What is Clicker Training?
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Developed by dolphin trainer Karen Pryor, this training method has changed the dog training world forever! A clicker is a small device that you hold in your hand and pinch down to make a "click" sound. You can also use a retractable pen. The clicker is a conditioned reinforcer - it is conditioned to mean "yes you did it right and a reward is coming". First you must put a value to the click by teaching the dog what it means. Click and treat, click and treat, click and treat. Do this 10 to 20 times and your dog will understand what a click represents!! Note: the value of the click is based on the treat following. So, if you click by accident, you still must treat!!! Once the dog understands the value of the click, you can start clicking the behaviour you like. What a clicker does is mark the desired behaviour exactly when it occurs. Thus learning is much quicker because the dog isn't guessing at what he did right!! But, clicker training is more than just the clicker. Clicker training is about using operant conditioning to train. Meaning: behaviour occurs and is repeated based on the consequences. We all know DOGS DO WHAT WORKS, but we also know that dogs will keep performing tons of different behaviours that you keep reinforcing. Consequences drive behaviour!! And with positive reinforcement - rewards - as the consequence, the dog is a happy and eager learner and the possibilities are endless of what your dog can do!!
OPERANT CONDITIONING - CLICKER TRAINING
LURE TRAINING, FORCE TRAINING
OPERANT CONDITIONING - BEHAVIOUR = CONSEQUENCE. BEHAVIOUR THAT IS REINFORCED WILL BE REPEATED.. THE ANIMAL IS WORKING ON THE ENVIRONMENT BEING CREATIVE AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT BEHAVIOURS PAY. THOSE BEHAVIOURS THAT ARE PAID WILL AUTOMATICALLY CONTINUE AS LONG AS THEY ARE REINFORCED(PAID BY A REWARD THE ANIMAL LIKES OR WANTS).
Operant conditioning is positive reinforcement training based on B.F. Skinner's research in the 60's. Back then Skinner used a bell, a box and a mouse to to get the desired results he was looking for. With dogs, we use a clicker. Training using this method is based on consequences and we all know, consequences drive behaviour. The clicker is used as a marker to communicate to the dog that he did a great behaviour and a good consequence is coming. The dog is being reinforced (rewarded) for doing a behaviour we like. We are not forcing the dog to do this behaviour, he is offering it on his own accord. But, because he is getting something he LIKES from doing it, he will repeat the behaviour if the reward is to his liking. Your choice of reinforcements is critical. You can tell if the reinforcement is good when the dog repeats the behaviour over and over again in order to obtain the reinforcer (reward). We use shaping to obtain the exact behaviours we like. Shaping is like playing the hot and cold game when you were a child. We are going to reward the dog for behaviours that are at the bottom of the ladder even though the goal at the top is a spin. The first step in the ladder is rewarding the first muscle movement in the spin which could be a paw lift or a head turn. You need to observe your dog to see what moves first in the action and you can lure him in the beginning (no more than 2 times). If you notice it is the head turning then you will focus on clicking that behaviour first. Once he is offering that behaviour over and over again like a robot, you stop paying him for it and he will get frustrated and start offering more of a head turn. You will then start clicking that movement and so on and so on until your reach your final target - the spin.
The difficult part with this procedure is for the human to remain silent and not help the dog if he gets stuck. Everytime you help a dog by luring or prompting, the dog then starts to wait for that help (it becomes part of the cue). Ever wonder why you have to sometimes say the cue "sit" a few times before the dog will do it? It is usually because you have lured the behaviour (helped the dog out) or prompted the behaviour by cues you are giving with your body (either unaware or aware). There is nothing wrong with luring the dog but you must remove that lure within a few reps or the dog will become dependent on it. Then you have a dog not thinking for himself. Dogs that are clicker savy have repertoires exceeding 100 behaviours on cue and these behaviours are strong and fluent on one cue. This type of training is fun for both human and dog and bonding between the two starts to take place very quickly. The animals mental capacity is stretched far beyond those that are forced to comply to do specific behaviours. And because society as compromised our dog's well being through unnatural restrictions, they cannot learn through chasing, guarding, noisy play, wrestling etc. This can impact their mental and physical development. Training along with physical exercise will result in a well developed, content canine. Just like people, their brains go on developing if the demand is maintained. The brain is a muscle that needs to be exercised, pushed and strengthened regularly.
Luring does work but it is difficult to wean the dog off. Also, the dog and handler tend to focus on the wrong thing - food. This minimizes full engagement of the dog. We usually pull out luring after a failed response, so now the lure becomes part of the cue and you reinforce the dog once he performs the lured behaviour. You ask for a "sit" but the dog just stays standing. You try again but nothing happens. Now you grab some food in your hand and put it to his nose pulling backwards over his head. This motion will definetly get the dog to sit. But the dog is following the lure not doing the behaviour on his own. What now happens is the dog now hears your cue "sit" but waits for the lure because in his mind the waiting + the lure = reinforcement. And some dogs believe that waiting is what is being reinforced so you have to be careful. What you need to do if your dog doesn't respond to your cue, is abort the session and go back to see where things with the cue went wrong. See handout re: adding cues.
Really good shapers will get faster results using lures but they are careful and remove the lure after only 2 to 3 times of usage.
Coercion is using intimidation, threats or even pressure. When you are touched by someone, you are at that moment thinking about the touch and what it feels like. You are not actively listening to the person who may be speaking at the same time as touching you. It does work fast in getting the desired behaviour but the trust is definetly broken. At a seminar, we were partnered up and had to figure out a way to get our partner to kneel on the ground. Some of us shaped the behaviour slowly but 1 lady who was a forced based trainer whacked her partner on the back of the knee and down she went. Yes, it worked faster than any other method but now the friend didn't trust her partner and wanted as far away as possible. We all have choices in training but remember that the fastest is not always the best.
