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Getting
started in Clicker Training
How
it Works :
In essence, a clicker is an abbreviated way of saying "good dog."
It identifies for the animal exactly which behavior "caused" a reward.
In psychology terms the clicker is known as a secondary reinforcer.
Primary reinforcers are the actual things that animals work for
-- food, water, physical affection or fetching a ball. A secondary
reinforcer is a signal that the dog learns to associate with rewards.
For example for many dogs hearing a can being opened will elicit
an excited response. The dog has learned that the sound of a can
being opened is associated with being fed- a reward. Similarly our
dogs can learn to associate the sound of the clicker with a reward
by continually pairing the click with a treat. Click then treat,
click then treat. After about 20 times your dog has usually learned
to associate the click with a reward. Once the clicker takes on
these properties it can be used in a number of ways.
- The
clicker accurately identifies correct behavior. Because the clicker
is faster than verbal praise, it is more precise. In the time
it takes to say "good dog" the dog may perform the desired behavior
and then move to an unwanted behaviour before the praise has time
to register. For example, the dog can't tell if you liked the
"sit" or the "jumping up" that occurred a split second later.
- The
clicker can also work well from a distance. It is impractical
to try and toss a treat at the dog's mouth at the exact moment
that a desirable behavior occurs. The clicker bridges the gap
from the instant the dog performs the correct response and the
time it takes to actually deliver a treat.
-
The clicker can take your dog's mind off the actual reward. Some
dogs are so food crazy that they cannot learn new behaviors in
the presence of food until the secondary reinforcement of the
clicker is established.
Charging
up your clicker:
The first step in "charging up" your clicker is to associate it
with rewards. If your dog already knows some obedience behaviors,
merely replace your use of verbal praise with the clicker. Example:
1.Say "Sit" 2.Fido sits 3.Click and treat. (The sequence of "click
then Treat" is important.) * If your dog does not yet know any
formal behaviors, simply click the clicker and give the dog a treat.
Do this about 20-30 times until the dog visibly startles at the
sound of the click.
Shaping
your first behavior:
When offered a favorite snack, most dogs will sit expectantly and
wait for the treat. After a few seconds of waiting, your dog is
likely to get impatient and fidget in some way. My dog lifts a paw,
some dogs might "talk", some change hips. Whatever the
natural behaviour is that your dog offers, what we want to do is
shape that behaviour to occur when we command it. So take a treat,
get the sit and wait for the dog to offer the behaviour, (let's
say a paw lift). At the moment your dog lifts its paw in impatience,
you click and then treat. After the treat wait a few seconds for
the dog to repeat the behaviour. Once they lift the paw, click and
treat (C&T). Make sure you do it in that order, click the instant
of the behaviour and then offer the treat.
Continue this process and watch how your dog's behavior changes.
If you continue to click and treat each time she lifts her paw,
the behavior will become stronger and will occur quite quickly after
the last reward. Once you have a clearly definable behavior going,
start saying a word just before you think Fido is going to do it.
If the behavior you shaped was lifting a paw, say "High five" just
before you think she is about to perform the behavior. Once you
have repeated this exercise many times you will be able to say the
command "High Five" and the dog will offer the behaviour.
Don't reward the behaviour at this stage unless you have used the
command- this then gives you control of the behaviour. That is it-
that is training. Learning to use positive reinforcement to shape
behaviors is a fun process.
This
project used a behaviour your dog offered naturally and gave it
a command so that you could time when the behaviour is performed.
In agility it becomes a little more complex as you may not be using
a naturally occurring behaviour so we break the end-behaviour that
we are looking for down into the tiniest pieces and reward those
to shape a final behaviour. The placement of the reward also helps
shape the dog to move in the direction you desire. For example if
you want your dog to stand on the table, you may break that end-behaviour
into multiple pieces such as:1. looking toward the table, 2. taking
a step toward the table, 3. moving toward the table, 4. placing
a paw on the table, 5. placing two paws on the table, 6. leaning
forward over the table with two paws on it, 7. all four paws on
the table. So you
would start with clicking the dog simply looking at the table. You
then deliver the reward to the dog between the dog and the table.
The dog will soon be moving toward the table - you start to deliver
the reward closer to the table or above the table. The upward motion
of receiving the reward will help shape the dog's behaviour to place
a paw on the top of the table. The important part is that you don't
lure the dog with the food to the table as this doesn't help the
dog think about what is required. Rather the click marks a behaviour
of moving toward the table or placing a paw on the table and the
reward for that reinforces that the position relevant to the table
is a good one.
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Books
on Agility Training
Yunde Canine Enterprises have a range of books
on agility training for sale at Agilityclick.com.
Books include:
Agility Tricks for Improved Attention, Flexibility and Confidence
by Donna Duford
Agility Fun the Hobday Way Series (Vols I,II,III) by Ruth Hobday
Agility Workbook Series- Australasian Edition Revised by Yunde Canine
Enterprises
Fundamentals of Course Design for Dog Agility (Aust & NZ Edition)
by Stuart Mah
The Clean Run Book of Agility Games (Aust & NZ Edition) by Bud
Huston and Stuart Mah
Clean Run Course Designer Software
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