I just finished reading an interesting paper on how often you should train. I mean I literally just finished it, so I may have some other thoughts later.
This study was just published a little over a month ago, and it has lit up a lot of the discussion boards I'm on. I believe it is an important study in that it is the first real look at how often you should train your dog for the optimum acquisition of a behavior, but the biggest flaw - which was discussed at length on one of the boards - is that the dogs used were laboratory animals used for drug testing that did not have the same stimulus as a household pet, for example.
That being said, to put my interpretation to the findings, it shows that it is just as important for the dogs to have time to process the information they have learned as the training session themselves. What the study found was that one session, one time a week showed the best acquisition of the behavior. The worst were the dogs who were trained in three back to back sessions every day.
My initial thoughts are pretty much the same as before I read the study, although I may have other ideas as I think over what I've read. Particularly when you first start training your dog, keep the sessions short. I recommend in my puppy classes that you start with about five minute training sessions once a day. Always keep an eye on your dogs stress and frustration level and if they are getting too stressed, frustrated, or distracted, stop. Once the dog starts getting used to the training you can extend the time, although I usually don't recommend going over 15 minutes. Also, once they start to figure out the training process, you may be able to train two or three times a day.
Unfortunately, we can't draw any definite conclusions until more research is done, but this is a start. For the time being, keep your training sessions short, fun, and be aware of the state of your dog. If he's not having fun, stop and come back to it later.
Demant, H., et al., The effect of frequency and duration of training sessions on acquisition and long-term memory in dogs. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (2011), doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2011.05.010
November 05, 2011
October 06, 2011
Try this at home
First I wanted to apologize for being silent on the blog for so long. As I mentioned in my last entry, we've been making a lot of changes and adding some new features (check out our newsletter for one) and these things take time. We've also been working on several outside projects including Paws in the Park and the upcoming Open House at Columbia Canine Sports Center this weekend. Hopefully, once again, I can get back to the blog and share some relevant information about training, behavior, and the like.
There has been a lot of discussion in the forums I participate in on disclosure of training techniques. I would be apprehensive of anyone who is not willing to share their methods. Usually these equate to some method of aversive training, aversive being hurting your dog to get him to do what you want. This is not always the case, but see my blog on choosing a trainer.
So, with that in mind, here is my training method. I'll try to stay to the point and not add too much back information here, but save it for another time.
It is important to understand that a dog, or any animal, learns more for being reinforced for the behavior you want than punished for the behavior you don't. If you reinforce the desired behavior, the dog, person, chinchilla, or whatever will try harder each successive time. Using punishment, the dog will only do enough to avoid being punished.
For most of my training I use what is called "marker training," also known as "clicker training." I like to use a clicker because it is a distinct sound that carries over a lot of other noises. In class I teach the use of the word "yessssss," drawing out the "s" to make it distinct from just saying "yes" in normal conversation. You can use whatever you like. It works like this: I start with charging the marker. You simple click and give the dog a treat, click and give the dog a treat, click and give the dog a treat. This teaches the dog that every time he hears the click, good things happen.
I'll use a sit for this example, just for clarity's sake. You can wait for the dog to sit on his own, or you can lure the dog into position. As soon as the dog's bottom hits the floor, click and treat. Do this a few times. Then add the word "sit." By this time he should know the behavior you're looking for and will sit quickly on his own. If not, lure him into position, click and treat.
Usually you only want to spend about five minutes on training at a time to begin with. You can go up to about 15 minutes, but I don't recommend any more than that in one session.
Most trainings I've talked to or read say if the dog does the behavior five to seven times in a row without fail, you can move to the next step. In this case, the next step would be duration. Ask for the sit. When the dog sits, delay the click and treat for about a second. Once he can do this, move up to two seconds, then three, then five, etc. Be sure to go at a slow enough pace that your dog doesn't get frustrated, but fast enough to keep his interest.
Suppose in the first session you get a three second sit. Next session, take a step or two back and just go for a one or two second sit. This should go pretty fast and you should be able to move past it and past the three second sit quickly.
