Karen Pryor's force-free animal training techniques have continued to thrive since her pioneering work with dolphins in the 1960s. Her book "Don't Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training" has been declared "the most comprehensive book on positive reinforcement". Clicker training is so effective that many shelters are implementing a clicker program to make dogs more adoptable. Not only are they training basic behaviors, they are giving these lonely dogs confidence. By easing the transition to shelter life and teaching them desirable behaviors like sitting instead of jumping in the kennel, these dogs are more adoptable!

A "clicker" is a small, plastic box with a metal strip that makes an abrupt clicking sound when pushed and released. Immediately following the click, a reward is given - known as the reinforcer.

Clicker training is not a gimmick or fad, it is supported by scientific studies dating back to Aristotle, Pavlov, Thorndike and Skinner. Clicker training is merely modern jargon for operant conditioning: the way an animal interacts with and learns from its environment. Classical conditioning, on the other hand is an automatic association linked with either positive or negative outcomes. If the outcome is positive, the behavior will be repeated, if it is negative it will extinguish itself. Therefore, at the onset clicker training employs classical conditioning but as soon as an animal intentionally repeats behaviors for a reward they are learning via operant conditioning.

Why is clicker training effective?

Simple, clear form of communication between verbal humans and non-verbal animals. When an animal is in control of its environment and the consequences of its actions their confidence grows.

Clicker training focuses on what the animal is doing right instead of what it is doing wrong (you are redirecting and establishing new behavior patterns positively)

The handler's respect for the animal's decision making ability forms a deep and trusting bond

Why use a clicker?

The consistency and distinctiveness of a "click" marks the exact behavior that is being rewarded - during the behavior not after. The meaning of a click never varies.

A clicker bridges the behavior to the reward which results in fluent learning Clicker training teaches a dog how to think and results in accelerated learning (it teaches your dog to behave with purpose and enthusiasm) It is an easy, reliable, fun and above all a positive experience for both of you

Coercive and punishment based training:

Training through punishment is reactive and doesn't teach the dog what is expected. You are not controlling what the dog learns or encouraging them to choose the appropriate behavior. You may be stopping the behavior but does not teach or provide another choice and is often short-term. The best human example is getting a speeding ticket. You will probably stop speeding for a while out of fear of getting caught but the next time you are late, you will speed and won't get caught! A good canine example is punishing a dog for jumping up on visitors, instead of showing your dog what you want him/her to do you are inadvertently teaching him to be scared or dislike visitors. In the end, the biggest disadvantage to punishment-based training is the harm it does to the dog-human relationship.

Practical Application of the Clicker:

*Remember: any behavior can be taught with any animal if you:

Get the behavior
Mark the behavior
Reward the behavior

Step 1: bridge the click with the reward. This is accomplished by clicking and treating when your dog is looking for the treat when you click, it is time to start communicating via the clicker

Step 2: Getting the behavior
Some behavior occur naturally like sitting and are often predictable so you can wait patiently for them to occur and then mark them (known as Other unnatural behaviors can be elicited by luring, targeting and shaping.

Step 3: Adding a cue
Clicker training is unique in that cues for the behavior are only incorporated when the dog understands what the click is rewarding.

You will need many pairings with the cue and reward, as the dog becomes proficient, fade the clicker and reward Clicker training isn't a training method to me. It's a philosophy, a way of life. Reward the good, ignore the bad. Break tasks into tiny steps and reward small successes. And in some cosmic, karmic sense of right, more and more good things seem to be happening to me. I wanted a trained dog. I found a happy life.


~ Melissa Alexander ~

Sources:

Positive Reinforcement: Training Dogs in the Real World by Brenda Aloff
Click to Calm by Emma Parsons
Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor
http://www.clickersolutions.com/index.html