For two reasons: First, when the pup is learning the behavior, we want him to concentrate on the behavior. At that point, the cue is meaningless to him anyway—just another bit of "noise" to sort through. In the beginning, make learning easier on your dog by minimizing distractions, including meaningless cue words. Second, we want the cue to be associated with the final, perfect form of the behavior. If you add the cue in the beginning, you run the risk of having an unfinished version of the behavior crop up with you least want it to—like during the stress of competition—even though you continued to shape a more precise behavior.
Dogs
Hidden Reinforcers: For Things You Don't Want!
By Karen Pryor on 07/01/2005Recently I was appointed to the board of the B.F. Skinner Foundation. The annual board meeting is held in Boston, and usually there's a reception afterwards at the Skinner family home in Cambridge, for members of the board and other people who share an interest in the work of the foundation. At the most recent reception, I was talking to a woman I'd met at the same gathering two years earlier, a museum curator with a special interest in scientific instruments—an interest I share. However, on this particular evening she didn't want to talk about her work, she wanted to talk about her cat.
Chasing Bicycles
By Karen Pryor on 06/01/2005Q: One of my students recently asked me what to do when their dog chases them when riding a bike. The dog runs in front and around the bicycle. The student would like to stop this behavior, especially when the dog does this with the children. I struck a blank. Do you have a suggestion? This dog is just playing, but it could develop into something else if left alone.
Teaching People Teaching Dogs
By Karen Pryor on 06/01/2005Our six class members were experienced "lure and reward" dog trainers. Some were also experienced in correction-based training. Most had been exposed to some clicker training and had used it, but had never really adopted it. Our goal was to enable these six trainers to understand enough about clicker training to be able to teach others to use the curriculum. And we had two days.
Does the Animal Know the Behavior?
By Gale Pryor on 06/01/2005Sometimes this question is asked in a different way: Will I have to continue clicking and treating forever? In asking either question, what we really want to know is: When are we done? When can we call a behavior trained once and for all? The answer to these questions is (like most not-so-simple questions): It depends.
