Field Guide · Glossary
Capturing
Learning scienceReinforcing a behavior at the moment a dog offers it on their own, so that they offer it more often.
How it works
Nothing is prompted, lured or shaped. The handler waits for the behavior to occur naturally and pays it, which makes timing the whole skill: the reinforcement has to arrive close enough to the behavior for the dog to connect the two. It works best for behaviors a dog already performs regularly, and it is the usual way of building calm, because settling is something that happens rather than something that can be asked for.
What it looks like
A dog lies down in the corner of the kitchen while dinner is being made. Their person quietly says a marker word and drops a treat beside them. Over two weeks, the dog starts going to that corner as soon as cooking begins.
Commonly confused with
- Shaping
- Capturing waits for the finished behavior and pays it. Shaping builds a behavior the dog never offers by paying successive approximations of it. One is patience, the other is construction.
Related terms
Gear that helps
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Clicker
A clear, consistent marker your dog learns to trust. One click means "yes, that, a treat is coming," which sharpens your timing on everything else.
Treat pouch (clip-on)
You can't reward fast enough digging in a pocket. A pouch you open one-handed changes your timing, and this one has a magnetic close plus a built-in clicker.
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