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The 5 Minute Dog by Personable Pets Dog Training
Practical dog training advice in under 5 minutes. 5 New episodes uploaded every Monday.
WIth over 20 years of Family Dog training experience, our podcast includes tips, tricks, and explanations, so you can better understand why your dog does what he does. We also provide dog training scenarios to help you curb any unwanted behaviors.
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The 5 Minute Dog by Personable Pets Dog Training
#128 Training in Reverse: Why Starting at the End Works
Discover the game-changing training technique that professional trainers rely on for teaching complex behaviors and reliable commands. Backchaining flips traditional training methods upside down by teaching the last step of a behavior first, then working backward to build complete sequences that dogs perform confidently and enthusiastically.
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Do you ever wonder how trainers teach those really complex behaviors or those fancy tricks or those long sequences of tasks? One powerful technique is called backchaining. Today let's talk about what backchaining is, how it works and why it is such a smart tool for building strong, reliable behaviors. First, what exactly is backchaining? In backchaining you teach the last step, the final step of a behavior sequence, first. Once your dog knows and loves that final step, you add the second to last step, and then the third to last step, and you keep adding on and working backward until the entire chain is complete. In simple terms, your dog is always moving towards something they already know how to do and are confident about the last step of the sequence. It's the opposite of how we usually think about training, where we tend to start at the beginning and keep adding steps to the end. In back chaining, we build from the end to the beginning. So let's say that you're teaching your dog to go to their bed and lay down when someone knocks on the door. In a traditional training method you might start by working on the go to bed part first and then adding the knock sound later on, but with back chaining you might want to do it this way instead. Step one teach the dog to lay down and stay on the bed reliably. This is the final step of the sequence. This will be consistently rewarded so that the dog always looks forward to this part of the sequence. And then, step two, practice approaching the bed from a few feet away, maybe cueing place, and then cueing downstay, and again the dog will be rewarded for completing that final step of the process, the downstay. And then for step three, the front door opens, then we cue place, then we cue downstay, and again the dog gets rewarded for completing that final step, the down stay. Then step four, we finally chain it all together. We knock on the door, door opens, we cue place, dog goes to the bed, we cue down, stay and again, and we reward the dog for completing that final step, the down stay. Each time you add a piece, the dog gets rewarded by completing that part of the chain that they already know the last step, the lay down and stay.
Speaker 1:So there are a few reasons that back chaining is so powerful and that it works so well. The first is confidence. The dog knows how to succeed. They know how to win by getting to the last step of that sequence, the heavily rewarded lay down and stay. That keeps their motivation high. And then we have momentum. Each step naturally flows into the next because the dog is eager to get to that part that they know really well. The last step, the lay down and stay, the heavily rewarded part of the sequence, and then memory. Dogs remember sequences better when the ending is strong and positive. In fact, research shows that what happens at the end of an event tends to leave the strongest impression for both humans and dogs.
Speaker 1:And you may not realize it, but backchaining is used in competition, obedience, agility, service, dog training, those really complex tricks like go get me a tissue from the box, and even basic skills like teaching a recall.
Speaker 1:Anywhere you want a behavior to be smooth, fast and reliable, back chaining can help. So here's a quick tip, if you want to give it a try Think about the last thing you want your dog to do in the behavior you're teaching and start by making that super strong and rewarding, very rewarding, and then work your way backward, one small step at a time, always rewarding that final step. It might feel a little weird at first if you're used to teaching things from the beginning to the end, but once you see how fast and happy your dog learns you're going to be hooked. Backchaining builds skills the smart way, by setting your dog up for success every step of the way. It's almost like writing out the last chapter of the book and then filling in the pages knowing exactly where the story is headed. Give it a try. You and your dog might just love it.