One thing detractors often say about this method is they don't want their dog working for treats. This is a total misunderstanding of the method. Just like people work for a paycheck or do hobbies for enjoyment, we want the dog to work because he wants to. But, for basic obedience in particular, the point is to have the dog offer the behavior in real life situations when you may not have a treat handy or the dog is not in "training mode."
So, a word about fading treats. Once the dog is sitting consistently, ask for a sit, click and treat. Ask for a sit, say "good boy" and give lots of praise. ask for a sit, click and treat. Ask for a sit, "good boy." Next session, ask for a sit, click and treat. Ask for a sit, "good boy." Ask for a sit, "good boy." Ask for a sit, click and treat. You want to put the click and treat on an intermittent schedule so the behavior is only occasionally reinforced that way. Because the sit has a history of being reinforced with a treat, his emotional response will be the same whether the treat is delivered or not. (You should never click without giving a treat or it will start to lose its effectiveness. This is why I like to use "good boy.) For "proofing," you may want to reinforce the sit with a click and treat from time to time. Because I think a sit is so important, I start each training session with a sit, click and treat to get my dogs into the training mindset, then I end the session with a sit so we always end on a good note but also to proof the behavior.
I won't get into problem behaviors here because this is about my training techniques, not behavior modification. If you have questions about that though leave them here or feel free to e-mail me.
Two final thoughts. First, I try to never prompt (touch or force) the dog into position. Pushing on the hips to get a dog to sit, for example, can cause or aggravate hip problems and although they make take a little longer to figure it out, once they know you want them to sit, they've got it, and a lot better than if they wait for you to put them in position. Second, I never punish a dog for the wrong behavior, but reinforce the right behavior. If the dog is doing something he shouldn't, I don't tell him what I don't want, but what I do want. I simply can't understand why someone would want a dog if they felt it was going to be a constant struggle to maintain some misconception of dominance. I want a companion and hope the same for you.
If you want to learn more about my techniques, here's an excellent list of some of my favorite books to get you started:
Family Friendly Dog Training by Patricia McConnell and Aimee Moore
The Puppy Primer by Patricia McConnell and Brenda Skidmore
Clicker Training for Dogs by Karen Pryor
The Thinking Dog: Crossover to Clicker Training by Gail Tamases Fisher
There has been a lot of discussion in the forums I participate in on disclosure of training techniques. I would be apprehensive of anyone who is not willing to share their methods. Usually these equate to some method of aversive training, aversive being hurting your dog to get him to do what you want. This is not always the case, but see my blog on choosing a trainer.
So, with that in mind, here is my training method. I'll try to stay to the point and not add too much back information here, but save it for another time.
It is important to understand that a dog, or any animal, learns more for being reinforced for the behavior you want than punished for the behavior you don't. If you reinforce the desired behavior, the dog, person, chinchilla, or whatever will try harder each successive time. Using punishment, the dog will only do enough to avoid being punished.
For most of my training I use what is called "marker training," also known as "clicker training." I like to use a clicker because it is a distinct sound that carries over a lot of other noises. In class I teach the use of the word "yessssss," drawing out the "s" to make it distinct from just saying "yes" in normal conversation. You can use whatever you like. It works like this: I start with charging the marker. You simple click and give the dog a treat, click and give the dog a treat, click and give the dog a treat. This teaches the dog that every time he hears the click, good things happen.
I'll use a sit for this example, just for clarity's sake. You can wait for the dog to sit on his own, or you can lure the dog into position. As soon as the dog's bottom hits the floor, click and treat. Do this a few times. Then add the word "sit." By this time he should know the behavior you're looking for and will sit quickly on his own. If not, lure him into position, click and treat.
Usually you only want to spend about five minutes on training at a time to begin with. You can go up to about 15 minutes, but I don't recommend any more than that in one session.
Most trainings I've talked to or read say if the dog does the behavior five to seven times in a row without fail, you can move to the next step. In this case, the next step would be duration. Ask for the sit. When the dog sits, delay the click and treat for about a second. Once he can do this, move up to two seconds, then three, then five, etc. Be sure to go at a slow enough pace that your dog doesn't get frustrated, but fast enough to keep his interest.
