Maybe one day Mom and John will let me drive, so I can shop like these dogs!
And it looks like the Viszla in the video is a trained Assistance Dog! Cool!
12 hours ago
Showing posts with label clicker training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clicker training. Show all posts
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Video: Working on a new skill
Mom sometimes leaves the cordless home phone on the kitchen table, where John can't reach it...if he's already sitting on the couch and comfy, it's hard for him to get up just to get the phone. So Mom said that we need to work on having me retrieve the phone off of the table.
I already know a go-out (to move away from John), and a "Paws" cue (to put front paws up on things) and the retrieve (to pick up the object and return to John holding the object). I also know the word "phone" What John had to do was click me for going to the table and then for putting my feet up and then retrieving. Essentially stringing together things that I already know. The video is from the middle of the training session we had the other day...I hope you enjoy!
Mom says to mention that this is a great illustration of why clicker training is so wonderfully easy for people with disabilities to train their own dogs. John stays put on the couch, and Mom just helps a bit with putting the phone back in place (and she signals me once with her hand to help me).
I already know a go-out (to move away from John), and a "Paws" cue (to put front paws up on things) and the retrieve (to pick up the object and return to John holding the object). I also know the word "phone" What John had to do was click me for going to the table and then for putting my feet up and then retrieving. Essentially stringing together things that I already know. The video is from the middle of the training session we had the other day...I hope you enjoy!
Mom says to mention that this is a great illustration of why clicker training is so wonderfully easy for people with disabilities to train their own dogs. John stays put on the couch, and Mom just helps a bit with putting the phone back in place (and she signals me once with her hand to help me).
Monday, January 4, 2010
Video: targeting a door
Here's a nice little video for today...featuring one of our flyball friends, Kodi the poodle. He's working on paw targeting for flyball, but it's just like targeting for shutting a door, for those Service Dogs out there!
His mom is clicking and treating for two paws up on the target (duct tape on the door)...you can see her tossing the treats to him, so he stays in place.
Clicker training is so fun and easy...Kodi's mom can click/treat and handle the camera all at the same time! ;)
Enjoy!
~SDS
His mom is clicking and treating for two paws up on the target (duct tape on the door)...you can see her tossing the treats to him, so he stays in place.
Clicker training is so fun and easy...Kodi's mom can click/treat and handle the camera all at the same time! ;)
Enjoy!
~SDS
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Rules of Punishment...food for thought...
Mom ran across Steve White's 8 Rules of Punishment from last year's Clicker Expo...and has been pondering it lately. It's next week's discussion for puppy class too. Here is the list...more thoughts on this later.
Eight Rules for Using Punishment:
1. The punishment must be something the animal dislikes and something the animal does not expect.
2. The punishment must suppress behavior. (This is, in fact, the very definition of something that is a punisher.) If something is being used for punishment, but it does not suppress behavior, it’s ineffective and often just plain abuse.
3. The punishment must be of the perfect intensity. Too much and there will be negative fallout. You’ll end up hurting your relationship with the animal and loosing more than just that behavior. Too little and the punishment will only serve to desensitize the animal and build resistance.
4. The punishment must happen immediately after the behavior it is to be associated with. Otherwise, a clear enough association between the wrong behavior and the punishment will not be made.
5. The punishment must be associated with the behavior, but not with the trainer. Otherwise, the trainer becomes part of the punishment and the animal starts fearing and disliking the trainer.
6. The punishment must happen every time the behavior occurs. If punishment does not happen every time the behavior occurs, the behavior gets put on a variable schedule of reinforcement. Depending on the behavior and how often the punishment actually occurs, the animal could decide that performing the behavior was worth the risk of getting punished.
7. There must be an alternative for the animal.
8. Punishment must never be used to the extent that punishment outweighs positive reinforcement (from the animal’s perspective, not yours!)
If you can’t follow all 8 of these rules, you’re probably better off avoiding the use of punishment. Heck, even if you can follow all 8 rules, you’re probably better off avoiding the use of punishment, as punishment can result in so many unintended and undesirable side effects.
~SDS (Who is glad Mom tries to avoid punishment!)
