The desire to have a well-behaved pet, is one of the main reasons that people decide to try clicker training with their animal. It is unpleasant for everyone when pets dig through trash, bark insanely at everyone outside of the family, and harass friends by jumping on them when they come to visit. Good behavior brings harmony in the home and builds a strong relationship between the owner and the pet. Bad behavior . . . . what can I say, it is miserable.
If you want to use clicker training to train your pet at home, you can do it. Professional training is not required, but preparation is important. All you need is a little time to study the philosophy and best practices of the method in order to be successful.
How Is Clicker Training Different From Traditional Training?
The heart of clicker training is operant conditioning, which means that positive reinforcement is used to teach preferred behaviors or target actions to the animal. The focus for each session is always to have fun with your animal and should last for only a few minutes.
The foundation of traditional training is classical conditioning and relies on control through punishment. Scolding, use of sticks or other forms of punishment are not part of the clicker training method. Control is developed through verbal corrections that help the animal recognize the difference between target actions and non-target actions.
Clicker training teaches preferred behaviors in small steps. The animal is not expected to learn an entire complicated target action right off the bat. The action is broken down into easy-to-learn steps, which are practiced repeatedly until they are mastered. When a step is done correctly, the animal hears a “click” and immediately receives a treat. This makes the process fun for the pet and reinforces the action so that the animal wants to continue doing it. As each step is learned, the animal moves toward learning the entire target action.
Clicker training is effective with many animals, rabbits, ferrets, dogs, cats, chinchillas, hamsters, guinea pigs, and horses.
Helpful Hints:
1. Learn to provide timely clicks. It is imperative that you click during the action, not after the action. The timeliness of the click helps the animal develop an association between the click and the action. The treat must be given immediately after the click. Always have a bag of treats ready so the pet is rewarded without delay. The entire cycle – action with click, followed by reward – should be smooth and quick.
Practice is the key to developing your coordination for this process. The most effective way is to practice clicking and rewarding without your pet. Use a TV character as a “stand-in.” Select an action that you will look for, such as run, walk, stand up or sit down. Every time you see the action – click and reward. You can toss the reward into a bowl or onto the floor. Take your time and practice until you feel comfortable. It will not only smooth out your movements, it will also build your confidence.
2. Don’t push your pet. The goal is to develop a five- to ten-second consistent cycle. Some pets do not need five seconds. If that happens, pause a couple of seconds before moving on to the next cycle. Try to work in sessions of 20 consistent repetitions, but if your pet stops having fun, STOP. You must work at the pace that is unique to your pet.
3. Have your clicker with you at all times. Be prepared to click and reward at any point when your pet performs a target action. There are some inexpensive clickers connected to stretch wrist bands that are good for this purpose. If you can’t carry the treats or you are caught without them, at least give your pet praise whenever target actions are performed.
If you run into the problem of your pet not responding to signals, take a breath and don’t worry. It happens even to the professionals. The problem is not with your pet. Like most healthy animals, he loves to learn and will enjoy “operant” conditioning. The problem most likely has something to do with the method. When your animal does not respond, try the following:
1. Take the time to evaluate. Lack of response can be the result the pet having a weak (or no) association between the click and the action. If you determine that is the case, you will need to repeat the loading procedure so the animal can make the association with no hesitation.
2. Take a look at the environment. What is different? Noises, people, traffic? Are you working in a different location? A change of environment can make it difficult for your pet to pay attention. Let him get comfortable by exploring for a few minutes, then he will settle down and you can start again.
3. Does your pet really like the treats you are using? If the animal responds in a ho-hum manner with little interest in the reward, you may need to change it to something that will make him perk up. When you find something that the animal really likes, the desire to perform will be consistent.
This has been a brief overview of clicker training that I hope has sparked your curiosity. If you decide to move forward, be sure to spend more time learning exactly how it all works. There are great resources online, through Amazon, and at the public library.
Clicker training is a great choice and well worth looking into as a possibility for your pet.
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