Suppose in the first session you get a three second sit. Next session, take a step or two back and just go for a one or two second sit. This should go pretty fast and you should be able to move past it and past the three second sit quickly.
One thing detractors often say about this method is they don't want their dog working for treats. This is a total misunderstanding of the method. Just like people work for a paycheck or do hobbies for enjoyment, we want the dog to work because he wants to. But, for basic obedience in particular, the point is to have the dog offer the behavior in real life situations when you may not have a treat handy or the dog is not in "training mode."
So, a word about fading treats. Once the dog is sitting consistently, ask for a sit, click and treat. Ask for a sit, say "good boy" and give lots of praise. ask for a sit, click and treat. Ask for a sit, "good boy." Next session, ask for a sit, click and treat. Ask for a sit, "good boy." Ask for a sit, "good boy." Ask for a sit, click and treat. You want to put the click and treat on an intermittent schedule so the behavior is only occasionally reinforced that way. Because the sit has a history of being reinforced with a treat, his emotional response will be the same whether the treat is delivered or not. (You should never click without giving a treat or it will start to lose its effectiveness. This is why I like to use "good boy.) For "proofing," you may want to reinforce the sit with a click and treat from time to time. Because I think a sit is so important, I start each training session with a sit, click and treat to get my dogs into the training mindset, then I end the session with a sit so we always end on a good note but also to proof the behavior.
I won't get into problem behaviors here because this is about my training techniques, not behavior modification. If you have questions about that though leave them here or feel free to e-mail me.
Two final thoughts. First, I try to never prompt (touch or force) the dog into position. Pushing on the hips to get a dog to sit, for example, can cause or aggravate hip problems and although they make take a little longer to figure it out, once they know you want them to sit, they've got it, and a lot better than if they wait for you to put them in position. Second, I never punish a dog for the wrong behavior, but reinforce the right behavior. If the dog is doing something he shouldn't, I don't tell him what I don't want, but what I do want. I simply can't understand why someone would want a dog if they felt it was going to be a constant struggle to maintain some misconception of dominance. I want a companion and hope the same for you.
If you want to learn more about my techniques, here's an excellent list of some of my favorite books to get you started:
Family Friendly Dog Training by Patricia McConnell and Aimee Moore
The Puppy Primer by Patricia McConnell and Brenda Skidmore
Clicker Training for Dogs by Karen Pryor
The Thinking Dog: Crossover to Clicker Training by Gail Tamases Fisher
August 02, 2011
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
We've been in business a little over three years. Now that we know how things are working and what's not, it's time to make a few changes. Hopefully all good.
If you follow our Facebook page, you know that we'll be changing our prices on August 15. Instead of just an average price across the board, we're making the price coincide with the size of the dog. We will still give a discount for a second dog of equal or lesser cost.
While on the topic of social media, we've also started a Twitter account at Mudd_Pupps_CoMO. At present, the plan is for this will be a place to list in-store events and possibly some specials or online coupons.
Another change will be the punch cards will now be kept at the store. This will hopefully be one less thing to worry about. Cards tend to be forgotten, lost, or destroyed by water. This should eliminate these problems.
Next, I'm considering starting a monthly newsletter. My intention for this is to have an article or two on dog training, hygiene, or something along those lines. I will also have a calender of events around town that are dog friendly. Let me know if there is anything else you'd like to see and I'll try to get in all reasonable ideas.
I'm looking into expanding our retail section. If there are any products you would like to see, let me know and I'll check into it. Keep in mind that I will not carry anything that I wouldn't use on my own dog including choke chains, pinch collars, spray collars, shock collars, or any other aversive equipment. More information about that in my other posts, or feel free to ask me.
Another idea I had was to set up a photography studio in the store. In my previous life I was a photographer and graphic artist. I think it would be fun to do, but need to explore the idea a bit more and make sure I'm not overextending myself. I'll keep you posted.
I am also considering having activities at the store. Possible about training, grooming, or other areas of interest. This will be something we need to explore a bit more also.
At the risk of getting too personal, I left a very lucrative career as a graphic artist to work with dogs. Sure, I want to make a living at it too, but I really love what I'm doing. So if you have any ideas, thoughts, comments, or even constructive criticism, let us know and we will seriously consider it.