Eight Rules for Using Punishment:
1. The punishment must be something the animal dislikes and something the animal does not expect.
2. The punishment must suppress behavior. (This is, in fact, the very definition of something that is a punisher.) If something is being used for punishment, but it does not suppress behavior, it’s ineffective and often just plain abuse.
3. The punishment must be of the perfect intensity. Too much and there will be negative fallout. You’ll end up hurting your relationship with the animal and loosing more than just that behavior. Too little and the punishment will only serve to desensitize the animal and build resistance.
4. The punishment must happen immediately after the behavior it is to be associated with. Otherwise, a clear enough association between the wrong behavior and the punishment will not be made.
5. The punishment must be associated with the behavior, but not with the trainer. Otherwise, the trainer becomes part of the punishment and the animal starts fearing and disliking the trainer.
6. The punishment must happen every time the behavior occurs. If punishment does not happen every time the behavior occurs, the behavior gets put on a variable schedule of reinforcement. Depending on the behavior and how often the punishment actually occurs, the animal could decide that performing the behavior was worth the risk of getting punished.
7. There must be an alternative for the animal.
8. Punishment must never be used to the extent that punishment outweighs positive reinforcement (from the animal’s perspective, not yours!)
If you can’t follow all 8 of these rules, you’re probably better off avoiding the use of punishment. Heck, even if you can follow all 8 rules, you’re probably better off avoiding the use of punishment, as punishment can result in so many unintended and undesirable side effects.
~SDS (Who is glad Mom tries to avoid punishment!)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
A New Year's Exercise For Grownups
This link is from clickertraining.com...and is one of the letters from Karen Pryor.
A New Year's Exercise For Grownups
Basically, the article talks about humans making an effort to reward other humans in every day life. Taking the time to tell them that they did a nice job. With clicker training, humans try really hard to focus on the good stuff we dogs do, rather than correcting/punishing us for the bad stuff.
Mom has been trying to set this human-human reinforcing in her puppy class that she teaches. They give each other raffle tickets for things they saw the other human do that they liked. It seems to be helping, as most everyone has lovely things to say to each other. It's funny, as there is a always a kid or two in class, and people have no problem telling the kids "good job" or "well done on teaching that behavior", but are often awkward when they tell other adult humans the same thing. Why is that? Why do humans get so awkward when dealing with each other? Humans are so weird.
~SDS
(Who loves to reinforce humans..."Yes Human! That butt scratch feels wonderful!")
A New Year's Exercise For Grownups
Basically, the article talks about humans making an effort to reward other humans in every day life. Taking the time to tell them that they did a nice job. With clicker training, humans try really hard to focus on the good stuff we dogs do, rather than correcting/punishing us for the bad stuff.
Mom has been trying to set this human-human reinforcing in her puppy class that she teaches. They give each other raffle tickets for things they saw the other human do that they liked. It seems to be helping, as most everyone has lovely things to say to each other. It's funny, as there is a always a kid or two in class, and people have no problem telling the kids "good job" or "well done on teaching that behavior", but are often awkward when they tell other adult humans the same thing. Why is that? Why do humans get so awkward when dealing with each other? Humans are so weird.
~SDS
(Who loves to reinforce humans..."Yes Human! That butt scratch feels wonderful!")
Monday, April 21, 2008
Boooring day...
It's raining outside, and John and I are in the workshop making pens. Not much to do today...nowhere to go...might as well do something "handy". Mom makes me a bed on the floor of the workshop with lots of blankets that can be washed easily (everything gets dirty in the shop)...I like it because I'm right there to help if needed. Usually I pick up stuff before John asks. John and Mom say as long as I have a good "leave it" cue, it's okay to let me work without a cue. I say that something falling is my cue.
Mom and Score (my little brother) went to a thing called "Clicker Expo" this spring, and she's come back with all sorts of new words and terms. She says that she's good at the artful side of training, and is trying to brush up on her scientific side. Terminology is not her friend. But she's getting better...at least I think she is. She's no longer standing there with a puzzled look on her face when someone asks what certain terms mean!
