| Contents | ||
| Foreword: | viii | |
| Introduction: | xii | |
| Chapter 1: | About Clicker Training | 1 |
| What is clicker training? | 1 | |
| Will it work for my dog? | 3 | |
| I'm interested in canine sports. Can a dog be clicker trained for activities such as agility, tracking, competition obedience, flyball, or Schutzhund? | 6 | |
| Where can I find a class or private trainer? | 8 | |
| I can't find a clicker class. Will it confuse my dog if I attend a class that uses another method? | 11 | |
| Chapter 2: | Equipment | 14 |
| What kind of equipment do I need? | 1 | |
| How do I juggle all the equipment? I need eight hands! | 18 | |
| Where can I get a clicker? | 19 | |
| Chapter 3: | That Magical Click | 21 |
| What does the click mean? | 21 | |
| Do I have to treat after every click? | 23 | |
| Does the click have to be followed by a food treat? | 25 | |
| Does the click have to end the behavior? | 26 | |
| Should I carry the clicker around and click and treat every time I see the dog doing something I like? | 27 | |
| Will I have to use the clicker and treats forever? | 29 | |
| My dog is afraid of the clicker! What do I do? | 30 | |
| My dog doesn't seem to know the clicker means anything except that a treat is coming. How can I teach her that the click is an event marker? | 31 | |
| Chapter 4: | Reinforcement | 33 |
| What can I use to reinforce my dog? | 33 | |
| Shouldn't my dog be working for me or for the love of the job instead of for food? | 33 | |
| My dog isn't interested in food / is on a restricted diet / is overweight. Can I still clicker train? | 37 | |
| What if I can't offer a food treat or if my dog isn't interested in the reward I'm offering? | 40 | |
| Does the reward have to follow the click immediately? | 42 | |
| If the click ends the behavior, does it matter what the dog is doing when I deliver the reward? | 42 | |
| Can I treat without clicking? | 43 | |
| All these treats. . . am I spoiling my dog? | 43 | |
| How do I move from food treats to praise only? | 44 | |
| How soon should I begin doing "two-fers" and "three-fers"? | 47 | |
| Chapter 5: | Getting Started | 51 |
| What is "charging the clicker," and how do I do it? | 51 | |
| Is the timing of the click important? How can I improve my timing? | 53 | |
| My dog is too food-obsessed to do anything but stare at the clicker and treats. What do I do? | 55 | |
| What's a "crossover" dog? | 57 | |
| Where should I start? | 59 | |
| Do my dog's emotions play any part in training? | 61 | |
| Chapter 6: | Punishment, Mistakes, and Errors | 62 |
| Aren't unpleasant consequences a normal part of learning? | 62 | |
| What do I do when my dog makes a mistake? | 64 | |
| What do I do if my dog intentionally disobeys a known command? | 65 | |
| Shouldn't I tell my dog both what he does right and what he does wrong? | 68 | |
| What is punishment? | 69 | |
| Are aversives and punishers the same thing? | 74 | |
| How do I solve problem behavior? | 75 | |
| So let me understand this. Even if my dog is running toward a busy street or about to bite someone, I'm not supposed to use punishment? | 77 | |
| I've read that I should mimic wolves to communicate that I'm displeased with my dogs. Is this true? | 78 | |
| Chapter 7: | About Training Sessions | 80 |
| How long should I train at one time? | 80 | |
| How often should I train? | 82 | |
| Can I train more than one behavior at a time? How many behaviors can I train during one training period? | 83 | |
| When I start a training session, my dog "throws" all of the behaviors he knows at me. Am I damaging these behaviors if I don't reinforce them? | 84 | |
| Should I keep records? | 85 | |
| My dog gets bored easily. What should I do? | 86 | |
| I have more than one dog. Can I train them at the same time? | 88 | |
| How do I end a training period? | 90 | |
| Chapter 8: | Getting the Behavior | 91 |
| What does "getting the behavior" mean? | 91 | |
| What do you mean by "criteria"? | 93 | |
| When should I click? (How do I choose my criteria?) | 95 | |
| How do I know when to "make it harder"-increase my criteria for training? | 97 | |
| I set my criteria, but my dog advanced a lot further than that. Should I raise my criteria accordingly? | 99 | |