If you follow our Facebook page, you know that we'll be changing our prices on August 15. Instead of just an average price across the board, we're making the price coincide with the size of the dog. We will still give a discount for a second dog of equal or lesser cost.
While on the topic of social media, we've also started a Twitter account at Mudd_Pupps_CoMO. At present, the plan is for this will be a place to list in-store events and possibly some specials or online coupons.
Another change will be the punch cards will now be kept at the store. This will hopefully be one less thing to worry about. Cards tend to be forgotten, lost, or destroyed by water. This should eliminate these problems.
Next, I'm considering starting a monthly newsletter. My intention for this is to have an article or two on dog training, hygiene, or something along those lines. I will also have a calender of events around town that are dog friendly. Let me know if there is anything else you'd like to see and I'll try to get in all reasonable ideas.
I'm looking into expanding our retail section. If there are any products you would like to see, let me know and I'll check into it. Keep in mind that I will not carry anything that I wouldn't use on my own dog including choke chains, pinch collars, spray collars, shock collars, or any other aversive equipment. More information about that in my other posts, or feel free to ask me.
Another idea I had was to set up a photography studio in the store. In my previous life I was a photographer and graphic artist. I think it would be fun to do, but need to explore the idea a bit more and make sure I'm not overextending myself. I'll keep you posted.
I am also considering having activities at the store. Possible about training, grooming, or other areas of interest. This will be something we need to explore a bit more also.
At the risk of getting too personal, I left a very lucrative career as a graphic artist to work with dogs. Sure, I want to make a living at it too, but I really love what I'm doing. So if you have any ideas, thoughts, comments, or even constructive criticism, let us know and we will seriously consider it.
June 18, 2011
How to Alpha Roll
In a word: DON'T
This topic has come up in a few forums I participate in. As usual, I've put a link to an excellent article at the end of this entry but wanted to add a few thoughts of my own.
The Alpha Roll was popularized by The Monks of New Skete in their book "The Art of Raising a Puppy." In the second edition they retracted and apologized for the advice. Dogs just don't do it, and people do not have the capability to read the signals if it were appropriate.
In the 30+ years Dr. David Mech has been studying wolves, he said in an interview that only three times has he seen what he would consider an Alpha Roll (if I remember correctly, but certainly less than five). But this also goes back to what I've said before, that dogs are not wolves.
So, what are we seeing? Remember that dominance is not a personality trait, but an aspect of a relationship. Just because one dog is being aggressive or acting inappropriately, it does not mean he is dominant. He does not become dominant until the other dog submits. However, that relationship may change in seconds.
Take for example if I'm walking down the street and someone walks up to me and punches me in the face. Who's dominant? If I fall on the ground crying then I have made the other person dominant in that situation by submitting. But what if I hit them back? Does that make me dominant? It all depends on what the other person does. And so it goes.
Back to the question, what are we seeing? One thing may be play behavior. Play in dogs is usually mock hunting or mock sexual behavior. In mock hunting, the dogs will chase, nip, soft-bite, etc. One dog may roll over on his back, exposing his belly, but the dog does this willingly. This can also be a way for one to say to the other "I'm am not a threat. We are just playing."
In another instance, we need to remember that dogs are much more scent oriented than we are. When greeting, we've all seen dogs sniff each other's back sides and genitals. One dog my roll over to expose their genitals and make them more accessible.
And another instance would be access to a resource, whether it's a toy, food, or whatever one or both dogs may want. In the face of a potential conflict, one dog may submit to the other saying "you want that much more than I do, so you go ahead." As shown the Bristol study ("Dominance in domestic dogs – useful construct or bad habit?," October 2009) that may change depending on the next resource, situation and desire for that resource.
The take away message is that dogs are not dominant by nature, they do not Alpha Roll, and even if they did, we could not tell when it would be appropriate, and all it does is scare your dog and damage your relationship.
http://companionanimalsolutions.com/blogs/dangers-of-alpha-rolling/
This topic has come up in a few forums I participate in. As usual, I've put a link to an excellent article at the end of this entry but wanted to add a few thoughts of my own.
