Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
Day 2 of the 7-Day Mini Course
Lesson 2: Charging the clicker
In today’s class, the goal is:
* to charge the clicker
The clicker is a so called conditioned reinforcer. This means that it informs the dog that the ”real” reinforcement (a treat, a ball, a tug toy or some other nice thing) is coming.
The good thing about the clicker is that we can mark the exact moment when the dog does what we wish to reinforce. If we click just as the dog performs what we want, this behavior will be reinforced (become more likely to occur) even if a second or three passes before we get the treat or toy from our pocket and deliver it to the dog. The clicker sort of works like a camera. Another way of putting it is to say that the clicker builds a ”bridge” over the time gap between the behavior and the delivery of the reward.
Charging the clicker is very simple. This is how you do it:
1. Find an undisturbed place, preferably indoors. Click once – then take a treat from your pocket and give the dog. The dog does not have to do anything special – just click and deliver the treat. What is most important at this first stage is for the dog to learn the connection between a click and a treat. When the dog has swallowed the treat, you click and reward once more. Run through 5-6 clicks + treats before taking a break.
If you have a sound sensitive dog, please keep the clicker in your pocket to soften the sound the first 10-12 repetitions. When the dog seems to respond positively to the sound, you can take it out of your pocket while clicking.
2. After a two minute break you go on to another session. You can now begin to move about while you click and treat – the dog has to learn that click means reward even if you are on the move. Run through 5-10 clicks and then take a break. What the dog is doing when you click is still not important. It is ok if he is looking at you, but also try clicking when the dog looks away – you will see that the dog will quickly turn back to you. That is a clear sign that he is beginning to understand the meaning of the clicking sound.
3. You can work through the third session on your evening walk. Now you only need to have the clicker in your hand while you are walking. When the dog does something that you like during your walk (for example looks at you, walks on a loose leash, passes a pedestrian, somebody on a bicycle or another dog, etc) you click and treat. If the dog does not respond to the treat (this can happen the first few times outdoors if there are a lot of distractions), just give the dog the treat anyway.
If you have a dog that enjoys to play, you can use play instead of treats after the click from the very beginning. You can also vary between giving a treat and getting the toy out after the click. The click means that something fun is going to happen, but it does not necessarily say what – it can be a pleasant surprise.
When you see that the dog responds nicely to the click indoors as well as outdoors you should NOT keep working on responding to the very sound – you now need to move on to training specific behaviors!
Do you need a clicker...? Here is everything you need!
If you do not have a clicker, you can use the work ”good” (said short and rapidly) for now. It is a good idea to have a short word like that as a stand in for the clicker any way.
Make sure that you:
* keep your hands by your sides while you click
* wait to move your hand towards your pocket until AFTER you click. If you move your hand to your pocket before you click, the dog will react to the movement of your hand and not to the clicker.
* ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS reward after a click. EVERY TIME! No exceptions! (and no matter what some other people might say - trust us on this one!)
Homework
Charge the clicker! If done correctly, it should take no more than 10-30 clicks before the dog reacts to the clicker in most places. In situations with distractions it might take a bit longer before the dog always reacts as well to the clicker, but it will come as we begin the training for real.
Have fun with the homework – tomorrow we begin training for real!
Once you've received your Day 2 Lesson, please share your thoughts, experiences, and questions about what you learned and how you did with your homework here.
In today’s class, the goal is:
* to charge the clicker
The clicker is a so called conditioned reinforcer. This means that it informs the dog that the ”real” reinforcement (a treat, a ball, a tug toy or some other nice thing) is coming.
The good thing about the clicker is that we can mark the exact moment when the dog does what we wish to reinforce. If we click just as the dog performs what we want, this behavior will be reinforced (become more likely to occur) even if a second or three passes before we get the treat or toy from our pocket and deliver it to the dog. The clicker sort of works like a camera. Another way of putting it is to say that the clicker builds a ”bridge” over the time gap between the behavior and the delivery of the reward.
Charging the clicker is very simple. This is how you do it:
1. Find an undisturbed place, preferably indoors. Click once – then take a treat from your pocket and give the dog. The dog does not have to do anything special – just click and deliver the treat. What is most important at this first stage is for the dog to learn the connection between a click and a treat. When the dog has swallowed the treat, you click and reward once more. Run through 5-6 clicks + treats before taking a break.
