BH205 Dopamine Dive - Box Feeding

Week One

1. Identify Goal or Behavior to address
** Flexible to change and for multiple behaviors

2. Selecting the Box

Size and type of the box depends on the student and their goals. Later in the process the type may be modified as well.

3. Ensure Dog Can Eat

We will create an hierarchy of food choice. It is important to have the right type of food that isn't too big or small, or too crumbly or soft!

4. Introduce Eating In Box

Not all dogs are comfortabe putting their head into a box. We may use previous eating location or visual cues to help thm. If necessary we will use the process of desensitizatin to create confidence eating in the appropriate type of box.

5. Create Start Process for eating in the box

We can implement a visual or olfactory start to using the box. Which one is more appropriate for you depends on your dog and your goals.

6. Create Conditioned Emotional Response to Box

By feeding your dog in their box frequently in either short or long sessions (depending on dog) we can build a strong positive CER to the box. We will also want to generalize eating out of the box to different locations.

Week Two

1. Reinforcement Strategies (Food)

We will build various reinforcement strategies to help modulate arousal and to ensure that the dog can 'listen' to us as they start to experience the 'hit' of dopamine that comes from the box!

2. Reinforcement Strategies (toys)

For the dog that prefers or likes toys, we can create cues for toy play that, just like with food, we will use to help modulate arousal and ensure there is still a connection with the handler while using the box.

3. Build Dedication to the Box

We want to create a type of dedication to the box where the dog quickly offers his head in the box and 'hovers' between food drops in anticipation of the next one. Our goal will be to build more duration in the box eventually.

4. Impulse Control as a Concept

From here, we will take a look at the concept of impulse control, which is always part of any duration behavior. We will explore how to implement this concept in various other situations to help your dog apply it to the box.

5. Duration Behaviors as a Concept

As with Impulse Control, the concept of duration is something we can teach outside of the box. There are a variety of methods to build duration which we can implement outside of the box and then apply that concept to the box itself.

Week Three

1. Expand Duration Nose Target

One of the duration behaviors that can be very beneficial for box work is the nose target. We will expand on that if necessary to give your dog a target at the bottom of the box.

2. Build Duration of Head in Box

Using a variety of techniques introduced previously we will work on building even more duration in the box:

* Variable Rate/Ration of Reinforcement

* Delay Marker Cue

* Reverse Luring

* Duration Marker Cue

* Duration Nose Target

3. Level One - Adding Trigger

Using the laws of counter conditioning we will begin to introduce the 'trigger' to our box work. This is the first level of using the box.

*Simultaneous Conditioning

*Forward Delay Conditioning

*Forward Trace Conditioning

Week Four

1. Level Two - Adding Trigger

Progressing on with the way we can utilize the box we have created a shift in your dogs emotions towards the trigger (situation you want to change) which will allow us a way to advance the use of the box. The trigger will become a cue for the dog that food is coming in the box.

2. Level Three

At this point, the dog is even more counter conditioned and can more easily perform the box work in the presence of the trigger. Although there may still be some head lifts, the dog can easily be encouraged to return to the box to continue the process.

3. Build Duration

In order to move to the next level in the progression of box work as I have adapted it, we need to ensure that we have more duration with the dogs head in the box between dropping food or releasing. They need to be able to hold their head in the box for up to 3-5 seconds. We can use any of the techniques presented before to help with this.

4. Transition Box

Although the box is initially taught with a box that is opaque, I have realized that there is benefit for some types of triggers to have the box be translucent or even transparent to help the dog recognize the trigger more completely and work through the process of counter conditioning. Not every student will need or want to do transition to a different box, it can be very beneficial to some!

Week Five

1. Build MORE Duration

We will focus on building even more duration. Up to 10 seconds.

2. Level Four - Head stays in Box

During this level, we want the dog to be able to hold their head in the box without food during th prsentation of the trigger.

3. Begin Toughess Conditioning

Mental toughness that is created from using the Dopamine Box is automatic.

* Focus & Concentration

* Impulse Control

* Confidence & Resiliency

* Commitment to Behavior

* Calm under Stimulation

Physical Toughness can be applied using the process of desensitization and counter conditioning

* Pressure

* Surfaces

* Sounds

* Restraint

* Touch & Tough Handling

Week Six

1. Level Five - Start Button

We can use the Dopamine Box as a way to give your dog more agency for specific situations. They can be in control of the training session by using the box as a start button.

2. Alternatives

As we finish up the progressive levels of using the box, we can also explore additional ways to utilize it.

* Is progression really necessary?

* Who else can benefit?

* Combine box with other concepts/protocols

* Using it as a Distraction

3. Trouble Shooting and Application

Week One - Lesson 6: Creating a CER & Generalization

Now that we have found a box that fits our needs and our dog is confidently eating out of the box, we want to ensure that we create a positive Conditioned Emotional Response to the box itself. We want the box to be a contextual cue. This means we need to generalize the box itself in a variety of different locations to help the dog identify that it is the BOX, not the location or set up that creates the CER. There is no specific requirement at this point of the dog maintaining their head in the box although that may already be happening!

We start by just supplying a constant stream of food in the box to help create that positive emotional response:

Here you can see there is a CER because the dog sees the box and moves to it on their own. From there you want to generalize it by taking it to different locations.

In this video, the dog sees me, a big trigger, and then the box, and moves quickly to the box and offers his head in the box. He then goes to another location that has a history of the presence of cats, but he is still able to go right to ‘work’ by putting his head in the box.
When you first begin to generalize the box, it would be better to do so without the added potential triggers first!