| How do I begin shaping? | 101 | |
| My dog doesn't "offer" behaviors. How can I clicker train? | 104 | |
| How do I shape a complex behavior, such as a fast, straight, square sit? | 107 | |
| How do I train a chain of behaviors, such as a formal retrieve? | 109 | |
| Chapter 9: | Making the Behavior Perfect | 111 |
| How can I train a behavior before I add the cue? | 111 | |
| When and how do I add the cue? | 113 | |
| My dog is responding slowly to the cue. How can I get a faster response? | 116 | |
| When and how do I fade the clicker? | 118 | |
| How do I add duration to a behavior? | 119 | |
| How do I add distance to a behavior? | 121 | |
| How do I train against distractions? | 123 | |
| How do I generalize to different locations and situations? | 124 | |
| Chapter 10: | Reliability and Fluency | 128 |
| Are clicker-trained behaviors reliable? | 128 | |
| All this cookie training is great, but how do I teach my dog there are some instances where he has no choice? | 130 | |
| I don't simply want to participate-I want to win! Are clicker-trained behaviors precise enough and reliable enough for competition? | 132 | |
| You say I can do competition obedience, but I can't use a clicker or food in the ring. How can I clicker train? | 134 | |
| What is "fluent" and how do I get there? | 135 | |
| How long will it take to train my dog? | 138 | |
| At what point does my dog "know" what is being asked of him? | 141 | |
| Chapter 11: | Specific Behaviors | 143 |
| If my dog already knows a behavior, should I use the clicker? | 143 | |
| What is targeting, and why should I do it? | 144 | |
| How can I get my dog to pay attention to me even in a distracting environment? | 145 | |
| How do I train my dog to sit? | 150 | |
| How do I train my dog to lie down? | 153 | |
| How do I train my dog to come when called? | 155 | |
| How do I train my dog to walk on a loose leash? | 159 | |
| My dog pulls on leash, and a friend recommended a head halter. Unfortunately, my dog hates it! What do I do? | 167 | |
| How do I train my dog to stay? | 169 | |
| How do I crate train my dog? | 171 | |
| How can I train a behavior not covered here? (Making a training plan.) | 128 | |
| Chapter 12: | Solving Problem Behavior | 178 |
| How do I stop destructive chewing? | 178 | |
| How do I stop my dog from barking? | 180 | |
| How do I stop puppy mouthing? (Bite inhibition training) | 182 | |
| How do I stop jumping? | 185 | |
| How do I handle fearful behavior? | 187 | |
| How do I handle aggression toward other dogs? | 190 | |
| How do I handle aggression toward children, strangers, or other people? | 194 | |
| Chapter 13: | Beyond Training | 197 |
| How do I build a good relationship with my dog? | 197 | |
| What is management? How do I "set my dog up for success"? | 199 | |
| What are the practical uses of training in everyday life? | 200 | |
| My dog is constantly throwing behaviors at me, even when we're not training. How can I stop this? | 202 | |
| How can I know when my dog is stressed, and what can I do about it? | 203 | |
| How do I socialize a new puppy? | 205 | |
| How can I establish myself as the "leader" in my home? | 208 | |
| Chapter 14: | Beyond Method: The Underlying Science | 211 |
| What is operant conditioning? | 211 | |
| Are clicker training and operant conditioning the same thing? | 215 | |
| What's the difference between punishment and extinction? Which should I use and why? | 217 | |
| Sometimes extinction doesn't work. Why not and what should I do? | 218 | |
| What's a "no reward marker" (NRM)? | 219 | |
| Continuous reinforcement, differential reinforcement, variable reinforcement-what do these terms mean? And how are they relevant for my training? | 221 | |
| What is a keep-going signal? | 223 | |
| What's a jackpot, and when should I give one? | 224 | |
| What's the Premack principle? | 225 | |
| What's a satiation curve? | 226 | |
| Chapter 15: | The Future | 227 |
| What's the future of clicker training? | 227 | |
| Glossary | 229 | |
| Resources | 239 | |
| Acknowledgements | 243 | |
| Index | 245 | |
Click for Joy! Table of Contents
By KPCT on 11/01/2002
Filed in - Click for Joy! Questions and Answers
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