My Dog "Gets" the Clicker---But How Do I STOP "BAD" Behaviors?

[Adina P]

Some of you are thinking "Ok, fine. I get how the clicker works and my labradoodle is starting to get it, but she's SO naughty...how do I actually STOP the bad things she does?"

First, I want to remind everyone that I am not a trainer, I am merely facilitating as we go through clicker training together. However, I have a decent working understanding of clicker philosophy so I'll do my best to clear up things as we go...and hopefully I'm not too far off =).

Second, remember that the goal of just about any type of training is training your dog TO DO things on verbal (or hand signal) cue. When you are struggling with a problem behavior, rather than trying to teach "Not to's" you need think about what you could teach your dog to do instead. Is dog running away with a valuable? Then that dog needs to learn some "TO DO's" like "Come" and "Drop it" -- that is what will ultimately solve the issue for the future. If you can call your dog to "Come" and "Drop it" no matter what they have gotten ahold of...you're golden!

Third, you obviously can't give the 'come' and 'drop it' command if your dog hasn't yet learned it and hasn't yet reached a high enough level of training to respond reliably. So until you get there, you have to focus on Prevention and Management. Prevent & Manage the bad behavior by:
-- keeping the environment clear of things puppy should not have: socks put away, crunchy remote controls out of reach, food off counters
-- supervision of puppy
-- crating or gating of puppy in a safe area when supervision is not possible
-- keep a leash on your puppy (cut off handle so it doesn't catch on things) so you don't have to chase puppy. Just grab the leash or step on the leash and puppy can't run. Then deal with the situation and move on.

Think of it as an 11 month old who is now learning to walk and trying to get into everything. Or a baby who wants to put all things grabbable into his/her mouth. You certainly can't get MAD at the child for doing normal childlike things, but you do cover outlets, put baby gates at the top and bottom of staircases, put safety devices on low cabinets, etc for protection. You don't leave a 1 year old unattended, you put it in a crib or playpen if your eyes and hands are busy with something else. It is similar with a puppy or not-fully-trained dog. Know it's weaknesses and help it 'be good' by making it easy for it and removing temptations.

Fourth, since it will be a while before your pup/dog is as reliable as you'd like (training takes time!) there will be times when you just need to step in and intervene and STOP the dog. If it's trying to get onto the kitchen table...physically step in and gently push the dog away. If it has taken something valuable...catch your dog and take away the valuable. This is referred to by this clicker program as something like 'putting out fires.' In an emergency...deal with the emergency! Then go back to training when things have calmed down.

Finally, looking at clicker training specifically what are some things that you can do (using clicker principles) when your pup is wanting to be chased to turn the situation around? You can TRY out your new clicker skills! So far we have only had 4 days...and only some of these have been with the dog. The 7-day mini course is a 'sample' so it doesn't have answers for all. But off the top of my head...what if you were to show your dog the target stick in the middle of it acting naughty? Maybe, just maybe a lightbulb would go on and your dog would drop what it's doing and target the stick! You could then praise and treat and reinforce something you've been working on! (of course this assumes the naughty behavior isn't dangerous or something that has to be stopped within seconds!).

In the case of the dog holding on to a sock (but not in danger of swallowing it) what would happen if you clicked for the dog holding the sock? If the dog dropped the sock to come and get a treat...you COULD use that opportunity to shape a "hold" or "fetch" and teach your dog to pick up items and hold them and then drop them.

The point is try to think outside the box! How can you use what you've been learning to USE the behavior for good? How can you redirect the dog to something else? What commands WOULD have been handy in that moment that you can work on in future training lessons?

The main point is that the most effective training teaches/trains the dog TO DO things on cue, prevent & manage bad behaviors in the meantime, and fight fires as they come, but learn from them and continue training because there is always more to learn and to teach.

[Vicki Bosko]

Thank you Adina, all good points, well taken. I wish I would have had the target stick handy when the hair tie was heading down the pipes! I am always afraid to click to get Mileys attention when she is doing something I do not want her to do, won't that confuse her> she clicks when I am good and she clicks when I am bad????? I am pretty sure she would have dropped the hair tie and come running if I wouldl have clicked at her. Is that ok to do? Thanks again, Vicki

[Adina P]

I wouldn't use it as an attention getting device really. But once your skills improve you CAN use it to shape a behavior from something unwanted to something WANTED if you know how to do it.

Your dog doesn't know she is being 'bad' or 'good' she only knows something is rewarding (FUN to play keep away, tasty hair tie, etc) or something has undesireable consequences. With clicker training, the goal is to avoid punishment/applied unpleasant consequences and to focus on the positive and turn things around.

So IF you were to click for a sock being in her mouth ... again you'd have to know your dog and that they weren't going to swallow it. AND your dog would have to be a little more clicker 'fluent' so that she'd say "oh I did something that earns a treat" and come and get the treat and then go back to the sock to repeat...from there you could shape the behavior and turn it into a response to the command "get sock" or "drop it" -- BUT neither you nor Miley is quite there yet (I'm guessing because I'm not sure my dogs are there yet either) so prevention and management is the answer for now. BUT keep thinking creatively about what you COULD do as you improve =)

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Great post Adina. You could be the Dr. Phil of poochdom.

[elyse]

Thanks for all the great information. We are having so much fun with the training especially because Harley is soooo food motivated. She's been doing great. I don't really get the point of the last lesson but I'm sure it will lead to something else. And she got it pretty quickly. She's touching the mouse pad. What is surprising me is how quickly she is picking everything up, she's only 5 1/2 months old.

[Adina P]

Are you referring to the point of touching the mouse pad? Although touching a mouse pad in and of itself is not that useful, the point of clicker training early on is to develop your dog's fluency. I described it in another post as learning a new language or learning to read. Before you can read books, you have to learn to read words, before that letters, before that shapes.

There's no point in jumping ahead to sit, down, come, stay before YOU and your dog have basic clicker fluency down. So we start with seemingly mundane things that later we can build on. Also it's far less frustrating if your dog doesn't touch a mousepad and far MORE frustrating if your dog doesn't 'stay' -- so we also start with simple things so that it's fun and rewarding without any worries while you are still building skills and fluency.

Also there is a lot of 'principles' we must understand before getting in deeper into clicker training. As with most things...what you actually teach and the order of things is somewhat flexible, IF you understand the principles.