mensachicken
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Registered: Oct 2000
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quote:
Originally posted by creole
By the way Mensachicken...thanks for the input on click training...I've heard about it before but never talked to anyone who'd used it. Is it hard for the human to learn how to do it properly?
you're welcome. clicker training does take some practice but if you stick to it, you'll get it eventually.
you might also like some of my favorite dog books (i'm a dog freak): Culture Clash, Don't Shoot the Dog, and The Nature of Animal Healing.
the best way to practice or learn clicker training is with another human--not a dog. you can make a great game out of it. here's an example from when i taught some friends how to do it. i had two friends over, peter and bud. i sent bud out of the room. peter thought that clicker training was a load of B.S. so he was trying to stump me. his job was to think of some physical action that i had to get bud to do upon returning to the room. however, i was not allowed to say anything to bud. all i was allowed to do was use my clicker (for those that don't know, the clicker is just a little plastic and metal device that clicks when you press it. in the 70s they were popular as tin toys for kids. they were in the shape of animals with a "flexible" piece of metal on the back that you pressed to click.)
so, peter points at Satchel's bed (my dog's bed) and tells me that he wants me to get bud to lie on the bed, on his left side, and suck his thumb.
we call bud back into the room. since bud knows we're playing a game and that he should be performing something physical, he starts to do things (more on this later). bud claps. i do nothing. bud stands on one foot, i do nothing. this goes on for a minute or two with bud trying different things.
bud takes a step toward the dog bed. i click. (with a dog, you'd click and then give a treat.) he takes another step towards the bed and i click again. he picks up something from the mantlepiece. i do nothing. he puts it back down. he takes another step (this time away from the bed, assuming, i suppose that i was clicking him for walking). i don't click. now he's a bit confused and thinks back. he takes a step toward the bed again (repeats the clickable behaviour from before). i click. he steps on the bed. i click.
he does some of the sillyness he did before (one foot, etc.) i don't click. he steps off the bed. no click. he steps back on bed. i click. he lies down. i click.
etc etc. this goes on until bud is lying on his bed on his left side sucking his thumb. i had him finshed in 7 minutes, with no vocal whatsoever. i know it sounds ridiculous and like B.S. but i swear it's possible.
by practicing with a human first for a while, you'll start to see how clicking too early or too late will cause your subject to get the wrong impression and clicking at just the right time communicates what you want.
it's also important (when working with a dog) to not give the dog a command until *after* the dog has learned the trick. otherwise you're just asking the dog to do something he doesn't know how to do.
for instance, say you're teaching the dog to sit: you would take your treat, move it in front of his nose and then lift it back over his head. he'll sit, automatically, if you do this at the right speed. as soon as his butt hits the ground, click and give him a treat. do this ten times or so. then, when the dog is doing it automatically and knows what you want, you add the command "sit" and do it 10 more times or so.
then, when you've got your dog sitting on command, you'll clean up his sit and only click/reward when the dog sits perfectly straight--ie, not a lazyass looking sit but a proud sit. then when you've got him sitting great, then you can work on speed so that the dog's butt gets to the floor like lightning. (never work on more than one aspect of each trick at a time. ie do speed first or accuracy or whatever and once that's perfect, move to the next part.)
the great thing about clicker training is that it all ties together to help your dog be easier to train on other tricks. for instance, if you have a stick (not a tree stick but say, a piece of dowel). and hold one end of the stick in front of the dog and, using the steps outlined above, clicker train him to touch the stick with his nose, you've then taught him a lot! this is called targeting. once the dog has mastered touching the stick with his nose (i use the command "touch" for this), then you can do a lot with the stick. you can, for instance, walk down the street with the tip of the stick where you'd want the dog's nose to be on a perfect heel, and the dog will follow. once he's walking great (clicking and reward), you add the command. this is also how you can teach a dog to do things like ring a bell to go outside, or shut off the lights on command. you simply put the stick to the switch, get the dog to hit the switch and then eventually introduce the command and weed out the stick.
i would highly recommend you do a search on the web or pick up a book on clicker training. it's a rather fascinating thing.
it's important right off the bat to make sure you condition the dog to know that the click means great things (treats!).
eventually you want to get to the point where as soon as the dog sees you with the clicker in your hand, he starts doing tricks. if you always carry the clicker with you (many of the ones sold today are keychains), then you can catch your dog doing something great and click and teach him a trick that you never thought you could. for instance, you can teach him to wag his tail on command, scratch himself on command, even lift his leg as if to pee on command. i taught my dog to chase his tail on command by doing this. i had the clicker, he chased his tail, i clicked (boy was he surprised!) and now when i say spin, he chases his tail.
anyway, this is one hell of a long message. sorry folks! i think it's important, however, that people don't hit their dogs. ever. clicker training is one of the best ways to improve the relationship with your pooch!
mc.
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08-14-2001 12:47 AM
I have to pick mine up and carry him outside! He pees immediately once outdoors with no problem (the rain helps), but if he has to relieve his bowels..he will hold out forever. He would just as soon go on the living room carpet. 
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