The Alpha Roll was popularized by The Monks of New Skete in their book "The Art of Raising a Puppy." In the second edition they retracted and apologized for the advice. Dogs just don't do it, and people do not have the capability to read the signals if it were appropriate.
In the 30+ years Dr. David Mech has been studying wolves, he said in an interview that only three times has he seen what he would consider an Alpha Roll (if I remember correctly, but certainly less than five). But this also goes back to what I've said before, that dogs are not wolves.
So, what are we seeing? Remember that dominance is not a personality trait, but an aspect of a relationship. Just because one dog is being aggressive or acting inappropriately, it does not mean he is dominant. He does not become dominant until the other dog submits. However, that relationship may change in seconds.
Take for example if I'm walking down the street and someone walks up to me and punches me in the face. Who's dominant? If I fall on the ground crying then I have made the other person dominant in that situation by submitting. But what if I hit them back? Does that make me dominant? It all depends on what the other person does. And so it goes.
Back to the question, what are we seeing? One thing may be play behavior. Play in dogs is usually mock hunting or mock sexual behavior. In mock hunting, the dogs will chase, nip, soft-bite, etc. One dog may roll over on his back, exposing his belly, but the dog does this willingly. This can also be a way for one to say to the other "I'm am not a threat. We are just playing."
In another instance, we need to remember that dogs are much more scent oriented than we are. When greeting, we've all seen dogs sniff each other's back sides and genitals. One dog my roll over to expose their genitals and make them more accessible.
And another instance would be access to a resource, whether it's a toy, food, or whatever one or both dogs may want. In the face of a potential conflict, one dog may submit to the other saying "you want that much more than I do, so you go ahead." As shown the Bristol study ("Dominance in domestic dogs – useful construct or bad habit?," October 2009) that may change depending on the next resource, situation and desire for that resource.
The take away message is that dogs are not dominant by nature, they do not Alpha Roll, and even if they did, we could not tell when it would be appropriate, and all it does is scare your dog and damage your relationship.
http://companionanimalsolutions.com/blogs/dangers-of-alpha-rolling/
May 16, 2011
Bite Prevention Week
Sunday marked the beginning of Bite Prevention Week. Since opening the store I've been bitten four times. Three of them were my fault and one of them was partially my fault (I turned my back on a dog I knew to be people aggressive and the owner lost their attention for a split second). Fortunately all of the bites were very inhibited and didn't even break the skin.
I only mention this to illustrate a point. I've studied dog behavior and communication. I've probably been around thousands of dogs. And still I've had occasion to be bitten. So how do you avoid being bitten?
1. If you are unfamiliar with the dog, ask before petting.
2. Do not approach a dog head on. Notice when dogs greet, they tend to approach each other at an angle. When I greet an unfamiliar dog who seems a bit uneasy, I kneel down and position myself sideways. I then extend my hand just far enough so he can approach me, but not so close that I invade his space.
3. Know the signs. Dogs communicate with body language. Most dogs who may bite are fear bitters, meaning they bite because they are scared and are trying to get the person to back away. But the bite is usually a last ditch effort.
Signs to look for can include lowered head and/or body, ears close to the head and back, tail down and between the legs, lip licking, yawning, looking away, piloerection (hair standing up), snarling, growling, etc. A side note: These behaviors should not be punished. This is how dogs communicate they are uncomfortable. Instead you should try to diffuse the situation and work on some desensitization, a blog for another time.
A final note, and then a few links to illustrations: It doesn't matter how "good" you are with animals, some dogs are not going to like you. You can be the kindest, most gentle person in the world, but you may have to same hair color as someone who startled the dog, for example. That's just the way it is. It does not mean you should put yourself in peril or overstress a dog to the point that he may bite.
Dr. Sophia Yin has a great PSA put together. It's a little over 30 seconds long, but you may want to pause it a few times to check all the information: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrQ1KO4j2bc
This is a poster, also from Dr. Yin, on the more common signals I mentioned above, free for download: http://info.drsophiayin.com/free-poster-on-body-language-in-dogs/
I only mention this to illustrate a point. I've studied dog behavior and communication. I've probably been around thousands of dogs. And still I've had occasion to be bitten. So how do you avoid being bitten?
