Our new Pocket Expandable Target turned out to be perfect for target training this visitor to our offices, a chihuahua puppy named Louie. Louie belongs to clicker fan Lisa Sinnegin D.V.M.
Clicker classes for pet owners
This came up on a recent on-line discussion and I've been mulling it over: the pet owner who doesn't really want to learn to click, who just wants to get to the point where the dog will sit because he says SIT and clicks and treats are no longer needed. So what do we tell this pet owner?
I think that perhaps this problem arises when--and because--some pet classes with clickers still follow the same schedule that pet classes with choke chains used to: six to eight weeks to learn five behaviors: sit, down, come, stay, and heel. What more does the 'pet owner' need or want, anyway, right?
But a clicker class can be entirely different. I have seen my colleague Emma Parsons run classes for novice pet owners in which the dogs and owners practiced different, new behaviors in every class. One class was basic obedience. In another class everyone tried some simple agility obstacles. Another class was spent on husbandry behavior: allowing handling of ears, feet, and teeth, standing quietly on a table, tolerating being touched by strangers. For this, the owners worked in pairs (see Beginner Tactics, below.) At home, instead of drilling on class behaviors, the owners were encouraged to work on a new trick every week, and do show-and-tell in class. The dogs were c/t through all these experiences.
At the end of six weeks the 'presenting complaints' as physicians say-the things that brought people to the class in the first place such as leash-pulling, running off when called, jumping on people, not sitting when asked, and so on-had mostly just sort of disappeared. The owners and dogs had a much better relationship with each other. They had learned to focus on each other and work together. People never knew what to expect next, and therefore never suffered the guilt of coming unprepared. They were having enormous fun, and looked forward to class.
And now they loved and understood their dogs more. I recall seeing one woman in tears at the end of her six weeks, because she was so grateful to have come to know her nice dog, whom she had previously regarded as a nuisance and a burden and had been thinking of giving away.
Isn't this rather different from drilling five behaviors over and over at home (if they bother) and in class? If the owner and dog have tried out clicking together for twenty or thirty different things, a single behavior is no longer such an issue, and the dog is more likely to do it willingly and attentively anyway, having a richer reinforcement history in general.
Did this suit everyone? Of course not. I've seen a man leave as soon as he found out he'd have to work with other dogs besides his own. Another teacher reported to me a woman who quit because she broke a fingernail on the clicker. No class can suit everyone. People quit conventional classes, too.
It is tempting to give a lot of attention to the Unhappy people-the "Yes, but…" folks, the complainers who want sympathy not solutions, the arguers who want to prove you wrong, the resisters. It is more clickerish, however, to reinforce the ones who are trying to learn, instead of giving attention to behavior you don't want. Let the resisters watch and learn, or let them leave…the successful learners will keep your classes filled.
Beginner tactics
Beginners find there's a lot to manage, at first-the leash, clicker, dog, food, behavior, of course it's overwhelming. Here's one way I break down the human behavior for beginners (shaping behavior in increments, right?)
I divide the group into pairs. I tether or crate one dog (or have a bystander hold its leash) and ask both people to work with the other dog. The owner of the chosen dog holds the leash and treat supply, and gives a treat after each click. The other person clicks and treats for some simple behavior--touching a target is a good place to start.
One person has to think only about holding the target, getting the behavior, and clicking it. The other person concentrates on listening for clicks and giving the treat promptly (and even that can be hard at first!) After two or three minutes-the teacher can call time-they change places: now the owner is clicking and the partner is treating. Both are gaining skills, both are learning to focus without being swamped and confused, and the DOG is learning that total strangers can click and can treat and can make sense…good news that helps the dog to calm down.
Then they put that dog away and do the same thing with the other dog. Even in the very first lesson you can give them additional behaviors, or start leading the dogs in circles and short lines with the target. You can change pairs around so that everyone experiences three or four dogs and two or more partners. By the end of a short class a LOT of learning has taken place. People and dogs too will sleep soundly that night!
I've done this with horses and horse owners, too. And last week at Upper Valley Humane Society in Enfield, New Hampshire, we did it with cats! (See a description of this on our web site by following the link Making cats friendlier, clicker-style
Learning about teaching/ teaching about learning
All three ClickerExpos will give you a great chance to learn more about making teaching easy. Kathy Sdao, Emma Parsons, Melissa Alexander, and I will all have workshops on various aspects of clicker teaching and learning. But don't think you have to be an expert to benefit! I often think people who are just getting started now have a HUGE advantage. As with computers, the technology has been growing and getting easier all the time. If you're a beginner, you and your dog can be the students for the 'student teachers' in one or more teaching workshops. I guarantee it will be a rich and fun experience. And your introduction to clicker thinking will go faster and be easier than it did for many who began, ten, five or even two years ago!
Free Palm Pilot clicker
Click! You read this far, so here's your treat: a fun piece of software our web architect Greg Parsons found on the internet. HandyClic makes a simulation of a clicker's sound on your PDA. There's a choice of sounds, all very faint-I'd stick to the click. I wouldn't use my Palm Pilot as a regular training tool (outdoors, in the rain, covered with hotdog juice-I don't think so!) But I did test out this toy for technojunkies in a quiet room, and successfully used the software and our new Pocket Extendable Target (P.E.T.) to train my cat Mimi to walk backwards on the cue 'Rewind.' http://www.freewarepalm.com/misc/handyclic.shtml
Karen Pryor is the founder and CEO of Karen Pryor Clicker Training and Karen Pryor Academy. She is the author of many books, including Don't Shoot the Dog and Reaching the Animal Mind. Learn more about Karen Pryor or read Karen's Letters online.
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