What happens when you click is incredibly important, but what happens after you click and BEFORE you reward is also incredibly important. If I click a dog for a sit, and as I fumble and reach for the treat, he also sniffs the ground, turns his head, and sneezes before I give him the treat. What I actually rewarded is the entire behavior chain. Next time I ask for sit, I may also get a sniff, head turn, and a sneeze.
Competition
Training Paired Cues: "Bark/Be Quiet"
By Karen Pryor on 09/01/2004At ClickerExpo last season, Karen Pryor talked about paired or "opposite" cues, and gave the "bark/be quiet" pair as an example. This is an easy pair to train as a demonstration if you happen to have a very barky dog handy. The concept of teaching cues in pairs is new to many dog trainers, although a familiar tool to some marine mammal trainers.
Reinforcing Cues from a Distance
By Karen Pryor on 08/01/2004Q: I'm training my dog, an English springer spaniel, to do signals for Utility obedience competition. My dog understands what the sit signal is. When I am close he sits up like a rocket, as I get further he sometimes hesitates, and if too far, doesn't do it at all. If I go back, again he sits up like a rocket. However, when I go just a bit further, he sits on the signal but moves forward a bit. I have used things to prevent him from moving forward but they only temporarily fix the problem. I'm looking for some guidance on building a sit signal so my dog eventually understands that I can give the signal when I'm 20 feet away from him. I'm not in a hurry and am willing to build; just not sure I'm going about it right.
Making the Connection: Behavior Chains
By Karen Pryor on 05/01/2004During the first season of ClickerExpo, it seemed to me that a lot of people had questions about behavior chains and back-chaining. I'd like to shed a little light on the subject. A behavior chain is an event in which units of behavior occur in sequences and are linked together by learned cues. Back-chaining, which means teaching those units in reverse order and reinforcing each unit with the cue for the next, is a training technique. We use this technique to take advantage of the intrinsic nature of the event.
Agility Competitions...for Cats!
By KPCT on 12/01/2003There's now a national agility organization and competition for cats. The cats learn to run across obstacles around the house, sometimes for clicks and treats but more often for clicks and chasing a feather lure or some other toy through the course. Cats love it and take well to running new courses in new places. The courses are set up inside an area fenced with special wire net panels that cats can't climb, so there's no risk of contestants going AWOL. The first major competition was won by an eight month old Himalayan kitten (a long-haired breed you'd expect to be a couch potato, but not this one.)
