Well, on Tuesday I held my very first clicker class for staff and volunteers at the shelter. I had 11 people show up so that's pretty awesome!
We went over VERY basic stuff like click ------> treat (everytime!) and the basic-est of basic principles of shaping. We also went over the ideas of reinforcing postive behavior like being quiet and relaxed in the kennel and the "No-Bark Zone" idea.
I demo'ed on a dog to target my hand and she did wonderfully AND exhibited stress signals which was wonderful b/c I wanted EVERYONE to see what a stressed out dog looked like and how quickly the shelter dogs tend to stress out and that they need to always be cognicent of that behavior and stop training when they are as stressed as she was.
My audience seemed very responsive and seemed to get it and I really encouraged them practice and told them they really couldn't mess it up too bad--after all, it's not like you're putting an e-collar on a dog and frying his little brain every time he messes up! I told them the worst thing they could do with the clicker was to throw it at the dog so they should refrain from doing that! ;)
I really hope that it catches on and that people catch my passion and we start getting more adoptable animals and animals that stay longer in their homes.
I'm doing a cat class on Wednesday so wish me luck! (I really do love teaching this stuff)
