This week has been a busy week for me! I am finally finished all of my course work, which means I can 1) catch up on all the thesis projects that I have been putting off and 2) spend more time at the shelter. I've been a behaviour assistant volunteer for a couple of months now, but I haven't had the time/opportunity to take all of the training available to me, so last night I participated in an instructional session on clicker training with the behavior staff.
If you are not familiar with clicker training, it is a very simple technique based on operant conditioning. Specifically, it is based on the principle of positive reinforcement, in which adding a positive stimulus (i.e. a reward) encourages repetition of an action or behavior. Some people confuse the clicker as a replacement for a command, however it is not. The click is meant to mark the instant when the desired behavior is performed. It is possible to use "clicker" training without a clicker, and using a marker word (like "yes" or "good") instead, but the clicker has several advantages. First, unlike a spoken word than can sound different based on a person's mood, the click always sounds the same. Second, the click is not a sound that the dog would normally hear outside of a training session. And finally, the click is quite loud and distinct, making it easier for the dog to notice in a high-distraction environment or in which there is a lot of noise that may drown out your voice. While many people often think incorrectly that clicker training can only use treats and is not useful for dogs with low food drive, but the truth is you can use anything that motivates your dog to clicker train, as the clicker simply marks the correct behavior and indicates that a reward is coming - that reward can be anything that your dog loves, be it food, a game of fetch, petting, or even verbal praise.
Aside from developing a well behaved dog that can do impressive party tricks, clicker training is an awesome way to bond with your dog. In addition to training tricks and commands though non-physical methods (like those used by a certain famous Mexican trainer), the clicker training can act as positive reinforcement itself, as the dog links spending time with you to getting awesome things like treats, or pets, or a game of tug.
I have worked on clicker training Snowball since we got him, to varying degrees of success. After the session yesterday, I tried again to teach Snowball a proper "sit pretty". He's very good at putting his front paws up, but not so good at holding it. However, after a few times yesterday, he actually held it for a few seconds! I'm slowly learning how true that old adage is: stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. While some dogs are just slower learners than others, the adage definitely applies to clicker training: if you keep trying to train a trick or behavior in one way, and it is just not working, maybe try switching things up a bit. This is definitely one of my biggest weaknesses too.
I fully intend to purchase and read Karen Pryor's book: Reaching the Animal Mind, which is all about clicker training and the science behind it. I highly recommend checking out her website which also has several exercises to start clicker training, as well as just testing out the theories if you don't believe they will work. A good resource for both beginners and more experienced trainers who might just be stuck is the KikoPup YouTube channel, which you can find here. Kikopup also has other great tips for making your dog or puppy easy to live with.
The other awesome thing about clicker training? You can use it on absolutely any animal. I have even clicker trained my cat to Sit and Shake a Paw. The same basic principles of clicker training can even be used on humans (although you'll probably get an odd look if you use a clicker!)
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