Basics of Clicker Training
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning- the learned association between two events: One event is neutral and one event elicits an unconditioned response.
For Example: Once a dog associates the sound of the clicker with food he/she will become excited because they know a food is coming. This is not a learned behavior. It is the body’s natural response. The sound of the clicker has to come before the award in order for it to be classically conditioned.
Classical Conditioning is important because the sound of the clicker or “yes” word marks the exact behavior you are wanting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHMclpXK64M
Operant Conditioning
Operant Conditioning- learning by association with what happens after the behavior.
There are 4 different consequences to any behavior. They are as follows:
Positive Reinforcement - Something Good can start or be presented, so behavior increases
For example: You tell your dog to sit, he/she sits, and you give your dog a reward.
Negative Punishment - Something Good can end or be taken away, so behavior decreases
For example: You tell your dog to sit, he/she lays down, so you withhold the reward.
Positive Punishment - Something Bad can start or be presented, so behavior decreases
For example: Using a shock collar to stop your dog from barking. Your dog barks, the collar delivers a shock, therefore your dog is less likely to repeat barking.
Negative Reinforcement - Something Bad can end or be taken away, so behavior increases
For example: Applying pressure to your dog’s collar to teach a sit cue. The dog sits and you release the pressure.
Positive in Operant Conditioning means you are adding something. Negative means you are taking something away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Xqa9NDO64
Beginning Clicker Training
The first step is to pick out the kind of treats you want to use. Some examples of treats are hamburger, chicken, vegetables, kibble, store bought treats, etc. You can use a few different kinds of treats so your dog never knows what to expect. The harder the behavior is for your dog the higher of treat value you want to have. From experience, it’s a good idea to stay away from food that is crumbly. It becomes a mess and is more of a hassle than what it’s worth.
The second step is to build meaning to the clicker. When starting out you are going to want to take your dog to a quiet area where he/she can focus on you. All you need to do is click and treat. There needs to be a short pause between the sound of the click and you moving your hand to treat your dog. If you click and treat at the same time your dog will not be conditioned to the sound of the click but to the movement of your hand. After clicking and treating about 10 times you can test your dog to see if he/she understands. Wait until your dog is not looking at you and then click the clicker. If your dog pops their head up and looks at you he/she is expecting a treat. This shows that your dog has a pretty good understanding of what the sound of the clicker means. If your dog does not look at you then you can continue to click and treat like before. There is no set number of times you should do this in order for your dog to understand. Every dog learns at a different speed.
Once your dog has a good understanding of what the sound of the clicker means, you are ready to start teaching new commands or continue working on already known commands. Enjoy!
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