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Thứ Hai, 29 tháng 11, 2010
From: Dr. Dennis Fetko, “Dr. Dog”
Supercharge Dog Obedience Training With The Help Of A Clicker
When it comes to dog obedience, clicker training is still a relatively new training tool but is quickly gaining popularity as more and more professional trainers see the benefits. Clicker training can improve your dog’s health, activity and attitude and generally make him more contented.
Clicker training is the popular term for a science-based system called ‘operant conditioning’. In short, it is a method which relies upon giving positive reinforcement and a marker signal to build a new behaviour.
The first to develop and expand the clicker technique were dolphin trainers but now all sorts of ‘untrainable’ animals are being taught to respond to the clicker – even cats.
The reason for its success is that it is a rewards based training method that animals respond well to. Animals don’t enjoy being yanked, prodded, whipped or shouted at and old-fashioned training methods are often counter-productive. Focusing on positive reinforcement makes the training experience a whole lot more pleasurable for both man and beast and can significantly accelerate training time.
There are two requirements for clicker training: some kind of desirable reward (usually food) and some kind of marker to signal that the desired action is performed. To make sure your pet doesn’t get fat, you can set aside a portion of his daily kibble ration as training treats. As for the clicker, you can buy a specialist clicker from any good pet store for just a few dollars or you could make do with the click of a ball point pen or even use a whistle.
Next, you go into a quiet room with your dog and ‘charge up your clicker’ by letting your dog smell the treats and then simultaneously clicking and tossing or giving the dog a treat. Do this half a dozen times until you have really got your dog’s attention.
Then it’s a question of watching him and giving a click the instant he performs a desired behaviour – for example, he may sit or lie down and look at you expectantly. Timing is vital. The click must happen as the action takes place and the reward must be given immediately afterwards. This is exactly how dogs learn in nature.
Don’t make the session too long – five minutes is plenty – and focus on just one desired behaviour in a session.
Once your dog has become familiar with the clicker, you can begin to introduce training cues so that the dog learns to respond in a certain way when you want it to, not just by accident.
Watch carefully for desired behaviours. For example as soon as you see your dog beginning to sit or lie down, give a hand signal, or the command ‘sit’ or ‘down’, immediately click, during the action, and then treat.
Or to teach recall, take every opportunity throughout the day to call your dog to you by his name and adding the cue – “Billie, come” – and as soon as your dog starts moving towards you, click and then treat as soon as he arrives at your feet.
Each time you get the sequence to occur – you ask your dog to come, he comes, you click during the action and then treat – the more powerful that cue will become. The clicker adds an extra powerful dimension to the learning process.
You can discover more about dog obedience and clicker training at here
Why Is Your Dog Jumping Up On People?
Let’s face it, a crazy dog jumping on people does nothing for your social life. Whether it be a couple of friends coming round for a coffee or a full blown evening meal for your partner’s work colleagues, no matter how much effort you put into creating a warm welcome, nothing can compete with the over-enthusiastic welcome of a highly excited, slobbering hound launching itself at your guests’ chests at high speed as soon as you open the front door.
Dogs jumping on people is a common problem and can cause a lot of stress in an otherwise calm household. But to effectively tackle the problem, you first need to understand exactly why your dog is jumping on people.
As pack animals, dogs are highly social and jumping up is actually their way of saying ‘hello’. The behaviour starts as a puppy and takes the form of a request for food. In the wild, wolf cubs greet the returning adults by licking their lips as a way of encouraging them to regurgitate food. So the purpose a puppy jumps up at humans is to reach our faces, instinctively for the same reason. And although (hopefully) none of us ever regurgitates food for our puppies, we do usually give them a positive response for their behaviour. Puppies are so cute and it makes us feel good that they are so pleased to see us, so it’s only natural to bend down to them and give them lots of fuss and attention.
