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The Four Stages of Learning

There are four stages of learning for canines: Acquisition, Fluency, Generalization and Maintenance. These

stages are also called the four “A”s—Acquiring, Automatic, Application, Always—as detailed in a series

of Front and Finish articles by Marilyn Fender, PhD.60 This learning framework is similar to the Instructional

Hierarchy—first defined by four educational researchers in 1978—which breaks down students’ learning

process into distinct stages based on skill acquisition, mastery and integration. It differs in that the fourth

stage is Adaption instead of Maintenance.61

Of the four canine learning stages, when you are teaching any new behavior to a client’s dog, about 90

percent of the process will be practiced during the third one: the Generalization stage.

60 Reid, P. (1996). Excel-erated learning: Explaining in plain English how dogs learn and how best to teach them. Berkeley, CA: James & Kenneth61 Haring, N. G., Lovitt, T. C., Eaton, M. D., & Hansen, C. L. (1978). The Fourth R: Research in the classroom. Columbus, OH: C. E. Merrill Publishing.

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Acquisition: Stage 1

This is the initial stage of learning in which you use conditioned and unconditioned reinforcers to teach a

dog a behavior. At this point, a dog is just beginning to learn how to complete the target behavior. This can

be described as a dog’s “aha” moment when he understands the concept and finds the behavior rewarding.62

For example, you introduce a dog to “Sit” while using a conditioned reinforce (click) as he sits, followed by

an unconditioned reinforcer (treats).

Example: Using a food lure to teach a dog to “Stand” from a Sit position.

1. Put a treat in your palm; close your hand and

place it on the dog’s nose.

2. Slowly move your hand away horizontally at

a slight upward angle from the dog.

3. As the dog begins to stand up, continue to

move your hand until he’s standing squarely

on all four feet.

4. As the dog stands, give the conditioned

reinforcer (click or “Yes”).

5. Give the dog the unconditioned reinforcer

(food treat).

6. Repeat these steps until the dog

understands that following the lure

(movement of your hand) into the Stand position gets him a treat.

Criteria for Moving to the Next Learning Stage

Once a dog learns to offer a behavior or is easily lured into an action, you are ready to move to the next

stage of training. He should offer or is easily lured into the action approximately 90 percent of the time

before moving to the next learning stage.

62 Reid, P. (1996). Excel-erated learning: Explaining in plain English how dogs learn and how best to teach them. Berkeley, CA: James & Kenneth

During the acquisition learning stage, you can use food lures to teach a dog a number of new behaviors, such as standing (above) or sitting.

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Shaping, Capturing and Luring a Behavior during the Acquisition Stage

By Kellyann PayneWhen teaching a behavior, most trainers who use a clicker will typically opt for one of three methods to obtain it: shaping, capturing or luring.

ShapingShaping is when a dog learns through a series of small steps or approximations to achieve a desired behavior. For instance, if you wanted to shape a dog to go lie down on a mat or throw rug, the shaping steps might look like the following.

Step 1: Have several treats and your clicker handy. Place the mat/rug on the floor about 6 feet away from you and the dog.

Step 2: Now wait until the dog either looks at the mat/rug or takes a step toward it. When he does, click and treat.

Step 3: The next several approximations will play out like a game of “Hot & Cold.” For every step (or couple of steps) the dog takes toward the mat/rug, you click and reward to let him know he is getting “warmer.” (Image right) Make sure that every time you click to mark the progress, he comes back to you for the reward. This will build a stronger behavior.

Step 4: When the dog finally makes contact with the mat/rug, click and give a lot of praise—and maybe a few extra treats to reinforce that the mat is the key to success.

Step 5: Once the dog is successfully going to the mat/rug, delay your click until there is a bit of frustration. He will likely offer a historically successful behavior, such as sitting or lying down. When he does, click it. Before you know it, he will be going over to the mat and lying down. (Image right)

While shaping might seem like a long process, it only takes a few minutes; plus, you are creating a thinking dog. Dogs who “get” shaping are eager to learn new behaviors and will often create new ones in an effort to try to win. They become active members of the learning process and are motivated by the challenges and rewards of the game.

When the dog goes to the rug and lying down on it, you will have successfully shaped the behavior.