1. If you are unfamiliar with the dog, ask before petting.
2. Do not approach a dog head on. Notice when dogs greet, they tend to approach each other at an angle. When I greet an unfamiliar dog who seems a bit uneasy, I kneel down and position myself sideways. I then extend my hand just far enough so he can approach me, but not so close that I invade his space.
3. Know the signs. Dogs communicate with body language. Most dogs who may bite are fear bitters, meaning they bite because they are scared and are trying to get the person to back away. But the bite is usually a last ditch effort.
Signs to look for can include lowered head and/or body, ears close to the head and back, tail down and between the legs, lip licking, yawning, looking away, piloerection (hair standing up), snarling, growling, etc. A side note: These behaviors should not be punished. This is how dogs communicate they are uncomfortable. Instead you should try to diffuse the situation and work on some desensitization, a blog for another time.
A final note, and then a few links to illustrations: It doesn't matter how "good" you are with animals, some dogs are not going to like you. You can be the kindest, most gentle person in the world, but you may have to same hair color as someone who startled the dog, for example. That's just the way it is. It does not mean you should put yourself in peril or overstress a dog to the point that he may bite.
Dr. Sophia Yin has a great PSA put together. It's a little over 30 seconds long, but you may want to pause it a few times to check all the information: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrQ1KO4j2bc
This is a poster, also from Dr. Yin, on the more common signals I mentioned above, free for download: http://info.drsophiayin.com/free-poster-on-body-language-in-dogs/
May 08, 2011
Name Change
I was thinking about how I wanted to approach this and it reminded me that I haven't posted some information I intended to. So let me start by saying the Central Missouri Humane Society has been overwhelmed lately and is looking for foster homes. I'll have more information about that up shortly, but consider fostering if you have the space and desire to help out.
That being said, we're also seeing a lot of dogs coming in that have been recently adopted. (Reminder that dogs who have been adopted from a non-profit get a 50% discount on self-serve washes within the first 30 days of adoption.) Some of the dogs get a name change with their new life, so I wanted to give a few tips to make this go smoothly and quickly.
Remember that all good things should come from you. A dog will come to you more consistently if it is a good thing. For example, when you take your dog to the park, call him, praise him, and then let him go back to playing, sniffing, or whatever. About the fourth or fifth time you call him, he is much more likely to come so you can put the leash on him and go home. Hearing his name and coming to you is not always a bad thing. So his name becomes a good thing.
When you want to change a dogs name, there are two easy ways to do this. First is just simply using the name. Every time you interact with the dog, use his new name. Not sweety, or silly or good boy (unless that his name). Without getting into the science of this, he should quickly learn that this is his new name. This worked for both our dogs, Lambert and Cletus... I mean Puck and Duncan.
The second way you can do this is more of a classical training (or respondent conditioning) technique. Say the dog's new name. When he looks at you, give him a treat. Repeat this until he looks at you quickly and consistently. After he looks at you without hesitation about five times you can start to fade the treat. Give the treat every second or third time. eventually you can fade the treat completely. I would have every member in the family do this so the dog learns to respond to everyone.
If this goes slow at first, back up in the procedure a little. Say the dog's old name. As soon as he looks at you, say the new name. Repeat this a few times until he understands the new name means treat, then go to the steps in the previous paragraph.
Again, until he responds consistently to his new name, you want to avoid using "pet" names (pun intended) for him, just to avoid confusion.
That being said, we're also seeing a lot of dogs coming in that have been recently adopted. (Reminder that dogs who have been adopted from a non-profit get a 50% discount on self-serve washes within the first 30 days of adoption.) Some of the dogs get a name change with their new life, so I wanted to give a few tips to make this go smoothly and quickly.
Remember that all good things should come from you. A dog will come to you more consistently if it is a good thing. For example, when you take your dog to the park, call him, praise him, and then let him go back to playing, sniffing, or whatever. About the fourth or fifth time you call him, he is much more likely to come so you can put the leash on him and go home. Hearing his name and coming to you is not always a bad thing. So his name becomes a good thing.
