Clicker Training (yes, Another Thread About It!)

[~*Shell*~]

Hey all,

I'm wanting to start clicker training with Zero because he has trouble with following through too quickly with a behaviour (trying to teach him "stand" and when he stands, he takes a couple of steps - i'm not fast enough to give a verbal marker so I would like to teach with a clicker (i understand the basics but would like to have a more indepth knowledge) so he can understand the exact point where he gets the behaviour right.

Anyone know some good books, or dvds that i could have a look at?

[4 Paws]

http://www.clickertraining.com/

[~*Shell*~]

Thanks!

[Rusky]

not a book but free on the net

http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/%20Dog1/levels.html

[Akayla]

If you are worried about timing get a clicker and play with a human friend. Without telling them what you want them to do, use the clicker to direct them. EG. You want them to pick up the cusion off the chair, so when they are moving towards it you click ect. No speaking or gesturing. Its fun especially with a group and you will learn really quick about timing. Trust me

[~*Shell*~]

That's a good idea - I already have friends make fun of me for buying a clicker (and friends that yell "click" every time i do something right) so I'm sure they'll all laugh if i play this game with them!

[Akayla]

Its good fun, I made a complete idiot of myself the first time ( I had the guy jumping on one foot instead of picking up a cusion ) But it really teaches you about timing.

Good luck

[WalandLibby]

Good sources of info recommended.

One thing I find that really helps with your timing is to be really clear in your own mind before you start about what it is that you are going to reinforce and how you will know that it has occurred (so there is no time wasted while you decide whether to mark or not).

So with stand for eg you might do what you are going to to get the movement into the position (I would usually use a nose-to-hand target) and be ready watching the back end come up (you'll need to be positioned at 90 deg to your dog to see this) and as soon as you see the back go level, mark. If you don't have some particular spot on their body that you are watching to tell you when to mark, then each time you mark you will probably be marking something different, and the dog's understanding will be vague at best. Kay Laurence (who has a great set of books if you want to follow a really structured course of learning in ct) talks about how, considering that a dog can move into almost any position by various means, each of those can be considered a different behaviour and could be given different cues (she teaches 3-4 different sits for eg). The flip side of that of course is that if we teach all these ways of moving into the position as 'sit' then the dog will learn slower and be less clear about what we're asking for.

Also on adding hold to positions, and assuming the dog is 'attached' by the nose to a target, letting the dog go through a bit of wriggling, then settle, then marking when they are still is fine and quite communicative. You'll usually find that they become still at a shorter interval fairly quickly, and that the concept generalises quite well.