We use clicker training in our house, and I love it. Mom is what is termed a "Crossover Trainer". She started training with choke chains, force and *gasp* no treats. Trouble was, as mom says, she was training a basset hound. The typical "Stubborn" breed. No matter what mom did, that basset nose stayed on the ground. They muddled through for a year or so before finding AGILITY. Mom had always wanted to try agility, but didn't know where to go. Suddenly, she found a place, and they were accepting of a basset hound playing on their equipment. But there was a catch. No choke chains. Mom thought this was okay, as it wasn't working anyway. She started with just a buckle collar and loads of hot dogs. Amazingly enough...(can you hear the sarcasm?)...her basset started to pay attention. Mom wasn't clicker training yet, but had started down the road. She went on to title Harding (the basset) in agility and flyball...with treats and trust. (RIP Harding)
Mom continued with the treats and buckle collars...and got into other non-aversive methods and equipment, such as head halters. She used these with great success on Ripley and Xander (my big brothers) who were both rescues with issues. Then my sister, Inara, came along...with LOADS of issues. She started clicker training more...and it worked so well for her. Then I came along.
I was a easy-going boy at first. Rescued and transported from MO to Maryland to meet my mom for the first time...I was sweet and gentle. Mom thought, "This one will be easy". Ha!
I had space issues and problems with being grabbed. These things didn't show up at first...it took a few months. The first time mom tried to move me away from her plate (she was eating on the couch), I air-snapped at her foot. This happened a few more times, and then one day mom "snapped". She grabbed me by the collar and dragged me to the basement to put me in a crate. I grabbed her back. In tears, she realized that she was waaaaay off-base.
A whole new part of my life started then. Mom took a hands-off approach with me. Rather than restraining or pushing me out of the way while she ate, she clicked and rewarded me for staying in one spot and a pre-determined (determined by her) distance. She only grabbed my collar if she was playing the "Gotcha Game" (grabbing for me in fun...and treating for it). And things were better.
To be continued...
~SDS
Mom and Score (my little brother) went to a thing called "Clicker Expo" this spring, and she's come back with all sorts of new words and terms. She says that she's good at the artful side of training, and is trying to brush up on her scientific side. Terminology is not her friend. But she's getting better...at least I think she is. She's no longer standing there with a puzzled look on her face when someone asks what certain terms mean!
We use clicker training in our house, and I love it. Mom is what is termed a "Crossover Trainer". She started training with choke chains, force and *gasp* no treats. Trouble was, as mom says, she was training a basset hound. The typical "Stubborn" breed. No matter what mom did, that basset nose stayed on the ground. They muddled through for a year or so before finding AGILITY. Mom had always wanted to try agility, but didn't know where to go. Suddenly, she found a place, and they were accepting of a basset hound playing on their equipment. But there was a catch. No choke chains. Mom thought this was okay, as it wasn't working anyway. She started with just a buckle collar and loads of hot dogs. Amazingly enough...(can you hear the sarcasm?)...her basset started to pay attention. Mom wasn't clicker training yet, but had started down the road. She went on to title Harding (the basset) in agility and flyball...with treats and trust. (RIP Harding)
Mom continued with the treats and buckle collars...and got into other non-aversive methods and equipment, such as head halters. She used these with great success on Ripley and Xander (my big brothers) who were both rescues with issues. Then my sister, Inara, came along...with LOADS of issues. She started clicker training more...and it worked so well for her. Then I came along.
I was a easy-going boy at first. Rescued and transported from MO to Maryland to meet my mom for the first time...I was sweet and gentle. Mom thought, "This one will be easy". Ha!
I had space issues and problems with being grabbed. These things didn't show up at first...it took a few months. The first time mom tried to move me away from her plate (she was eating on the couch), I air-snapped at her foot. This happened a few more times, and then one day mom "snapped". She grabbed me by the collar and dragged me to the basement to put me in a crate. I grabbed her back. In tears, she realized that she was waaaaay off-base.
A whole new part of my life started then. Mom took a hands-off approach with me. Rather than restraining or pushing me out of the way while she ate, she clicked and rewarded me for staying in one spot and a pre-determined (determined by her) distance. She only grabbed my collar if she was playing the "Gotcha Game" (grabbing for me in fun...and treating for it). And things were better.
To be continued...
~SDS
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