There are times when I am standing at my kitchen sink that Dawson, my maltipoo puppy, stops his play to come beside me and lay down with completely relaxed body muscles. I keep some treats in my cabinet for just those moments, for, when he does, I say ‘good’ in a slow and drawn out voice, reach down and drop a treat right at his nose. This may cause him to look up temporarily. I ignore that. If he drops his head down again, I drop another treat at his nose.
This is called teaching by ‘capturing behavior’ in dog training. Capturing as a form of training is simply that, it is the process of seeing a behavior, marking it (with a word or a click), and then giving reinforcement. Kathy Sdao, a well-known trainer who I look up to, coined the acronym SMART for See, Mark, and Reinforce Training.
It works because behaviors with reinforcement histories are behaviors that get repeated. I often teach ‘sit’ 
and ‘drop’ using capture also. (See my video below.) Shaping, the process of teaching a final behavior by marking and reinforcing small steps toward that final behavior (think of the hot and cold game we played as children), uses capturing.
When Dawson was an even younger puppy, I wanted to teach him to put his front paws onto a circular yoga block…only, instead of just putting his front paws on it, he chose to get his entire body onto it and sit down. It was so precious to me that I had to reinforce it. Now, even though his body is really too big, he still tries to sit on it when I put the block on the floor.
How can you use it in everyday life?
Keep treats hidden or in containers on shelves in rooms around your home (and with you when outside). You can hide toys in your yard when your dog isn’t looking. And, be ready to catch your dog doing what you like. Then, be ready to add some extra value to that behavior by using SMART.
Do you like that your dog is laying on his bed? Mark and reinforce that!
Do you like that your dog just sat to look at something outside? Mark and reinforce it!
Do you like that your dog just laid his head on his paws? Mark and reinforce that!
Do you like that your dog just chose spontaneously chose to run to you in your yard? Mark and reinforce it!
Remember…always have fun!