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Every time the dog steps closer to the rug, click and reward.

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CapturingCapturing a behavior is simply waiting for a dog to do something on his own that you like and rewarding him for it. It can be anything he normally does. For instance, if he kicks up behind himself after eliminating outside, consider clicking it. When he starts to kick up, you click and treat. After you capture that behavior successfully a number of times, you can then put it on cue (See Fluency: Stage 2 on how to add a cue to a behavior.) Once that behavior is on cue, you can quickly modify it and ask the dog to “wipe his feet” on the doormat.

You can even capture things such as a sneeze, spinning or covering his nose with his paws. Capturing can be a lot of fun because it allows you to train behaviors a dog is already offering. The difference is you are simply capturing these behaviors when they occur so that you can put them on cue. If your dog has a particularly cute or useful behavior, click it.

LuringLuring is exactly what it suggests. You use a reward, likely a food treat and have a dog follow it until you achieve the desired behavior. For instance, if you want a dog to sit, you might follow these steps:

Step 1: Have your clicker and several treats handy.

Step 2: Take the treat, hold it right in front of his nose and slowly move it up over the dog’s head until his rump touches the ground.

Step 3: As soon as his rump touches the ground, click or say “Yes” and give the treat. (Image right)

Step 4: Repeat this about five or six times until he is reliably sitting every time.

Step 5: You need to fade your lure; do not skip this part. Move your hand with the treat in the same motion as before. When the dog sits, you click and treat, but this time do not give the treat you used for a lure. Give a treat from somewhere else.

Step 6: Repeat Step 5 five or six times to work on fading the lure.

Step 7: Now move your empty hand in the same manner when you had a treat in it. As soon as the dog sits, click and treat with the treat coming from somewhere else.

Note: One of the downsides to luring is that an incomplete behavior can develop into bribery, where a dog will not do it unless he sees a treat. That is why you need to fade your lure quickly.

About the author: Kellyann Payne started training dogs in 1986. She is a graduate of the University of Florida and has owned and operated two training and pet care facilities. She is a professional member of the APDT, where she served on the Board of Directors for 6 years and is a past vice president of the APDT Foundation.

When luring a dog to sit, click and treat when his back end touches the floor.

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Fluency: Stage 2

During this stage, a dog is able to complete the target behavior accurately but works slowly. This is the

“practice-makes-perfect” stage. Basically, a dog learns to automatically offer a previously rewarded behavior

at this point. Before increasing the dog’s speed of a targeted behavior you will need to add a cue to it.63

A cue—AKA a command or a conditioned or discriminative stimulus—is a signal to a dog that you want

some kind of an action from him. Associating a cue with a particular behavior will lead to reinforcement

if it is performed correctly. For example, “Sit,” “Come,” “Stay” and “Down,” are all verbal cues. You could also

teach a dog by using hand signals—another type of cue. Cues are added after a dog has started to acquire

a behavior. If cues are introduced too early, there’s a risk of poisoning a cue (it becomes confusing or

punishing). Once a behavior is easily lured 90 percent during the acquisition stage, it is time to add a cue.64

Example: Associating a cue with the Sit behavior

1. You say “Sit” right before a dog offers the lured behavior.

2. As the dog sits, click (conditioned reinforcer) and

give him a treat (unconditioned reinforcer). You will

initially reward him on a continuous reinforcement

schedule (every time he does the behavior). As he

gains fluency with the behavior, you will switch

to an intermittent reinforcement schedule to

strengthen the behavior, e.g., the “click” and a

treat are only given for the better sits. (We discuss

reinforcement schedules further on in this stage.)

3. After pairing the cue right before the behavior 10

times in a row, say the cue and wait for the dog to

perform the behavior. It may take a few seconds for him to think through the process;

be patient.

4. As he performs the cued behavior, mark it with a conditioned reinforcer (click or “Yes”)

and follow with unconditioned reinforcers (treats).

5. As the dog progresses, say the cue and wait for the behavior. When he responds to the

cue 90 percent of the time, it is time to focus on the three aspects of fluency.

