Freestyle Shaping

Kitchen chair in center of a room with blue rug, black and white dog face close up on side of image

Materials:

1 kitchen chair

1 bored corgi in need of entertainment

Handful of dog kibble or small treats

1 tired human

1 comfortable sitting place for tired human preferably warm and with cozy blankets

Goal: entertain corgi in silliness and fun with minimal energy out put from human

Black and white corgi walking under the chair

Execution:

Place kitchen chair in middle of room

Place dish of dog treats on table next to couch

Human sits on couch in a warm blanket

Mark and reward corgi with a tossed treat for doing interesting things primarily surrounding chair and quietly. Also intermittently toss treat to the silent black dog lying peacefully next to human on couch.

Black and white corgi walking under chair away from camera

Result:

Wagging tail silent corgi moving in general figure 8 type pattern through and around legs and rungs of chair ending in a down with corgi head resting on rungs of chair while human remains comfortably snuggled in blanket on couch and black dog remains peacefully chill beside said human.

Black and white corgi walking out from under chair towards camera

Conclusion: adorable happiness for all.

Black and white corgi lying under chair with her head resting on the rung, tail a wagging blur

0 thoughts on “Freestyle Shaping

  1. Her face. 😁 If I’m tired but not too tired to go outside, I will go stand at the top of the hill in our backyard and throw frisbees down the hill, so then she has to run up the hill to bring it back. Maximum exhaustion for her and minimal effort for me.

    1. lol don’t feel silly, figure 8s have been a pattern in Zora’s training history for a long time, so it’s a behavior she now tends to offer when presented with something she can feasibly figure 8 around. When she was a pup, probably same as with you and Gracie, it was progressive work and training to teach her the figure 8 pattern. :-). Thanks for reading and commenting

      1. Gracie learned figure 8 in her class because they were teaching “touch” and she already knew touch, so they had me use touch to teach her a figure 8. She learns at the speed of light. I have to work hard to keep up with her.

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