Aren’t you beautiful! Imagine a life where your dog loves being groomed. When you pull out the brush or nail trimmers, your dog comes running—just as if you opened a new bag of treats. How would that make you feel? It is never too late to train your pet to love being bathed or brushed. With a little time and …
When I arrived at my client’s house last week, she was very excited to show me how well her dog Missy was doing with hand targeting. “Watch this!” Megan said as she gathered her clicker and treats. Missy was at full attention in front of her. Megan gave the cue, “touch,” and presented her hand. Missy took one look at her hand, ducked …
This training game is derived from a dolphin research project in which I and others participated, “The creative porpoise: training for novel behavior,” published in the Journal of Experimental Analysis of Behavior in 1969. It has become a favorite with dog trainers. It’s especially good for “crossover” dogs with a long history of correction-based training, since it encourages mental and …
Be my Valentine? February means Valentine’s Day, a happy time for me as a child. I lived with the principal of our school, Mrs. Sturley, who set up a card table in the parlor so I could spend hours pasting together the paper, lace, stand-up figures, and stick-on hearts and lovebirds to make twenty-one special valentines for my twenty-one classmates. …
Focus on the student and the process Someone recently asked me how the term “microshaping” developed, and what, exactly, it means. I think I probably originated that term some years ago. At that time, it rather alarmed me that much of the shaping I was witnessing was focused on achieving the end behavior, rather than on the learner or on the …
When do I fade the click? How do I fade the click? We hear those questions all the time. The smart-aleck answer is “Never.” Because we don’t “fade” the click. Fading means doing something smaller and smaller until a tiny version of the original stimulus will serve, or until the learner no longer needs outside help to do the behavior. We don’t do …
Clicker training is a terrific, science-based way to communicate with your pet. You can clicker train any kind of animal, of any age. Puppies love it. Old dogs learn new tricks. You can clicker-train cats, birds, and other pets as well. Here are some simple tips to get you started. 1. Push and release the springy end of the clicker, …
