Advanced Obedience and Competition Training Flashcards

Which type of reinforcement schedule is best for maintaining a highly reliable behavior after it has been trained?

Answer: Variable ratio schedule

Variable ratio schedules produce the highest resistance to extinction and the most consistent behavior, making them ideal for maintaining trained responses.

What is 'shaping by successive approximations' used for in advanced obedience training?

Answer: Reinforcing progressively closer versions of a target behavior until the full behavior is achieved

Shaping reinforces each small step closer to the final target behavior, building complex behaviors incrementally without force.

In scent discrimination (a Utility obedience exercise), what is the dog trained to do?

Answer: Identify and retrieve the article carrying the handler's scent from a pile of similar articles

In scent discrimination, the dog must find and retrieve the one metal or leather article imprinted with the handler's scent from a pile of identical unscented articles.

What does 'chaining' refer to in dog training?

Answer: Linking a sequence of individual behaviors so each behavior cues the next

Behavioral chaining links discrete trained behaviors into a sequence where the completion of one behavior acts as the cue for the next.

What is the 'three D's' framework used for in dog obedience training?

Answer: Duration, Distance, and Distraction — the three variables used to build generalized behaviors

The three D's framework guides trainers to increase only one variable (duration, distance, or distraction) at a time to avoid overwhelming the dog.

Which advanced training exercise requires a dog to halt, sit, and stay while the handler walks the full ring perimeter without the dog moving?

Answer: The long sit and long down exercises

Long sit (1 minute) and long down (3 minutes) exercises require dogs to remain in position while handlers stand across the ring or go out of sight.