And herein lies the problem. By giving a positive response to our puppy’s jumping up, we are inadvertently rewarding them for their behaviour – and so they continue to do it all the more. Unfortunately, while it may seem cute for a puppy to jump all over us, as your dog matures into a hefty adult, it becomes rather less of a pleasurable experience. Even if you have a toy breed, it can still be a big nuisance to have the little thing scrabbling up yours (and your visitors’) legs every time you walk through the door.
But there’s an even more serious consequence of our unwitting response to our dog jumping on people.
The real issue that arises from allowing – and unwittingly encouraging – your puppy to jump up and greet people is that you are giving the puppy a very clear message that we respond to his wishes – ie, that he is allowed to dominate us and our visitors. And, unfortunately, as the puppy matures into an adult, and his need to establish his status in the family ‘pack’ becomes more acute, this message is so clearly imprinted in his brain that he figures out that he must be the pack leader. Worse still, as pack leader he now has a duty to protect his home territory and other pack members so you may find that what was once a friendly welcome takes on a rather more aggressive stance.
Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg; dogs which assume the role of pack leader exhibit all sorts of dominant behaviour issues because, quite frankly, they have no need to listen to you or respect your wishes.
To discover the easiest way to stop your dog from jumping on people – and to find out more about how to become your dog’s pack leader – visit www.thedogtrainingclub.com.
More Puppy Obedience Training
Puppy obedience training doesn’t have to be boring. In addition to the standard basic training commands – sit, stay, down, come, heel – you and your dog can have lots of fun working on more advanced training that focuses on working your dog’s individual talents. It will also help prevent problem behaviour.
Wasted Talents
Dogs which were originally bred to do a certain kind of work are likely to be specialists in that field – for example, collies love to herd, retrievers love to retrieve, terriers love to chase and dig and hounds love to track.
The problem is that in our modern society, dogs are seldom used for the purposes for which they were originally bred. And if you fail to give your dog a suitable replacement activity, he is likely to use his natural ‘talents’ in inappropriate and undesirable ways. Collies will often resort to chasing cyclists, joggers and children. Hounds will take off into the hills as soon as they are let off the leash. Terriers are likely to dig up your yard and Retrievers may steal objects or become mouthy or possessive.
Creating Replacement Activities
Fortunately, there are lots of alternative activities available for you and your dog that both of you should find rewarding and fun and which will satisfy your dogs natural talents. They are also a great way of doing your puppy obedience training and reinforcing the bond between you. Such activities include:
Agility
Agility can pretty much be likened to show-jumping for dogs. It’s great fun and gives your dog the opportunity to really run, jump and use his mind whilst improving your general control of your dog outside and off the leash.
Although you are more likely to see collies performing in agility trials on TV, agility is suitable for – and usually enjoyed by – all breeds of dog, even small ones. The only pre-condition is that your dog has reached physical maturity so that damage to growing bones and joints is avoided. The age at which physical maturity occurs varies from breed to breed, with large breeds taking the longest to mature. You should check with your vet before enrolling in a class to ensure that your dog is fit and ready.
Dancing With Dogs
This sport is becoming increasingly popular and is generally separated into two disciplines: heelwork to music and ‘freestyle’. Again, dancing will give your dog (and you) a great physical and mental workout and improve the rapport between you. Dancing is particularly well suited to lighter and more agile breeds of dog.
Free Tracking
Free tracking is particularly enjoyable for Retrievers and Hounds and is brilliant for owners who don’t have the time to join an organised group activity.
When you are out on your walk, lay a simple track by walking without your dog in a straight line over undisturbed ground for about 20 metres. Place something your dog really likes – a toy or some food – at the end of it and continue to walk for another 5 steps before retracing your steps back to your dog. Then encourage your dog to use his nose to find the treasure trove at the end.
Once your dog has the hang of this, you can build in more complex zig-zags into your trail to really test his nosework.
So there you have 4 puppy obedience training activities the will harness the power of your dog’s natrual tallents in a positive way and avoid boredom and behavioral problems.
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