63 Reid, P. (1996). Excel-erated learning: Explaining in plain English how dogs learn and how best to teach them. Berkeley, CA: James & Kenneth64 Reid, P. (1996). Excel-erated learning: Explaining in plain English how dogs learn and how best to teach them. Berkeley, CA: James & Kenneth

To pair a behavior with a verbal cue, you say the word (“Sit,” “Down,” etc.) just before you lure him into the position.

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Teaching Fluency

Teaching a behavior over and over again, until a dog becomes adept at a behavior is called fluency. Instead

of rewarding a dog every time he performs a cue, you reward the better-than-average response. This process

also uses intermittent scheduling of reinforcement. There are three aspects of fluency:65

� Precision: Just as the name implies, you are rewarding a dog

for a precise behavior (e.g., how it looks). Reward only precise

Sits (the dog is sitting squarely on his bottom). If a dog offers

a sloppy sit, such as a leg sticking out sideways (image right),

withhold the click until he offers a precise one. If needed,

take a few steps back; a dog will usually follow and then offer

another Sit. Once the behavior looks good 90 percent of the

time, you can move on to Latency.

� Latency: This is the amount of time it takes for a dog to

“respond” to a cue, not complete it. At first, your reward a dog when he responds to a cue.

Next, you only reward quicker responses. Note: Because some dogs will move a bit slower

than others, you should determine each dog’s ideal cue response time based on his body type

and maneuverability. Once a dog is quickly responding to a cue 90 percent of the time, you

can move on to Speed.

� Speed: This is how quickly a dog performs a behavior from

initiation to completion (e.g., how long it takes him to get into

a sit position). Some dogs drop their rumps to the ground

quickly, while others will back up a step and then gently fold

their legs underneath them. Always take into account a dog’s

body shape and age when rewarding for speed. It might

take a Great Dane (image right) a few seconds to fold his

long legs into a Sit, while a Border Collie might drop his rear

immediately. Reward for faster performances of the behavior.

Criteria for Moving to the Next Learning Stage

When a dog has fluency of a cue approximately 90 percent of the time in a familiar environment, you are

ready to move to the next stage: generalization.

65 Lomonaco, C. (2009, August 1). Everything You Wanted to Know About Proofing—But Were Afraid to Ask. Retrieved June 20, 2018, from https://www.clickertraining.com/node/2279

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Generalization: Stage 3

In the generalization stage, a dog learns to respond

correctly to a cue in different places and with

different people and around diverse distractions at

varying distances. Generalization is a slow process

of exposing a dog to as many different situations

as possible. Teaching a new behavior to fluency

happens quickly; it might take a week or two. When

teaching a new behavior during the generalization

stage, it can take months or even years.66

This learning stage typically frustrates dog owners. If their dog doesn’t respond to a cue around distractions,

many owners will assume he is being stubborn. This is not the case: The new behavior has not been

generalized around those distractions.

Example: Teaching a dog to generalize a behavior.

1. Change one aspect of the training situation at a time.

i. You might stand slightly sideways or move farther away

from a dog. One test to see if a dog has generalized the Sit

cue would be to give it while you are sitting in a chair. This

gives him a different perspective .

ii. Next, try giving him the Sit cue with your back turned or

standing in another room.

2. A new person could also train the dog. Because adding a new

person is similar to changing the location, the dog should be

trained in a familiar setting; in this case, in the same room.

3. To test generalization further, you can blend the two tests. The

new person can stand slightly sideways or farther away from

the dog and could give the “Sit” cue while seated in a chair,

turn his back or give the cue from another room.

66 Reid, P. (1996). Excel-erated learning: Explaining in plain English how dogs learn and how best to teach them. Berkeley, CA: James & Kenneth

In order to generalize polite leash walking, this dog’s owner will need to first reduce the number of

distractions, such as moving from the crowded public square to a more sparsely populated street or park.

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When generalizing Sit, you could give the cue while your are in another room or have a friend

give the cue in the same room. JackF/Adobe Stock

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4. During generalization, each new behavior is taught from

farther distances, around different distractions and for

longer durations. Teach the same skill in each setting or

with each new person until a dog is responding with 90

percent efficiency.

Criteria for Moving to the Next Learning Stage

When a dog performs a cue 90 percent of the time in various situations

with various distractions, he is ready for the maintenance stage. At this

point, you can begin weaning a dog off food as the unconditioned

reinforcer, replacing it with praise and real life rewards, such as going

outside, petting, chasing a ball, etc.

