Scope for Manoeuvre – An Important Part of Our Criteria

NB: I'm writing "voluntary" in quotation marks because no behaviours are in principle truly "voluntary", but that's a more advanced discussion. In the meantime, we can define "voluntary behaviours" as "behaviours the dog offers without luring/leading and without the verbal/visual cue that we plan to attach later".

Much of the key to successful free-shaping is what we can call "action space". During training, we can structure the situation so that the dog has a LARGE action space (meaning they have the opportunity to offer many different behaviours), or a SMALL action space (where they can only offer a limited number of behaviours). Experienced clicker trainers are skilled at adjusting this action space up and down, depending on what gives the most effective training at any given moment. Action space is an important aspect of our CRITERIA.

In "the old days" (25–30 years ago) when clicker training was first introduced, most trainers often used quite a large action space when shaping new behaviours. I remember old American clicker training films on VHS tapes where the trainer often sat on a chair, while the dog was loose and could move freely around the room and in principle do anything at all (including go somewhere else entirely), while the trainer clicked every time the dog did something that approximated the goal.

As clicker training became more popular amongst competition trainers who often needed more precision, the training style changed somewhat on this point. Here are some ways to reduce the dog's action space, making it easier for the dog to offer exactly the behaviour we're after faster or more precisely:

- Train the dog on lead (so they can't walk away)

- Train indoors instead of outdoors

- Train with no distractions whatsoever

- Structure the environment (e.g. train against a wall)

- Use different forms of strategic reward placement, which often positions the dog at the correct starting point for the next behaviour, etc.

- Train in repetitive loops with "clean sequences"

- Crouch right in front of the dog (or use another "special position" that is unique to training this particular behaviour)

- Use a target, crate or platforms

- Ensure the dog has learnt more basic behaviours very well, so that learning the new behaviour is easier (e.g. the dog has learnt to sit tight against your left foot, control their hindquarters, turn in place, hand-targeting, etc. before you train "free heel"). The more the dog already knows well, the smaller their "action space" is in practice, and the easier it will be for the handler to get the new behaviour offered "voluntarily".

- If you use luring (i.e. you guide the dog with a treat, lay out a ball for them to run towards, etc.), the action space is in principle tiny (and we're no longer talking about "free-shaping"). The same applies when you use an already-learnt cue.

The advantage of training new behaviours with a small action space is that it's easier to get the correct behaviour quickly, or to get the behaviour looking exactly as we want it with as little variation as possible. This can be useful in many contexts.

But there are advantages to training with a large action space too! If the dog's action space is large, it means there are very few extra stimuli present that we'll need to remove later. This means that if you first establish a voluntary behaviour well in a situation where the dog can in principle do "whatever they want", you already have a very well generalised and independent behaviour. So sometimes it might be worth spending a bit longer at the start of training before the finished behaviour looks right, and instead reap the reward of this investment later.

If you train with a small action space you might get the right behaviour faster, but it's easy to get "stuck" at that level and develop dependence on the small action space. If, for example, you've worked a lot on "distance positions" (i.e. position changes stand/sit/down) crouching right in front of the dog (to get completely precise movements and locked front/hindquarters, etc.), the way you're positioned is a substantial help that you'll need to reduce at some point in order to reach your goal.

So what is "best"? Large or small action space?

Like most other things in life, "it depends…". What's important is that you as a handler are flexible and skilled at ADJUSTING and VARYING this action space both up and down based on what your dog needs at any given moment.

My general advice is usually "use as large an action space as possible" or "don't use a smaller action space than strictly necessary".

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