[nagdu] clicker training

[Tami Jarvis]

Julie,

You reminded me of some important points that will be good to remember 
taking the spouse's monster tank puppy outside the yard for more leash 
training, and maybe even a bit of guide training. She's been 
clicker-trained since day one, of course, and gets that. But I found out 
the other day that the excitement of stepping out of the gate is, um... 
And here I thought she was growing a brain! I don't think it interfered 
too much that I was talking at her ceaselessly, since getting her 
attention wasn't happening. /lol/ She did respond to my clicks though as 
she began to remember the boundaries we worked on last year... Once we 
did the stop and stand routine for pulling a few times. After stopping 
and moving backwards for pulling a few times. /lol/ I was beginning to 
wonder if I would lose an arm before she remembered to remember to keep 
it in bounds!

Now the icy wind is blowing again, so I am not inspired to do a follow 
up with her. When I do, I will try to remember to focus on more 
clicking, less talking. /grin/ I've noticed a few times that this works 
well, but I still catch myself just talking up a storm to whichever dog 
I'm going about with... Mitzi is unusually verbal so seems to pick up a 
surprising amount from my chatter. The pup is bright and has picked up a 
number of words of objects and commands, but she clearly does so in a 
more dog-like fashion... So that's when I notice that there is a benefit 
to using the click without all the verbiage, so long as I remember to 
keep my mouth shut.

As a trainer, I find that I have a lot of fun and get a lot out of the 
discovery of what will earn me the reward of the right behavior from my 
dog. It really does go both ways.

Another thing you hit on when you referred to the clicker game, is that 
it really does get to be a lot of fun for both of you, even as you move 
into the more complex tasks. There will always be those periods of 
frustration as you both refine your communication process, but the fun 
overall goes a long way to keep me and my over-talked dogs going. /grin/

Tami

On 02/18/2013 01:24 PM, Julie J. wrote:
> The click is the marker signal that the dog has done what you wanted at
> that exact spot, like taking a picture of that precise moment.  Then the
> click is followed by a reward.  Usually the reward is food because it's
> quick, convenient and most dogs like food.  I always follow click with
> treat.  If I want to reduce the reinforcement of a behavior I will
> reduce the number of clicks, not the ratio of treats to clicks.
>
> The first thing to do is get the dog to understand that click means
> treat.  So take the dog into a very quiet place with nothing else going
> on, maybe a bedroom or home office.  Click the clicker and give a tiny
> treat.  A clicker doesn't have to be an exact clicker from the store,
> although they are inexpensive and easily available.  You could use an
> ink pen that clicks when you push the end or a mini stapler with no
> staples or even your tongue against the roof of your mouth.  The treats
> should be small, like pencil eraser sized or pea sized.  If I use a hot
> dog for treats I'll cut the single hot dog into 50 to 60 bits.  that's
> how small you want them.
>
> Okay back to getting the dog to understand that click means treat... so
> your in your bedroom with clicker, treats and an interested dog.  Click
> the clicker and give a treat, repeat about 10 times.  Now go to a
> different room and repeat.  Keep repeating this in different places
> until the dog starts anticipating the treat after he hears the click.
> You may very well have the dog touching your hand with the treats or
> nosing your pocket.  That's okay right now.  We'll solve that in the
> next step.  Right now you want a dog who is interested, excited and
> enthusiastic to play this new fantastic game.
>
> Step 2 is what a lot of people call dog zen or you get what you want by
> ignoring what you want.  Hold a tasty treat in one hand and wait.
> Probably the dog will be nosing your hand, maybe pawing or licking your
> hand.  Just wait.  the moment he quits give him a treat.  I give a
> different treat from my other hand, but do whatever works for you.
> Repeat this exercise until the dog immediately stops mugging your hand
> and waits for the click and treat.  Repeat in various locations with
> varying levels of distraction.
>
> Step 3 repeat step 2 but this time have your hand open so the dog can
> see the treat.  Close your hand the moment he shows any hint of going
> for it.  Click and treat when he backs off.  Repeat in lots of different
> places with different types of food.
>
> At this point your dog understands the very basics of clicker training
> that click means treat and that all good things come to those who wait.
> You can teach most anything from here.  You can get more advanced food
> refusal skills with food on the floor or people offering the dog food or
> something totally different like fetch.
>
> Things to keep in mind are to click at the first step or hint of the dog
> doing what you want.  Don't click for only the perfect finished
> behavior.  This is called shaping.  It's like the kids game of hot and
> cold.  The clicker tells the dog that he's getting hotter or closer to
> what you want.
>
> When I'm teaching a brand new skill with clicker I don't talk to the
> dog.  I let the clicker do the communicating.  A dog who is wise to the
> clicker game will be actively mentally engaged with you trying to figure
> out what to do to earn the click.  Generally a dog will try everything
> he has done in the past to earn a click.  I find that verbally
> encouraging the dog just slows down the process.  I want to be clicking
> every few seconds to keep the dog engaged and the training progressing.
> If I'm clicking only once every 30 seconds my dogs will start to show
> signs of frustration.  Generally this means I have lumped too many steps
> together.  I need to break the task down into smaller bits, more steps,
> so the dog can be successful.
>
> Let's use a person training for a marathon as an example.  A good coach
> doesn't tell their student okay now run that 20 miles and we'll throw
> you a party at the end.  You'd quit before you ever took your first
> step.  It's too big of a task.  If the coach breaks down the marathon
> into tiny bits that you can easily do with minimal effort you will be
> successful.  So maybe your first step is to walk to the front door.  You
> can do that, no problem, click and treat.  Now maybe the next step is to
> make it to the edge of the porch. c/t  now the end of the driveway and
> so on.  If you are at the end of the driveway and I ask you to run to
> the grocery store a mile away, you will probably bawlk.  That's too big
> of a leap.  Break it down into tiny easily doable steps.  From the
> driveway the next spot to shoot for might be the corner.   The next
> training session the coach might skip the reward for reaching the front
> door and reward you when you get to the edge of the front porch.
>
> I think the two most important things in regard to clicker training are
> your timing with the clicker and planning what you are going to teach
> before you start.   It's a lot to absorb in the beginning and it takes a
> bit of work for your dog to understand that click means treat and that
> he can get you to click by offering behaviors.  The first couple of
> times you use this method it may feel slow, awkward and tedious. However
> the time you invest now will pay you pack tenfold later.  Once you have
> a clicker savvy dog and you are comfortable with the method it will
> dramatically reduce the amount of time and effort you'll need to train
> new things.  I think your dog's attitude toward skills taught with the
> clicker will be different, more enthusiastic more willing.
>
> I kinda got carried away there. *smile*  I hope you find it a little
> useful.  I'd definitely suggest reading more about it.  There are some
> really awesome trainers out there doing some extremely advanced things
> with their dogs using this method.
>
> Julie
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/tami%40poodlemutt.com
>