Sit down with owners and make a list of all the things their dogs like and begin to use them as reinforcers.

For example, while practicing the sit cue by the front door, use a “life reward,” such as going for a walk. Ask

a dog for Sit and once he complies, give the conditioned reinforcer “Yes” followed by taking him for a walk.

To add distractions to the generalization process, you could

move the session outside. JackF/Adobe Stock

Fun Facts

Unconditioned and conditioned reinforcers are used to train more than dogs. Zookeepers use them to train animals to perform different

behaviors for veterinary exams:1

² Using shaping, many zoo animals are taught to present their feet or hooves for examination.

² Elephants are taught (shaped) to lift their trunks on cue.

² Hippos learn to open their mouths on cue for teeth and gum examinations. This behavior is taught by capturing a yawn.

² Seals are taught to present their bellies.

1 ABQ BioPark. (n.d.). Training Zoo Animals. Retrieved July 13, 2018, from https://www.cabq.gov/culturalservices/biopark/news/training-zoo-animals

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Maintenance: Stage 4

A dog is in the final stage of the learning process

when he responds to a cue in a variety of situations

90 to 100 percent of the time. It is at this point that

trainers generally consider it a learned behavior.67

The amount of time it takes to reach this stage

will vary depending on each dog, your and/or

the owner’s training skills and the complexity of

the behavior or cue being taught. For example, it

might take a year before a dog can Sit-Stay around

scampering squirrels.

There will most likely be times during any of the four stages when you will need to “Go Back to Kindergarten,”

which means taking a step back to an easier version if a dog ignores a known cue.68 If the mistake was on

a complex behavior, you might have to start at the basic level and build toward it. Using this technique

enables you to reinforce the proper response to the cue before it deteriorates further.

A general rule of thumb is that one mistake

requires Going Back to Kindergarten three

to 10 times, depending upon the complexity

of the behavior.69

67 Reid, P. (1996). Excel-erated learning: Explaining in plain English how dogs learn and how best to teach them. Berkeley, CA: James & Kenneth68 Pryor, K. (2010). Reaching the animal mind: Clicker training and what it teaches us about all animals. New York, NY: Scribner.69 Pryor, K. (2017). Don’t shoot the dog!: The new art of teaching and training. Dorking, Surrey, UK: Ringpress Books.

It could take a long time to achieve the maintenance stage for a Sit-Stay in an area full of squirrels.

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Going Back to Kindergarten1. Return to an easier version of the behavior

2. Repeat easier version 3 to 10 times

3. Re-attempt original behavior

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For example, a dog has been doing perfect “Sit-Stays”

for the past few weeks, even when guests come in the

front door. One day, a friend comes in carrying her

small dog. The resident dog moves from his “Sit-Stay”

and jumps up on the friend to sniff the other dog.

You will need to Go Back to Kindergarten for this

behavior:

1. Ask the dog to Sit-Stay.

2. Have the friend step back out the front door

and come in again without her dog.

3. If the dog successfully remains in a Sit-Stay, reward and then try it again with the additional

distraction of the friend holding her dog.

4. Continue to work until you have achieved at least three consecutive successful Sit-Stays with

the same distraction of the friend holding her dog.

5. You can make the exercise easier by keeping the dog on-leash and by having the friend move

slowly while holding her dog. This allows the dog to be successful so you can reward him for a

correct Sit-Stay again.

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Fun Facts

Dogs can understand more than 150 words, according to psychologist

and leading canine researcher Stanley Coren, PhD, of the University of

British Columbia. A dog’s mental ability is close to that of 2 to 2 .5 year

old child. Average dogs can learn 165 words, and very intelligent canines

(about 20 percent) can learn 250.1 Of course, there is always that one

super smart dog: Chaser, a border collie, understands 1,022 words and is

still learning new ones.2

1 American Psychology Association. (2009, August 10). Dogs’ Intelligence On Par With Two-year-old Human, Canine Researcher Says. Retrieved July 13, 2018, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810025241.htm2 BBCEarth. (2017, May 31). Super Smart Animals: Dog Understands 1022 Words. Retrieved July 13, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=Ip_uVTWfXyI