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Post by andrewdillon on Mar 4, 2014 15:27:37 GMT
Thanks, all of you. I'll take your advice and buy a clicker. Are they all pretty much the same? I'd probably go for the 1st result here.
To distinguish from the last 'game', I'll avoid a Post-it. Something large that I shrink sounds a good idea, so long as I can stick it to the door. I'll go for cardboard, beginning with it on the floor so I'm not touching it during the training exercise. Maybe if I gradually move it up the door to where her nose can't reach, she'll naturally change to touching with her paw. The lounge door needs some pressure, so I think her paw higher up is probably needed.
I've been using the phrase "Shut the door". Presumably I say this whenever she touches the cardboard, not just on shutting the door? After how many correct touches should I shrink or move the cardboard?
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Post by smilesbetter on Mar 4, 2014 21:35:24 GMT
Some clickers are really quiet and some are quite harsh and can give the dog a fright, but must are okay. Would recommend the one I got but it's not a UK brand as far as I'm aware haha. Maybe consider a shorter phrase and a hand signal. Dogs learn hand signals quite quick but need a lot of repetition to get a voice command. You also have to consider that a dog will take your whole body position into account so you need to use the hand signal and voice command in different places and positions to get it perfect. Yeah, dogs are better with two syllable or less words (although can understand phrases, ie groups of learned commands). "Shut the door" is maybe a bit long, you might wanna try just "door" (which is what my parents say to me when I don't shut the door behind me and it works haha). Little things like that might speed up the learning process. Hand signals are amazing, my puppy has already learnt loads. Dogs are visual learner more than aural, so they learn hand signals a lot faster as I've said. Maybe for this you could do a hand signal where you start with an open hand and close your thumb to the rest of your hand (like an impression of a crocodiles mouth with one hand haha!) to signify the closing door. Can't remember if I or anyone else said, but when doing clicker training you should first use it while the dog is eating a meal (over a few meals). Just click it occasionally while the dog eats, eventually the dog will associate the noise with tasty food, so that when you use it with training just before you give a treat, they know they are being rewarded immediately and be able to associate the reward with the action (whereas a treat after an action might not translate directly). At first with a new trick, always give a treat after you use the clicker, and as the dog learns the trick you can clicker without the reward sometimes and it will still happily learn the trick. You could always save the money on a clicker and just make a clicking noise with your tongue though, that's what I did with my cats and I've been able to train them stuff using that. It doesn't really matter as long as the dog associates the noise with food, and probably the noise you make yourself is more practical (you don't always have to have a clicker handy!). Anyway good luck with the training! You should try get a wee video of it when you've succeeded, would be great to see the results!  |
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Post by orpheous87 on Mar 4, 2014 22:01:43 GMT
I think it depends on personal preference and the preference of your dog as to which clicker you get. I have a standard box clicker (like this one - shop.phebee.at/images/product_images/popup_images/box-clicker-112_0.jpg), but you can also get clickers that have buttons so that you don't necessarily need to use your hand to click them. I believe there are also clickers that have variable volumes if your dog is sound sensitive. As for the cue, I'd say you need to get the dog reliably touching the target first before adding the cue in. And then it depends on how reliably she's touching it before you decrease the size of the target. If you think she's ready and switch it, but she doesn't touch it like she was doing with the bigger target, you might need to go back to the bigger one until she's 100% reliable. I think you'll be able to tell when you'll be able to decrease the target size. |
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Post by charlottte on Mar 4, 2014 23:41:02 GMT
You will need to charge the clicker. For a couple of minutes just get some little treats and click, treat, click, treat. That way the clicker becomes a secondary reinforcer to the dog. It won't take her long to realise that correct behaviour = click = treat. Timing is crucial with clicker training too so it can help to practice timing on behaviours she already knows (such as clicking for her bum hitting the floor for a sit). A friend of mine also used to watch tv and click whenever someone blinked/turned their head etc to perfect timing. As for adding the cue, when using a clicker, don't add the cue until you'd bet a weeks wage that she'll perform the behaviour. So when she keeps going back to the door and touching it. If you add the cue 'shut the door' to her touching the target, then that will be the behaviour she performs, whereas you want the behaviour of the door closing fully. It's tempting to add a cue early on but if you can help it, don't ask her to 'shut the door' (until you have the finished behaviour) as it could lead to the cue being 'poisoned'. Meaning that the cue means nothing. Think of dogs that ignore recall cues, the cue means nothing to the dog, it doesn't have a big enough reinforcement history. Finally, shrinking the target. I'd be looking for her performing the behaviour 8/10 times reliably at least before upping the ante. If you make the target smaller and she gets stuck, make the target the size you were working with before and practice that some more on that. It just means that you moved on a bit quick for her. As for how much to shrink, it'll depend on your dog. I can easily half targets with Jasper, but some dogs really struggle with anything that looks slightly different so you'll have to play that one by ear  Let us know how you get on There's also a couple of clicker sites that may be helpful www.clickersolutions.comwww.clickertraining.com/get-started |
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Post by BorderTerrier on Mar 16, 2014 11:20:26 GMT
I won a clicker in a competition last year and the click was quite harsh when I tried it out. Most make a similar noise, however the volume does vary. I agree with smilesbetter; whatever the noise is, whether that be a click, whistle, clap, voice command, or even the word 'bananas' (!), the dog will just associate that sound/word with the task. So if you wish to save money, you could chose anything. Dogs don't judge the sense that the found or word makes, they just associate and go along with it. When your dog is obviously confident with the task, that is when you can shrink/move the cardboard. There is no set number. It varies from dog to dog, and how long it takes your own dog to learn. |
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Post by andrewdillon on Apr 16, 2014 19:02:15 GMT
Just bought clicker, and been using the word 'door' while pointing. I put the cardboard in different places on carpet, and by this stage she's already excited about her treat and what's going to happen.
I say 'door' while pointing to the door (regardless of where we & the cardboard are), and she was touching the cardboard in response. I'd quickly click and give her the treat. Now, though, she's so excited that she performs the shortcut of dipping her head to the cardboard but not actually connecting with it. It doesn't help that it isn't always clear to me whether she's made contact. Most times, she probably hasn't, but I've been giving her the benefit of the doubt.
I've cut the cardboard in half - I'm confident she'll respond to any size. How do you suggest I make sure of full contact - always?
She looks at where her treat might be (in my screwed up hand, away from her), rather than the cardboard. But I guess that's to be expected?
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Post by charlottte on Apr 20, 2014 18:13:39 GMT
Glad to hear she's doing well Making sure she makes contact is just good observation and timing The more you click for not making contact, she'll think that's what you want. Keep a very beady eye on her nose and only click for the contact. I know it can e difficult, I have a poodle with lots of hair on his head and ears so it makes seeing what his nose is doing really hard! As for the treats, could you try putting out hand behind your back so she can't see where the treat will come from? |
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