If you have a sound sensitive dog, please keep the clicker in your pocket to soften the sound the first 10-12 repetitions. When the dog seems to respond positively to the sound, you can take it out of your pocket while clicking.
2. After a two minute break you go on to another session. You can now begin to move about while you click and treat – the dog has to learn that click means reward even if you are on the move. Run through 5-10 clicks and then take a break. What the dog is doing when you click is still not important. It is ok if he is looking at you, but also try clicking when the dog looks away – you will see that the dog will quickly turn back to you. That is a clear sign that he is beginning to understand the meaning of the clicking sound.
3. You can work through the third session on your evening walk. Now you only need to have the clicker in your hand while you are walking. When the dog does something that you like during your walk (for example looks at you, walks on a loose leash, passes a pedestrian, somebody on a bicycle or another dog, etc) you click and treat. If the dog does not respond to the treat (this can happen the first few times outdoors if there are a lot of distractions), just give the dog the treat anyway.
If you have a dog that enjoys to play, you can use play instead of treats after the click from the very beginning. You can also vary between giving a treat and getting the toy out after the click. The click means that something fun is going to happen, but it does not necessarily say what – it can be a pleasant surprise.
When you see that the dog responds nicely to the click indoors as well as outdoors you should NOT keep working on responding to the very sound – you now need to move on to training specific behaviors!
Do you need a clicker...? Here is everything you need!
If you do not have a clicker, you can use the work ”good” (said short and rapidly) for now. It is a good idea to have a short word like that as a stand in for the clicker any way.
Make sure that you:
* keep your hands by your sides while you click
* wait to move your hand towards your pocket until AFTER you click. If you move your hand to your pocket before you click, the dog will react to the movement of your hand and not to the clicker.
* ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS reward after a click. EVERY TIME! No exceptions! (and no matter what some other people might say - trust us on this one!)
Homework
Charge the clicker! If done correctly, it should take no more than 10-30 clicks before the dog reacts to the clicker in most places. In situations with distractions it might take a bit longer before the dog always reacts as well to the clicker, but it will come as we begin the training for real.
Have fun with the homework – tomorrow we begin training for real!
Once you've received your Day 2 Lesson, please share your thoughts, experiences, and questions about what you learned and how you did with your homework here.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Adina P on
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Finally did my 'charging' of the clicker with all three dogs tonite.
Thule was first. She's gone through 'charging' before and even an attempt at learning something via clicker, but we never really took the time to progress. Before I even clicked she SAT. Which I didn't want. I didn't want her to associate clicker with just sitting. So I stood there and stood there...waiting for her to lose control and MOVE. Didn't happen so I clicked a few head moves and paw moves during her sit. Then walked around and she eventually followed. In the meantime Rosco was practically busting through the door to get to our fun little game!
Next came Rosco's turn. Since he's already fully clicker charged...I actually jumped ahead to lesson 4 -- so I'll save my update on that for when we get there.
Then I did a few clicks and treats for Cass who doesn't give a rip about the sound and just wanted the treats ASAP =)
We used mild cheddar for all. -
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Permalink Reply by Holly Paterniti on
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It is exciting to hear all of your experiences :) I am going to try Day 2 and 3 tomorrow.......did not have the chance to get to anything today :) Will let you know how it goes, but am really excited to try :)
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Permalink Reply by Tante & Jordan & now Annie! on
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Payton my flincher is over the flinching but outside he did not seem to care.It could be he could not hear it.Payton is going deaf and blind (he is a Pointer mix and 11yo). Im going to buy the kind that were posted, I have the "normal" clicker. I am doing this course mostly for Jordi but I figure Payton could use some brushing up also.
Jordan is alllll over the clicker.She gets it. Click I get a treat!!
Today DH made steak for dinner and dropped one on the ground so the Dogs got cut up steak for the treat!
I cant wait for 9p when lesson 3 comes to me.
Should I have bought the book? Also I dont remember putting in a password on the site,I need one for the for the video.Did I not do something right? Any Help? -
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Ok, so I finally got to Day 2 today and Bear is doing really well with it. I really need to try this on a walk, but Joe is out of town. Will have to try this tomorrow. It was funny because as soon as I clicked, he would come to me and sit immediately :) I can not wait to try Day 3 tomorrow :) I am a day behind......I need to catch up. It is really funny because what I have been doing is to click when he is not thinking about it or walks away. And to see him run as soon as he hears it is totally great :) He is so smart, I think :)
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