When you want to change a dogs name, there are two easy ways to do this. First is just simply using the name. Every time you interact with the dog, use his new name. Not sweety, or silly or good boy (unless that his name). Without getting into the science of this, he should quickly learn that this is his new name. This worked for both our dogs, Lambert and Cletus... I mean Puck and Duncan.
The second way you can do this is more of a classical training (or respondent conditioning) technique. Say the dog's new name. When he looks at you, give him a treat. Repeat this until he looks at you quickly and consistently. After he looks at you without hesitation about five times you can start to fade the treat. Give the treat every second or third time. eventually you can fade the treat completely. I would have every member in the family do this so the dog learns to respond to everyone.
If this goes slow at first, back up in the procedure a little. Say the dog's old name. As soon as he looks at you, say the new name. Repeat this a few times until he understands the new name means treat, then go to the steps in the previous paragraph.
Again, until he responds consistently to his new name, you want to avoid using "pet" names (pun intended) for him, just to avoid confusion.
April 26, 2011
A little more about methods
When I talk to other trainers I tend to get specific and speak in scientific terms. Things like Differential Reinforcement, Discriminative Stimulus, the Four Quadrants, etc. When I speak to customers, students, or the public at large, I tend to speak in much broader, general terms. It's kind of like me not needing to know about programming when I get my computer worked on. I did want to get a little more specific though about something I mentioned in my last blog: clicker or marker training.
In my last blog, I grossly generalized clicker training. Now that we have the basics, I wanted to get a little more specific. Basically how it works is you use a unique stimulus to mark a behavior. This is a way to tell the dog he has done something correctly at the moment it occurs. Because the marker (click or a specific word) has been paired with a reinforcer (food, praise, etc.), it tells the dog that when he hears the marker a reinforcer is coming. It really isn't so much a training technique as it is a system of reinforcement.
I like to use a clicker because it is a unique sound that carries very well over most noise. In class we tend to use the word "yesssss," drawing out the "s" to make the sound unique so as not to be confused with just saying "yes" in regular conversation. This saves you from having to carry around something extra in your pocket. For the purposes of the rest of the blog I'll refer to "click" as whatever marker you like to use. I will also refer to any reinforcer you care to use as "treat" even though it can be praise, a favorite toy, or anything the dog enjoys.
First you have to start by "charging" the clicker. You simply have the dog close to you, click and treat. The treat should follow the click within about a second to be the most effective. The more the dog wants the treat, the faster this will work. It should only take very few repetitions before he starts to associate the sound with the reinforcer. Once this pairing has taken place you will be able to delay the delivery of the treat because the click will elicit the same emotional response as the treat. I was able to charge the clicker with my dogs in about 2 minutes, but would start any training for about 2 more weeks by charging, just to make sure it was stable.
Now, if I am working on a sit, I can ask Duncan to sit, and as soon as his bottom hits the floor, click and treat. If I'm working on target training, as soon as his nose hits the target, click and treat. Whatever the training, as soon as it happens, I can mark it and he knows a treat is coming.
The two most common questions I hear at this point are "How do you get the behavior for a longer period of time?" and "What if you don't have a clicker or treat handy?"
To get the behavior to last longer, we'll take the sit for an example. Have the dog sit, and as soon as he's sitting, click and treat. Once he's sitting without any prompting five to ten times in a row, you can delay the click and treat for about a second. Once he's doing that amount of time consistently, you can delay the click and treat for two seconds, then three, and so on.
Something to remember at this point is to keep the training sessions short at first. You may only want to do about five minutes at first, and in that time you may only get a three second sit inconsistently. In the next training session you'll want to back up one or two steps before you move forward. Once he gets used to the training routine you can go for about 15 minutes, but usually it's not recommended to go longer than that. You can do two or three training sessions a day, but be aware of your dog's boredom and/or stress levels.
The point of training a behavior is so the dog will respond in real-life situations. In real-life, you won't always have a clicker or treats on hand. If you don't have a treat, don't click. The click means a treat is coming and if you that pairing doesn't happen, it will begin to lose its affect.
