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Message thread at CPP
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***Clicker Club***The horse I'm training knows if she wants to she can get me off her back, and she has. If this is too serious for you to help me with it it's fine, she may need some more serious training than I can give her.
Admin: why are you not spending more time with ground work? Unless you can get what you want on the ground, poor odds of doing it when you are on a horse's back. | 
LaraArcher & Chief | | 2014-03-29 00:55:02 | | | My dog's name is Finnegan. He is started and he is listening very well. I found some treats that we got from Petco in a cabinet! | 
I Love Horses4567 & My Pony | | 2014-03-29 01:23:49 | | | That's cool 'I Love Horses4567'. Make sure you are consistent on the treats. Good luck:) | 
Horses1201 & Firefly | | 2014-03-29 19:51:45 | | | I spend most of my time doing ground work, Admin. In fact that's just about all I do. And she does that great, I have almost no trouble except for lunging. |
LaraArcher & Chief | | 2014-03-29 19:58:10 | | | Hey Lara, I'm not sure if I can help you, but try a lot of ground work. | 
POA Girl1 & Remi | | 2014-03-31 17:41:20 | | | That's great I Love Horses4567! |
POA Girl1 & Remi | | 2014-03-31 17:41:20 | | | Keep up the good luck Lara! |
POA Girl1 & Remi | | 2014-03-31 22:46:47 | | | Thanks! |
LaraArcher & Chief | | 2014-03-31 22:51:35 | | | Keep up the good work! |
Horses1201 & Firefly | | 2014-04-01 17:52:36 | | I Love Horses4567 wrote: >>Could you give me some tips on clicker training? I wanted to start with my dog. Could you click with your mouth and praise the dog with pets instead of treats? Thanks<<
Hello Horses,
I think you and your dog will have a lot of fun with clicker training. There are people who use tongue clicks, but when you are just starting out I suggest you do use the clicker. It is not the clicker that trains your animal, you do that. :-) But the clicker is a sound marker. You use it to make a sound at EXACTLY the moment your animal is offering the behavior you want him to. With the clicker in your hand you can mark that moment much more precisely than with your tongue or lips. If you are giving a command and your dog does it, you can't stop talking soon enough to mark the exact moment. Once you begin, it will be no time before you are clicking at the right moment without even thinking about it.
With clicker training, you learn to break down each goal into tiny, manageable steps. You can start from the end in your mind, then backtrack to determine what the steps are. Or you can start from the beginning, and think about the very first thing that needs to happen on the journey to your goal. Or you can use both methods. You will find that as you become more comfortable with what you are doing, you can make alterations to your plan.
The click itself is not a signal for a specific action. For instance, when you are training your dog to sit, you wouldn't click to TELL him to sit. Rather, you click to tell him that whatever he was doing at the time is a good thing. So, you might start by placing your hand on his rump and applying very gentle pressure. Pay close attention, and the instant his rump moves down at all, click, then offer a tiny treat. The treat does not have to be big. There are animals who will work well for pats, rubs, and scratches, but treats are a really meaningful thing to most animals. It is not the same as bribery, but is a reward for a job well done. We all like those, don't we? :-)
If you are teaching your dog to sit, you would continue in the same way you began. Place your hand on his rump, say "sit", and apply gentle pressure downwards. At the beginning, you will click and treat (also written C/T) for ANY downward motion of his haunches. As he begins to respond, you will begin to wait until he goes down a little farther. The key is to move in increments, and not to move faster than he is ready for.
Some dogs may "have it" in just a few tries; others may take many repetitions before they are ready to move to the next step. This brings us to the most important aspect of clicker training -- observation. Observe, observe, OBSERVE your animal. He will tell you what he is ready for.
Once your dog is responding and sitting while you use your hands, you are ready for the next step. Place your hand above his rump, say "Sit", and wait a second or two before making contact with your hand. If he begins ANY downward movement, C/T. If he doesn't, place your hand on his rump, wait a second or two, then apply gentle pressure. At any point, if his haunches move downward at all, C/T.
It is important to remember than once you click, you STOP what you are doing. So, if his haunches begin to move downward, and you click, you IMMEDIATELY take your hand off his rump. If you continue to push, you will be telling your dog that he didn't do what you wanted, and since he heard the click it will confuse him. Remember, you are moving in tiny steps. So keep working with small steps, C/Ting with each small success, and your dog will be sitting on command before you know it.
If at any time he becomes confused and doesn't seem to "get it", simply back up to the last place where he was successful. Repeat that step a couple of times, then you have the choice to end the lesson or continue moving forward. Always, ALWAYS, end the lesson with a success.
Just FYI, I keep my clicker on a stretchy keychain cord around my wrist. That way if I drop it I don't have to spend time reaching down to get it. Since you are working with a dog, you don't have the same safety considerations that you would have with a horse or pony, but it will save you from distracting your dog if you accidentally let go of the clicker.
Have fun with this, and please let us know how your dog is doing! | 
EagleGirl & Deerslayer | | 2014-04-01 22:33:21 | |
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