I have seen alot of videos on clicker training dogs, cats, and even birds, I have all three pets. Two parakeets named Mary and Joseph, a 6 year old cockatiel named George, two cats named Romeo (who is 2yrs) and Jeanie (who is 5 months), and my short haired jack russell terrier, Mary-Jane (who is 3yrs). Originally I wanted to get the clicker to train George my cockatiel because before I got him, he was with a couple for his whole life, and they wanted to give him a new home because, they were never around to give the attention he deserved, so my mother and I have him now. The issue is that he is very agressive and wants to bite. A woman at my local pet store suggested getting a leather glove and to just stick my hand in the cage until he gets used to it, but he isnt angry agressive its scared agressive and, when I put my hand in the cage just to adjust a purch or to give him a new toy he flaps his wings and hisses. I deffenitly dont want to try the leather glove because, I feel it willl just scare him even more, and I dont want to do that. So when I saw a video on clicker training a cockatiel, I thought that it was perfect. A positive patient calm way to get him used to my mother and I. Well when I got the clicker and tried the first step it didnt work and he seemed scared so I desided to try and look for other ways to get him used to us.
So now my delema was what to do with the clicker. My first thought was that other then George all my pets were well behaved and loving, untill my door bell rang. my mother and I dont get alot of company, so when they do come over Mary-Jane gets really excited and, repeatedly jumps up to say hello, and wants to be pet and held by them. Everyone gets annoyed beause, she is always on top of them and they push her down and it angers my mother and I because sometimes they are a little to agressive. They expect us to punish her but, Why on Earth would we punish her for being happy that we have company. Then it came to me. CLICKER TRAIN!!!
I started with the basic sit command, and after a couple of times she got the hang of it. Now I'm stuck. I'm not sure how, or where to go from there. I dont expect fast results but, my biggest wish is to get her to be calm when company is over. She is such a wonderful, funny, smart and sassy dog. I want every one else to see that. All they see is a hyper and excited dog, They dont see Mary-Jane.
Clicker Training Mary-Jane
Hi there...I have a few ideas that may help you with Mary-Jane.
You may want to start making the doorway less exciting. As an everyday rule she should not be
greeted at the doorway. Especially if she is jumping up, any look, touch or word from the person at the
door is immediately reinforcing the jumping/excited behaviour. Ignoring her until you are further into the
house will help her to be more calm. It will also help her to understand that it is the person's choice
when the greeting shall happen.
You can also help her to get the idea by having the leash on her for about 10 minutes before your
company arrives (or keep the leash near the door for those surprise guests.) This way, when
someone enters the house you can step on the leash and just wait until she is more calm.
When she is calm, you can ask her to sit and then allow the person who wants to see her to come
closer-but only by one step-as Mary-Jane will
probably get excited and want to jump again. Ask the person to step back and not look at her until
she is again calm enough to sit. The person may then take that one step. Again if she jumps, the
person is to step back. It will not take her long to realize that she will get more of the type of
attention that she wants by sitting and staying calm with "all four on the floor."
You said in your note that: "Everyone gets annoyed beause, she is always on top of them and they
push her down and it angers my mother and I because sometimes they are a little to agressive ".
The way you have worded the above statement makes me think that she jumps up on people
when they are sitting on your couch. In this case you can ask her to "go to her mat".
(typically a bed or location where she often rests.) If she gets off the mat, it is then your job to lead
her back to it and then give her a small pet of encouragement when she is again on it.
when she gets off again, be quick to correct her with a "eh-eh" noise or something of the sort and
once again place her back on the mat and pet her. This is something that should be practicing in the
house well before you try it when guests are there as you want to be able to build the duration that
Mary-Jane is able to stay on this mat. For example
you can practice this during dinner times, or when you are in the kitchen cooking and it is safer for
her to be on her mat so she does not get tripped on. Once she is very good at it, practice it when
company comes over.
They will then be able to truly enjoy your "calm" wonderful, funny, smart, dog and not feel that their
personal space is being invaded by her. It does take time, practice, consistancy and patience, but it
is well worth the effort.
Clicker Training
I realy think that clicker training is effective and quick. I had a very hyper dog and it even worked for her! If you have the book (I'll post a link on the bottom for it) from Karen Pryor, it tells a lot about getting started with your clicker training. I find it very useful and a great tool.
From the command "sit," try other easy and basic commands like "lie down" and "stay." These commands will be very useful for learning other commands. Make sure your dog masters these before moving on.
You can do this by taking your clicker everywhere you go with your dog. Whenever she does the command you are trying to get her to do, click it. This way, she wont forget the command. Once she gets to the point where you feel that she has learned the command, move on to other commands.
The fist command my dog learned, like yours, was sit. Then I taught her stay. And then, lie down.
The book will tell you hand motions (or ways) to get your dog to do this so you can click. There is also many other useful things inside it. I strongly recomend it.
However, when you first start clicker training, make the sessions short. If you make them long, then the dog will tire easily and loose focus. I recomend only a few minutes each day. This seems short, but the dog will learn quicker this way.
I think that the clicker is a very useful training tool and it is well worth while.
I hope that these tips helped!
Here is a link for the book I was telling you about. It is only about $10.
Getting Started: Clicker Training for Dogs
Afraid of Clicker
I was using my clicker for my 4 year old Chihuahua and my 6 month old Chihuahua started to run away while we were teaching and reinforcing some tricks she had learned. I have a clicker for the younger one which has a loudness control on it that I have used in the past and now it seems she is afraid of that one too. The older dog's clicker is louder than the younger one. Any suggestions on re-introducing the younger dog's clicker and how to keep her from being scared of the other clicker?
Afraid of Clicker
I might not use either clicker at the moment. Instead you can try a ball point pen (clicking the end that exposes the tip of the pen as the "click"), a "Snapple" lid or some other quieter, different noise. As long as the sound is consistent, can be heard, and is distinct, it will be a good marker. Finding something that isn't aversive is important, as we want training to be fun!
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Laurie Luck
For Clickertraining.com
Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner
See my profile and contact information at
http://karenpryoracademy.com/Luck_Laurie