Clicker Training Dogs?

[Kelley]

I was wondering if anyone has Clicker Trained their dog? How does it work?

Is it effective?

 

Thanks

Kelley

[Kelley]

Thanks for asking that question!!!

I would like to know what resources people used and how difficult is it to implement?

Kelley

[hillfarm]

IMO, clicker training works best for getting specific behaviors, such as sit or beg or whatever. If you are looking for general obedience or something along that line, you might find a training class more effective.

 

Karen Pryor wrote a great book about clicker training, but it is not the one you might think. Her more recent book is called Don't Shoot the Dog, but I didn't like that one as much as I did her earlier work called Lads Before the Wind. DSTD is more about theory and IMO an effort to validate her methods. Lads doesn't even deal with dogs, it is about training dolphins, but IMO it is the best book written about clicker training. Back then they used whistles, but the concept is exactly the same.

 

I have recommended Lads time and time again when teaching animal behavior classes. I love how Pryor brings the reader along with her as she comes to understand what operant conditioning is all about and how to implement it in real life.

[hornblower]

I'm a clicker trainer! I train obedience, tricks, agility, tracking, just started rally O, as well as rehabbing shy/nervous/fearful/aggressive dogs - ALL using clicker training. I'm thinking of doing a bit of freestyle with my female this summer.....

 

It's fast and effective. Check out www.clickertraining.org

Peggy Tillman's Clicking with Your Dog is prob my fave book for absolute beginners.

There is a good selection of books at the store on that site:

http://www.clickertraining.com/store/?item=dogtraining

 

A great free resource is Sue Ailsby's clicker training levels. I think she means to eventually put it all in a book but in the meantime all her articles are on the website for free. There's a yahoo list too where people discuss how it's going & brainstorm any problems. I think she's been busy teaching & the site needs some work & reorganizing - I'll admit it's not the easiest thing to navigata that site, but for free clicker resources, that's one of the best places: http://www.dragonflyllama.com/

 

I'd also really recommend Pam Dennison's Complete Idiot's Guide to Positive Dog Training.

 

This type of training is very rewarding & so much fun.

 

check out my favourite freestyle team:

 

(notice too that there is no clicker or food in sight. You use it to train behaviours; once trained, you put reinforcement on an intermittent schedule & you don't need to use clicker or rewards for bhvr which is already trained. Clicker trainers tend to keep clickers around a lot because there's always something new you can teach....)

[Kelley]

Thanks for all of the insight!

 

Loved the dancing freestyle video!! My daughter has been taking dance classes since she was 4 and she is now 13. She would love to dance with her dog!!

 

How do you train a dog to do that?

 

Kelley

[hornblower]

The key to successfully training complicated behaviours like that is something trainers call "splitting" and then "chaining". So you split the behaviour into teeny tiny parts. Train the teeny tiny parts either by luring, capturing or shaping.

 

Luring is just like it sounds - you use your hand with a toy or a treat and try to set it up so the dog will do what you want. Luring is the least favoured method of training long chains. Tends to be unreliably fixed in the brain unless you're good at fading lures fast. Good trainers know you need to fade the lure & make it into a hand signal or attach a word cue. In that video, Carolyn uses a lot of hand cues. Her entire body position, how she's shifting her weight etc are all cues to the dog as well. Dogs read body language very well. If you establish good communication and are very conscious of your own body movements, it's amazing what you can do with just a hitch of a shoulder..... Also you can't hear her in that video but I've seen in others that she is calling verbal cues as well.

 

Capturing is when you catch the dog doing something you like. Like yawning. Or putting their paw on their face. This is where clicker dogs can really shine because if you click at the right time, a clicker savvy dog will try again to see what made you click. Soon you can attach a cue to the bhvr & presto you have a cute dog trick.

 

Shaping is probably the best way to get really solid bhvrs. It's a communication between trainer and dog. You 'shape' better and better approximations of the behaviour you want until it's perfect.

 

Freestyle foundation behaviours are eye contact and staying close. Once you have those, you can really use your body and clicker training to move the dog. There are seminars, books and videos on developing choreography and some common steps you can teach your dog. Freestyle is mostly about fun fun fun. I've even seen people in wheelchairs doing freestyle with their dogs. People rarely look at the person btw - everyone watches the dog! And there are lots of people who never do freestyle in public, just do it for themselves and their dog as something fun to do.

 

If you trained through about level 3 or 4 of the levels, you'd be ready to start freestyle.....

http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/Levels/LevelBehaviours/LevelsBook.html