footpaths galore. Only problem is he loves it so much he hasn't let me have a night off since! We go for our walk,rest a little(as am super paranoid about bloat despite him not being a breed prone to it) and then he point blank refuses to eat his tea unless I do some shaping with him and use it as treats,then he'll eat the rest quite happily! Love that dog

LOL, sounds like my favourite Papillon. I taught him, by shaping, to put his paw on the tin I keep dog treats in, for him to get a treat. Then taught him to give his paw and to high five me and to have him stood on his hindlegs waving his frontpaws in the air. Whenever he wants something now how tries whatever he can think of using his paws -the other day he tried hitting my glasses with his paws to see if that produced a treat. It didn't. He has so much fun though and is so happy and it certainly does make him think!

How funny. Can you tell me what shaping is please. I might try it with willow.

I found this on the internet just now:

http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1549

The word "shaping" is scientific slang for building a particular behavior by using a series of small steps to achieve it. Shaping allows you to create behavior from scratch without physical control or corrections, but rather by drawing on your animal's natural ability to learn. If you're new to shaping, you might want to read an introduction to shaping first, as well as Karen Pryor's Ten Laws of Shaping.

hmmmm....I have just gone back to this link and have read through quite a lot of the text.  I find it so poorly formulated that it is VERY difficult to understand.  In reading it, I was often left simply with a "huh?"  Maybe it's just me, and you all will find it very enlightening.  In any case, all the new developments and research in communication with canines are most interesting and highly valuable.  Dogs are so greatly underestimated in our society.  There is a really wonderful dog psychologist and trainer in Germany named Martin Rütter, who is also a beloved and respected television personality, as well as an active trainer and author of many books.  He recommends that we humans should spend far more time learning to understand our dogs than obliging them to understand us!

That article although on Karen Pryor's site wasn't actually written by her. I found that watching videos made things clearer than reading about it. YuTube has a lot

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=clicker+training+shaping+Karen+Pryor

I still remember when I got bored waiting my turn at class and tried to see if my youngest dog could learn to give a paw, as the other two were learning in their HTM class. She picked it up instantly and I was thrilled. I was rather less thrilled when she kept offering me a paw when I was trying to stand her on the table at dog shows however...... Took ages for it to fade enough in her brain haha!!

Your puppy is shaping you!
When KP starting shaping with some of the large primates this was one of the problems she faced, the clever ones found it interesting and started shaping the trainers. Not long before the great apes demanded treats just to come out of their night quarters.
The smart pups are fun.

Shaping - with Bassets?   Hum.   If I have understood what this is correctly, there's no doubt that with my breed (and to some extent my Whippet too) they 'shape' me.  Sorry if this is flip, but it's fact. 

Goldmali
I taught him, by shaping, to put his paw on the tin I keep dog treats in, for him to get a treat. Then taught him to give his paw and to high five me and to have him stood on his hindlegs waving his frontpaws in the air.

HP
Yes that’s shaping in close quarters >in a reasonably controlled environment<

Treacle
How funny. Can you tell me what shaping is please. I might try it with willow.

HP
It is word adopted in the 1940’s by B F Skinner who created the theory of *'operant behavior' & ‘operant conditioning’. Prior to shaping he was using the term 'successive approximates' but in the 1940's he said that successive approximates were actually 'shaping] behaviours (any learned behaviour)

The theory amounts to, if any behavior starts to repeat under similar circumstances >as perceived by the animal< then the behavior has been ‘reinforced’. There are 2 reinforced behaviours, 1 is ‘positive reinforcment’ & 2 is ‘negative reinforcement’..emphasis….’positive’ & ‘negative’ do not have the same or similar meanings as the same words in normal use, they have a totally unrelated meaning to the normal way they used in English language.
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My pups have certainly shaped me lol. Pip,  when he wants a treat, fetches me something -  whether I want it or not - usually something off the coffee table I want left there. Louis, Pap pup, as soon as he sees Pip pick something up, charges to the kitchen treat corner and does a lovely sit.  Who's training who in my house :)?

My pups have certainly shaped me lol. Pip,  when he wants a treat, fetches me something

Animals & babies are the most common & skilled users of Skinners operant conditioning, we call it manipulation.
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Manipulation -maybe - but in the cutest possible way that makes me smile  and feel happy.

Manipulation -maybe - but in the cutest possible way that makes me smile  and feel happy.

but thats not always the case......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpq6dehAfxk
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Ah, you're talking about the dangers of being totally manipulated/managed/shaped by my dogs.  There's a  time and a place for all things - having fun and knowing your dog is priceless. I believe in building a bond so that, in emergency situations especially,  a strong recall and stop matter - and the dogs know it too.  OK this varies a lot depending on breed, experience of dog and owners etc.  I am also very keen on a good 'leave'   my dogs trust me and, so long as I'm serious, will give anything up - I did have to do 'swapsies' over a dead rat the other week though (rather than just a leave)

Edited to say:  my boys are a long way from good /solid at- anything really - we're working on it. One is 15 months and the other is 5 months.

Ah, you're talking about the dangers of being totally manipulated/managed/shaped by my dogs.

No not you or any individual, but the dogs in that vid have shaped their own behaviour, shaping is something which happens to all of us due to environmental stimuli, it's certainly not a word which should pre-occupy anyone in the preccess of teaching kids or training (teaching an action) dogs.
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That's why I'm on this forum,so many more knowledgeable people than I! My breed is known to be manipulative if you're not careful..doesn't get away with it much with us,my mother on the other hand-all he has to do is plonk himself into a considered 'sit' in her kitchen (whether she's in there or not) and she magically produces treats. I used the term 'shaping' as that's what it was described as and figured most people on here would understand the term (even if I don't fully). I just love watching him think and as he's a growing puppy that has a tendency not to eat his meals I must admit I'm just glad of any way of getting the nutrition down him,despite the fact I may be making a rod for my own back!

I have trained my last 2 dogs fully with shaping and the others have done bits. The two that have always done it from day 1 are so good at learning new things, it really only takes them seconds. I love to watch their brains figure out what im after!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv6YgN7DOWA (This is Chaos when he was 15 weeks old-he is 4 now)

Very cute,as a newbie dog owner I love seeing videos like this which include things I aspire to (wing wraps/send aways) as well as things I've done with mine-helps me learn and gives me confidence that I'm on the right track :)

Very inspiring!

I'm a newbie too and though we are doing rather well i think (sit, down, off, fetch, heel and wait all coming along nicely, 10 weeks old) it's great to see what is possible at such a young age!  Puppy classes start in 3 weeks, and i'm so excited to see how much more we can learn together.  I think i'm going to start targeting soon too as i was reading about it last night and it seems like a fab way to get lots of other behaviours going.