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***Clicker Club***

ajax it is a he. and he bits and runs after you and acts like you are his servant!
Comanche1999 & Dancer
2010-08-19 20:26:09
Ajax - of course you can join! You and your dog will have fun, and she will surely remember what she has "forgotten". :-) And I think it will be fun for you to train your guinea pig! Once you find a special treat that he/she wants, you should be ready to go!
EagleGirl & Deerslayer
2010-08-20 06:11:24
Boston, what a fun way to teach "Leave it!" You obviously understand dog psychology! :-) I think you are doing great!
EagleGirl & Deerslayer
2010-08-20 06:12:20
Lianna, Clicker training can absolutely be used on ponies! Ponies are smart, and should catch on quickly. Because they are smart, they tend to get bored and end up looking for things to do, so they can sometimes get into mischief. LOL. Your pony will probably have a ball with clicker training!
EagleGirl & Deerslayer
2010-08-20 06:13:52
Lianna, I"m sorry about your hamster. I hope that the vet is able to help him and that he gets better. I think that if you can find a treat he likes, that you should be able to do clicker training with him. The important thing to remember is to take tiny steps! What sort of things are you wanting to teach him?
EagleGirl & Deerslayer
2010-08-20 06:15:57
Hmmm, Comanche, is he mugging you? Does he think you have food, so he is nipping at you to get it? Or is he biting aggressively or meanly? If he is mugging, then you will probably want to stop giving him treats by hand, unless you are treating after a click. Most horses will eventually learn that they only get treats after a click, and will stop mugging. My mule, Rosie, at first was always nosing around trying to get treats. But she eventually learned that she needed to just do whatever she was doing, and that she got a treat after she heard a click.

Sometimes it is helpful to have a bucket handy, perhaps hanging on the fence, and work by it. Then, as soon as you click, you drop the treat in the bucket. You just have to make sure that Comanche knows the treat is going in the bucket!

You can also stand with him, and wait until he is NOT mugging or nipping. Then click and treat. Stand and wait some more, and when he is standing nicely, click and treat. Once he is "getting" it, you can add a verbal cue, like "stand" or "wait". It is helpful to add the verbal cue after he is exhibiting the behavior you want, because you are just putting a name to something he already is doing. This is much easier than starting out with the word, and expecting him to figure out what it means.

It just takes time, and if you spend some time every day standing with him and waiting until he is not being pushy, then clicking and treating, he will eventually "get" it. Then you can work on something else!

EagleGirl & Deerslayer
2010-08-20 06:21:18
Boston, that is good advice, to be a leader not a boss. :-) Sometimes that involves a good deal of just waiting - waiting for the undesirable behavior to cease and the desirable behavior to begin, then clicking when the desired behavior is exhibited.

When I first got Rosie, she led terribly. She would charge past me and pull on the rope. But after a few short clicker sessions, she began to "get" it. I would walk with her, and as soon as she charged past me I just stopped. When she got to the end of the rope, she would stop too. Then I would just stand and wait.

At first, once she was standing, I moved myself into position, then clicked and treated. Eventually I began to just stand and wait, and she would finally circle around me and stand close to the position I wanted, then I would click and treat. Now she leads just beautifully, on a loose lead.

Sometimes, though, she will decide she doesn't want to go. She is, after all, a mule. :-) So I have found that if I turn my back to her, face the direction I want to go, lay the lead across my abdomen, lean into it, and just wait, she will eventually decide that she wants to move forward instead of being on the end of that pressure. I did this with the clicker at first, and the instant she moved forward and put some slack in the rope, I clicked and treated. I gradually waited longer and longer before clicking, until she was walking nicely before I clicked.

I had no desire to get into a tug-of-war with her. I had to convince her that she WANTED to walk forward. Sure enough, she finally wanted to walk forward!

EagleGirl & Deerslayer
2010-08-20 06:28:23
Clicker Column - Wiggins Weekly, Volume 4 Number 7, August 21, 2010


This week we are going to talk about how to begin clicker training. The first step in clicker training is to teach your animal that the click is followed by a treat. This is called "charging the clicker". Some trainers skip this step, others swear by it. I personally like it, because it is easy, it is fun, the animal enjoys it, and when you are done you know for a fact that the animal understands that the click means something positive. And when you are finished, both you and your animal have had success! So I love this part!

To charge the clicker, you need a clicker, your treats and treat bag, and your animal friend. For purposes of explanation I am using a pony. Since I am right handed, I have the clicker looped on my left wrist, and I feed treats with my right hand. I use a canvas nail apron for a treat bag. So, you put on your treat bag, loop your clicker over your wrist, and go out to your pony. Love on him, pet him, do whatever you usually do when you go out. Then you are ready to charge the clicker. Stand in front of your pony, and take your hands off him. Put a treat in your right hand and close your fist around it. Put your hand at your side. Stand for a moment or two, then click. Immediately move your hand to the pony's muzzle, opening it so he can get the treat. Put another treat in your hand, put your hand at your side, wait a moment, click and immediately treat. Repeat this process as often as you need to.

After the first few treats, you can wait a second or two before moving your hand to treat your pony. Watch your pony. Does he begin to look for the treat? If so, this means he is associating the sound of the click with the appearance of the treat. Once he begins to do this, you can move to the next step. Wait until you click to reach for the treat. Click, then reach into your bag and pull out the treat, then offer it to him. When you begin your clicker training, the timing of the treat is secondary. The timing of the click is the most important thing, because it marks the exact moment the pony exhibits the behavior you want. But while you are charging the clicker, you don't have to worry about that. You are simply teaching him that the click is followed by a treat.

How do you know when he "gets it"? Simple. You observe him. Clicker training is not only going to help your pony/dog/cat/other animal learn new things painlessly and enjoyably, but it is going to sharpen your powers of observation, and build a bond between you and your animal. You will find as you progress that you will become more and more in tune with each other. To me, this is one of the very best things about clicker training!

There, now you have "charged the clicker", and your pony understands that when he hears a click, he gets a treat! Some animals require one session. Other animals require a couple of sessions, or even more. My mule got it after about three clicks. My neighbor's horse needed several sessions, but he did finally get it.

Next week we're going to talk about the basic tenet of clicker training - breaking a task down into tiny steps. Happy clicking!

EagleGirl & Deerslayer
2010-08-21 00:40:28
Can I possibly train my guinea pig?
ajaxsluver101 & Beach Baby
2010-08-23 00:38:55
Ajax, you sure can! I'm training Princess right now, teaching her to go to a hoop (pool ring!) She's getting the hang of it!
Nat2 & The Price of Valor
2010-08-23 20:10:24
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