The
Keys to Successful Clicker Training
As the word
about positive training techniques spreads, more and
more people are giving clicker training a try. It's
a terrific technique, because when done correctly,
it enables the trainer to do the one thing that was
missing in other methods: communicate that the dog
has done something that you like.
Unfortunately,
many people don't do it correctly. They use the clicker
wrong, or don't reinforce after each click, and their
results aren't very spectacular. They get frustrated
and quit. Worse, they tell people, "It's a gimmick.
It doesn't work."
Clicker training
isn't a gimmick. It does work. But you must do it
correctly. The following keys will help you unlock
the secret of successful clicker training.
Key #1: Use
an effective reinforcer.
A common complaint
is, "My dog isn't food motivated." If your
dog weren't food motivated, he would be dead. Your
dog may not be hungry or may not like what you're
offering, but that's not the same as not being food
motivated.
If you free-feed
your dog, change to scheduled feedings. Why should
a dog work for a treat if it can eat for free whenever
it wants? Still not motivated? Take a look at your
dog's waistline. You may be overfeeding. Even steak
isn't appealing when you're full. Cut back on the
amount your feeding at meals and feed it as training
treats. Train before meals, so your dog is hungry.
Remember,
also, the DOG determines what is an effective reinforcer.
If the dog doesn't want what you're offering, it's
not a reinforcer! You may want to use kibble, but
if your dog prefers garlic chicken, well....
To figure
out what your dog likes, get a supply of a variety
of treats. Present them to your dog two at a time
and make a note of which he eats first. Through the
process of elimination, you can figure out exactly
what foods your dog most likes. Believe it or not,
I know a dog whose favorite training treat is a spritz
of water in the mouth and another who adores green
beans! Most dogs prefer smelly treats like cheese
or liver.
Key #2: Use
the reinforcer correctly.
Once you have
an effective reinforcer, another key to successful
clicker training is using the reinforcer correctly.
A reinforcer is presented AFTER the behavior, not
used to induce it. If you regularly use food to induce
the behavior - holding up a treat to get your dog
to come to you, for example - the treat becomes part
of the context of the behavior. The dog won't perform
the behavior without the treat present because THAT'S
HOW IT WAS TRAINED.
Some people
use food lures when they are first teaching a dog
a new behavior. If you choose to do this, fade the
food - lure with just your empty hand - after only
a few repetitions. The more repetitions you do with
the food present, the more dependent on the food the
behavior becomes.
If possible,
keep the food off of your body entirely. Put it in
a dish nearby, and actually walk to get it after each
click. Work on attention from the very beginning,
so the dog learns to focus on you instead of the treat.
If the dog is staring at the clicker or the treats,
don't click until he's focused on you again.
Key #3: Use
the clicker as an event marker, not a reward marker.
The third
key to clicker training success is using the clicker
correctly. Timing is everything. The proper time to
click is at the exact moment the dog does what you
want -- like taking a picture of the event.
Most people
click late. If your timing is off, the clicker becomes
a treat marker, not an event marker. While it still
serves as a reminder to the trainer to focus on the
positive, it isn't fulfilling its primary purpose:
it isn't communicating to the dog which behaviors
are reinforceable.
Timing - being
able to click at the exact moment the dog offers the
behavior you like - is a mechanical skill. Like any
mechanical skill, it requires practice. Have a friend
drop a ball, and try to click just as the ball hits
the floor. The sound of the bounce and the sound of
the click should be simultaneous. Have your friend
vary the height from which he drops the ball. As he
gets closer to the floor, you'll find you have to
observe his behavior much more carefully.
The point
at which you click a particular behavior may change
at different stages in training that behavior. For
example, when you first start training sit, click
the motion - click just before the butt hits the ground,
because it's the act of sitting that you want to reinforce.
Later, you'll want to increase the duration of the
behavior, so you delay the click longer and longer.
In another
example, when I'm first training the recall, I click
as soon as the dog turns his head in response to the
cue. I want to emphasize that quick response, that
quick turn. Later, I might be shaping a fast return,
so I click when he's running to me - but only when
he's running. Then I might concentrate on automatic
sits at the end, so I wait and click as he offers
a sit.
Just as timing
is a mechanical skill, learning to judge when to click
is also a product of practice and observation. This
brings us to our final key to successful clicker training:
Key #4: Train
responses, not behaviors.
The final
key to effective clicker training is learning to split
behaviors into individual responses. Once you learn
not only how to split behavior, but how to evaluate
your progress and increase criteria at the right pace,
training becomes incredibly efficient.
In the beginning,
we tend to start with very simple behaviors. Sit.
Lie down. Touch a target. Come to me. Walk beside
me. Eventually, however, we want more. We either want
a very precise behavior: I want a tucked, square,
fast sit. Or we want a complex behavior: I want you
to, on cue, go straight out, pick up a dumbbell, turn
tightly, come quickly back, sit directly in front
of me, hold the dumbbell until I give a cue, then
drop the dumbbell into my hands.
To train these
behaviors, we need to learn to break a behavior into
its component parts - its individual responses. Sometimes
even a seemingly simple behavior - like a precise
sit, in the above example - is really quite complex.
To minimize confusion to the dog, teach each individually
response separately.
For example,
I start by accepting any sit. When the dog is freely
offering sits, I begin to accept only tucked sits.
If necessary, I find a way to induce tucked sits,
so the dog will have a high rate of success. When
my dog is offering tucked sits 80-90% of the time,
I begin looking for tucked, square sits. And so on,
until I have shaped exactly the sit I want.
Once you learn
to split behavior, literally anything the dog is physically
capable of, you will be able to train it to do.
And you and
the dog will have fun doing it.
What more
could anyone ask?
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This article
was reproduced on www.Southwestk9services.com
with the permission of the author Melissa Alexander.
www.ClickerSolutions.com ,
a site dedicated to helping pet owners improve the
relationship with their pets by teaching training
and management techniques which are understandable
and reinforcing to both human and animal
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