Regarding Morten Egtvedt and Cecilie Koste's ClickerExpo session "The ABC's of OTCh" for dogs:
They have a list of 19 basic behaviors that each puppy is taught using no cues and no luring (not even body cues such as hand signals.) It's just capturing and shaping.
These 19 behaviors are "sorted" by the puppy into "folders" that are based on the puppy's position relative to the handler. If the puppy is in front of the handler facing the handler, there are only a few of those 19 behaviors that the puppy can do (sit, down, stand, recall, stay.) That could be folder one.
If the puppy is in heel position, again, there are only certain behaviors that the puppy learns are likely to result in a click while in that position. So it's not like you have to wait for the puppy to go through the whole repetoir. But they do experiment at the start of each training session to see which of the likely behaviors will get the first click. It is that click that lets the pup know, ok we're working on down right now. And the trainer can then perfect the pup's responses through shaping (a ready to go "sphinx" down for drop on recall, or a relaxed down on the hip for long stays for example.) When that session is over, there is a short break for play or whatever and the next session can start on a new behavior that gets clicked as soon as it is offered.
Each of the 19 basic behaviors is taken to full fluency (able to be performed perfectly, everywhere, with as little latency as possible) before the cue gets put on. That way, the dog is VERY clear about exactly what "sit in heel" feels like or what stand still means. Once the dog is able to understand these things and perform the basic behaviors in the presence of distractions and in many different locations, then the behavior is likely to remain strong and not be varied and it will later generalize to new areas and situations more easily and the cue can be added. There is no "baggage" or flaws to be worked out of the cue. You don't have to add cues that "help" get the dog in the correct position (such as "scoot in" for heel) because
the dog will only get in the correct position because that has always been his only response to that cue.
If at anytime the behavior starts to get sloppy, the behavior itself can be perfected again, without using (wearing out) the cue. Once it gets back to perfection, the cue gets used again.
It DOES eliminate the need for a training cue vs. performance cue. In this case, only the performance cue is needed.
They also have a certain rough order that they teach the 19 behaviors. And each of the behaviors has certain "levels" of perfection that need to be reached. Getting eye contact is the first thing taught to the puppy. This is a great behavior to have as the most reinforced thing in the pup's life! Some of the sub-levels of "eye contact" include:
Is the pup able to give eye contact when he is in front of you?
While you move backwards away from the pup?
While he is sitting at heel?
With distractions?
With high level distractions (Leave it)?
Obviously there are more steps during the training, but these give you milestones to work toward as the behavior progresses (includes a chart to keep track of the progress.) When the young dog is able to
maintain eye contact in the presence of a bite sleeve (in the case of a working dog) or in the presence of sheep or ducks (for a herding dog) or in the presence of another dog running agility or whatever the hardest thing for that dog would be to ignore, THEN you can add a cue for that behavior.
Obviously you are going to be working on many of the basic behaviors simultaeously, just not during the same training segment/session. Also, when props start to be introduced (dumbbell, jump, etc.) the
pup learns that the presence of those props indicates that he is expected to interact with them (again, limiting the number of behaviors the dog will try to get that first click of the session.) They don't practice flat work in the same ring as a jump till much later. If there is a jump, that indicates the pup should be jumping- very low at first, of course.
Same with the dumb bell- if it is available, the pup should be holding it (they click only the hold part at first - clicking the release comes later. Till then, they use a trade.) That way, the pup focuses only on the hold part, not the spit it out part.
I found it VERY facinating and actually easier than trying to guess if it's time to add a cue or not (then trying not to mis-use the cue when the pup might not respond.) Or needing multiple cues for each
behavior (I have enough trouble remembering ONE cue per behavior! :-)
After hearing about the poisoned cues and seeing how much cues get used when the dog is not able or ready to respond (which lowers the dog's compliance to the cue) I think this is a very elegant way
around those issues.
The quality goes in before the name goes on. You don't add a cue till the behavior is EXACTLY what you want and is reliable under any circumstance.
Once these basic behaviors get to the point of having a cue added, THEN you can start chaining them together (back-chaining of course) to create more complex behaviors like stay- toss dumb bell- send dog -
dog gets it - brings it to "front"- releases it on cue and goes to heel. I also realized just how complex a simple fetch exercise is! And that I would have been expecting my dog to put together behaviors he didn't fully understand prior to hearing their methods.
Does this mean I can't teach my dog other behaviors, sports or fun stuff - Absolutely not! I can teach him a cue that means "we're done! you can be a dog" and tricks that are just for fun and service dog behaviors or other dog sport related things if I so desire. But I will be looking at these more closely to make sure I teach the COMPONENTS of each behavior before I start chaining them and that I add cues much later than I would have previously.
As I heard others from the LA Expo say, I thought this presentation was worth the Expo admission. It really opened my eyes to the fact that the cues are the HUMAN'S crutch! The DOG doesn't NEED them to learn the behaviors! They only need them when chaining starts. And I was so happy I followed the advice of those who saw it in LA and went to these sessions in KY.
Chris Puls "Scoutdogs"
Troop Leader for Dog Scout Troop 107 (OH-KY-IN tri-state)
www.DogScoutTroop107.com
Captain of the Dearborn County Animal Response Team
www.TriStateCART.com
My K9 boys: www.Dog-GoneHappy.itgo.com
My book: www.SafeHomeVisits.com
My art & action photos of my dogs: www.PictureTrail.com/scoutdogs