When you ask for a behavior - we'll use the sit again - if the behavior has a history of being reinforced, he is more likely to offer the behavior even if it does not get the click and treat. You don't want to do this too often, but enough that you will get a response in those real-life instances. Think of a slot machine. A person may not be reinforced - hit a jackpot - every time they put a quarter in, but it happens often enough that some people will still offer the behavior - keep playing - for hours on end. As long as the behavior has a history of reinforcement, there's no reason you can't get the behavior at any time.
Something to keep in mind with clicker training: it was popularized with training sea mammals. This is how killer whales and dolphins are trainer. It has also been shown to work by coaches training athletes such as swimmers and gymnasts. It can work on any vertebrate from fish to lizards to dogs.
Maybe later I'll do an entry about why clicker training works so well, but this is more about method, so I'll stop there for now.
In my last blog, I grossly generalized clicker training. Now that we have the basics, I wanted to get a little more specific. Basically how it works is you use a unique stimulus to mark a behavior. This is a way to tell the dog he has done something correctly at the moment it occurs. Because the marker (click or a specific word) has been paired with a reinforcer (food, praise, etc.), it tells the dog that when he hears the marker a reinforcer is coming. It really isn't so much a training technique as it is a system of reinforcement.
I like to use a clicker because it is a unique sound that carries very well over most noise. In class we tend to use the word "yesssss," drawing out the "s" to make the sound unique so as not to be confused with just saying "yes" in regular conversation. This saves you from having to carry around something extra in your pocket. For the purposes of the rest of the blog I'll refer to "click" as whatever marker you like to use. I will also refer to any reinforcer you care to use as "treat" even though it can be praise, a favorite toy, or anything the dog enjoys.
First you have to start by "charging" the clicker. You simply have the dog close to you, click and treat. The treat should follow the click within about a second to be the most effective. The more the dog wants the treat, the faster this will work. It should only take very few repetitions before he starts to associate the sound with the reinforcer. Once this pairing has taken place you will be able to delay the delivery of the treat because the click will elicit the same emotional response as the treat. I was able to charge the clicker with my dogs in about 2 minutes, but would start any training for about 2 more weeks by charging, just to make sure it was stable.
Now, if I am working on a sit, I can ask Duncan to sit, and as soon as his bottom hits the floor, click and treat. If I'm working on target training, as soon as his nose hits the target, click and treat. Whatever the training, as soon as it happens, I can mark it and he knows a treat is coming.
The two most common questions I hear at this point are "How do you get the behavior for a longer period of time?" and "What if you don't have a clicker or treat handy?"
To get the behavior to last longer, we'll take the sit for an example. Have the dog sit, and as soon as he's sitting, click and treat. Once he's sitting without any prompting five to ten times in a row, you can delay the click and treat for about a second. Once he's doing that amount of time consistently, you can delay the click and treat for two seconds, then three, and so on.
Something to remember at this point is to keep the training sessions short at first. You may only want to do about five minutes at first, and in that time you may only get a three second sit inconsistently. In the next training session you'll want to back up one or two steps before you move forward. Once he gets used to the training routine you can go for about 15 minutes, but usually it's not recommended to go longer than that. You can do two or three training sessions a day, but be aware of your dog's boredom and/or stress levels.
The point of training a behavior is so the dog will respond in real-life situations. In real-life, you won't always have a clicker or treats on hand. If you don't have a treat, don't click. The click means a treat is coming and if you that pairing doesn't happen, it will begin to lose its affect.
When you ask for a behavior - we'll use the sit again - if the behavior has a history of being reinforced, he is more likely to offer the behavior even if it does not get the click and treat. You don't want to do this too often, but enough that you will get a response in those real-life instances. Think of a slot machine. A person may not be reinforced - hit a jackpot - every time they put a quarter in, but it happens often enough that some people will still offer the behavior - keep playing - for hours on end. As long as the behavior has a history of reinforcement, there's no reason you can't get the behavior at any time.
Something to keep in mind with clicker training: it was popularized with training sea mammals. This is how killer whales and dolphins are trainer. It has also been shown to work by coaches training athletes such as swimmers and gymnasts. It can work on any vertebrate from fish to lizards to dogs.
Maybe later I'll do an entry about why clicker training works so well, but this is more about method, so I'll stop there for now.
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