Are you a Lumper or a Splitter? Find out NOW!
Ever been told to stop lumping? Do you start out training a behaviour, get excited with how it's going and think you can shortcut to the end? It's a bit like training a dog a threadle wrap. The dog may get the concept on a one jump setup - but that does not mean she is ready to perform that skill in a sequence or course when you add in more dog speed and handler motion.
In dog training, lumping occurs when we try to teach too many criteria at once. We end up trying to teach multiple aspects of a behaviour in large increments.
Splitting occurs when we break the behaviour down into the smallest steps and teach the relevant criteria and behaviours separately first.
When we Lump
Most dogs learn the same way, and yes, every dog is different. It's not the learning; it's the way it's trained. We know to change our training approach when we witness behavioural issues such as fear and anxiety. Similarly, in the same way I might excel in some subjects and struggle in others, dogs do as well. It's thought this is because of "Lumping and Splitting".
Let's take the example of teaching a stay. All dogs will eventually learn the “Triple D’s” (distance, duration, and distraction) but the approach is what must differ for each dog. Introduce distractions too early and try and lump new criteria together, often the dog will fail. However, if you split up the stay itself and introduced distractions in tiny increments, the overall behaviour will be much more solid and understood. It's when we try and combine the three D's too quickly (lumping) that we often end up in trouble. Often, we are in too much of a hurry to get to the end result, at our peril!
Taking one step at a time
If we look at the behaviour of the stay split into small pieces, we will see ourselves working each of the D's bit by bit.
- Duration - you would reward the dog with a treat for doing nothing more than sitting in front of you. And slowly you build duration by slowing down the rate of reinforcement or treats while they are in the sit. If the dog could sit for 10 seconds without moving between treats, then you could move onto the next D.
- Distance - the dog will indicate when he is ready for more distance by the success of his stay. When you initially start to build distance, you may find that simply moving you knees forward or moving one leg slightly forward is all he can cope with. Break down the criteria as much as you need to foster success.
- Distractions - start small! Reward often! Initially it maybe you are making funny noises, patting your thigh, or rustling your jacket. Reward every small distraction your dog works through, slowly growing the distraction level. The more we keep the rate of reward up our rate of success will improve, and our dog won't experience as much failure.
This video by Donna Hill is an excellent video explaining this concept. Splitting can help you teach any behaviour. A great trainer will be able to identify when to make like a tree and split!
Lumping and Splitting Criteria- A Dog Training Model Showing Distance, Duration and Distraction
My challenge to myself, and you, is to think about the behavior you are wanting to teach your dog and see how many different ways you can break it down.
Until next week, happy training :)
