Modern Principles of Shaping - 1. Be Prepared before you start!

I'm writing a 10 part blog post where I discuss the Modern Principles of Shaping by Karen Pryor, to help solidify them in my mind. 

1. Be prepared before you start. Be ready to click/treat immediately when the training session begins. When shaping a new behavior, be ready to capture the very first tiny inclination the animal gives you toward your goal behavior. This is especially true when working with a prop such as a target stick or a mat on the ground.

First of all, I like that these are really addressed at the shaper, rather than the shapee.  I have to think on what the shaper would need to prepare or do in order for shaping to work.

Item 1 - make sure you understand what you are shaping, and how.  Consider such things as the prerequisite skills, how they're broken down, the future queue you want to use, the rewards, the proofing plan, and the end goal.  The goal should be concrete and measurable, so you can determine whether the learner has achieved it. 

Item 2 - Be ready to C/T.  The animal may execute the action right away, and you need to be right there to C/T, in order to reward and further learning.  The animal is doing something, and you need to be ready to give it the information that indicates it is what you want.  If you're late, you could either miss the behavior, which probably translates into a punishment in the animal's eyes, or you could accidentally reinforce the wrong thing.  Neither is good. 

Item 3 - Know what the first step in the shaping process could look like.  With the preparation of mentioned above, you also need to be agreeable to whatever the trainee throws you way.  There are likely several ways to train a behavior that could be pursued just from the initial actions of the animal, and you should be ready to pick one to go with.

Item 4 - You should have an idea of how the trainee could react, if you're using a prop.  When a cat is shown a new thing, their first positive inclinations could be to look at it, sniff it, rub their face on it, or ignore it.  Negative ones could be to start showing nervousness or running away.  That means you've gone too far.