[nagdu] Starting with clicker training?

[Raven Tolliver]

Daryl,
First, understand that the clicker is an event marker. The click
signifies that a desirable behavior has been performed, and a reward
is coming.
Different dogs find different things rewarding, and some things more
rewarding than others. I've worked with dogs who live for physical and
verbal praise and couldn't care less about treats. I've worked with
dogs who got
more excited about toys than anything else. And I've also worked with
dogs who would go over a cliff for a treat. Find what is most
rewarding for your dog.
Also understand that clicker training, or any kind of positive
reinforcement training focuses on rewarding good behaviors and
ignoring or not rewarding undesirable behaviors. Undesirable behaviors
are corrected by redirecting the dog. Rather than reprimanding the
dog, cue them to perform a behavior that yields rewards. For instance,
when I'm working with a dog that jumps up, whether it's on furniture
or people, I never physically interact with the dog or raise my voice.
I don't even tell him no. I simply cue him to sit , touch, or come.
That way, I'm setting the dog up for a reward and avoiding punishing
him.
The most important aspect of clicker training is timing. If your
timing is wrong, you'll end up clicking the wrong behavior, or missing
the behavior altogether. Work on your timing before you start working
with your dog. You can do this by practicing with a person.
I still recommend reading the website. There's a section called
clicker training basics which are necessary to understand. Start there
and just click around. It will be overwhelming until you start
implementing the things you learn.
Here are some things to keep in mind when clicker training:
1. charge the clicker when first introducing it to a dog. If Jenny is
unfamiliar with the clicker, charge it by simply clicking and
treating, clicking and treating. This is simply to establish the
understanding that this sound means a reward is coming. Then start
implementing the word "look" or "touch" before treating the dog. Of
course, make sure that the dog is actually looking at you or touching
your fist or fingertips with its nose. This is very brief and dogs
pick up on it right away. Once the dog has this basic behavior down,
you can move onto other things.
2. Keep training sessions short. Don't make the dog grow bored or feel
like he's being drilled. five to ten minutes is enough. Then stop, or
take a short five-ten minute break before resuming.
3. If you get frustrated, stop! You do not want your dog to associate
the clicker or training sessions with negative feelings.
4. Always end every training session on a good note. If your dog is
not quite getting something, end the session with something the dog
does understand and performs well. You both should leave the training
session with a good feeling.

On 7/8/14, minh ha via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Daryl,
>
> You should check out Karen Pryor's Get Started with Clicker Training
> for Dogs book. It's available on bookshare, but I'm not sure if you
> have access to it in Canada. You can probably find it online somewhere
> though. The thing with clicker training is the click sound acts as a
> marker, so you just have to mark a behavior right as it happens and
> treat. Food rewards is crucial in clicker training. The first thing
> you have to do is train Jenny to the clicker. Basically, just click
> and treat, click and treat until she recognizes that a click means
> food is coming. I'm sure others will have more advice, but it's
> something for you to get started on.
> Minh
>
> On 7/8/14, Daryl Marie via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> hi!
>>
>> As I am moving away from the correction/choke collar, I am considering
>> using
>> clicker training in my partnership with Jenny.  Has anyone started
>> clicker
>> training on their own? Any pointers? Dos and Don'ts?  I know Raven posted
>> www.clickertraining.com as a great resource, but it feel really really
>> overwhelming!
>>
>> Daryl and Jenny
>>
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>
>
> --
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> recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity:
> but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on
> their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence
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-- 
Raven
"if God didn't make it, don't eat it." - John B. Symes, D.V.M.
http://dogtorj.com