"...I'd like to pass on some ideas for those of you who are working with aggressive behaviors in your dogs - things like barking and lunging, expressions of shyness or fears, gestures of pushing up against you (akin to hiding behind you; while some identify pushing up against you as "dominance,"..."
"Go get hold of Karen Pryor's rules for shaping behaviors Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training, and read attentively and creatively. think of event-marking, whether you have a clicker or you don't. Try a Snapple drink lid - awkward to hold, but it will make a clicking sound, or, in a pinch, use a word, such as, "Yes!" or my word "Chip!". A mass collections of small treats - very small - that won't wreck your dog's diet, and keep them around. Reduce the amount you feed your dog if necessary (my dogs, at 20 pounds each, earn about 2/3 of their food every day, on the average).
Carry treats in a pocket - sandwich bags will protect your pocket. Keep treats on tables out of reach of dogs - and counter-surfing children (adults?). Don't use M&Ms - chocolate is TOXIC to dogs (cats too)"
"Now for the applications. The essence of the laws of behavior are this: behavior occurs as the result of its consequences. that is, it's the consequences of behaviors that dictate what behaviors are likely to be repeated, and what behaviors are not."
"Avoid punishing your dog. Besides the fact that aggression (from humans) begets aggression (from dogs), also, punishment has side effects beyond what we intend when we punish. These include efforts on the part of the punished animal to avoid punishment, even to escape its source. Punishment tends to shut down behaviors, and if you want your dog to improve, it helps to ENCOURAGE, rather than to SHUT DOWN behaviors. All you do is, you encourage GOOD behaviors (the ones you want). To a very large extent, you can ignore bad behaviors (grumbling or growling); acknowledging them is a form of reinforcing them (encouraging the behavior to occur again)."
"Where safety or health is involved, manage the situation - leash the dog, crate the dog, put a gate up so the dog is contained in a dog-proof room, muzzle the dog (but teach the dog, first, to accept the muzzle reasonably happily) - whatever is necessary to protect the safety of humans first, dogs next."
"To give you a kick-start on thinking creatively - suppose your dog is alerting to a visitor - a workman (yeah!). You observe this happening - well, give the dog something to do in this situation; cue the dog if necessary, say, to Sit, or to move along with you, or to do a trick (shake a paw?). Click even a very minor approximation of the behavior you have in mind. Did the hindquarters duck a bit? That's the beginning of a Sit; click it. Immediately feed a treat. When the dog is tense, keep the treats soft; if the dog is too upset to eat, back the dog off from the scary thing, and increase the value (to the dog) of the treats (cheese? chicken?)."
"Are you playing in the yard with the dog? Click each time the dog flicks an ear in your direction. This is the beginning of the dog turning its head to look at you. Toss the treat, let the dog find it. At the next ear-flick toward you, click/treat. It won't be long before the dogs turns its head - perhaps only slightly - toward you. Click that. Toss the treat. If the dog comes to you, hand-feed the treat (same for the ear-flick). If you keep increasing the criteria, the next step is to click when the dog turns its head and actually looks at you, when the dog moves one paw in your direction, the next, when it begins an actual turn of the body, and so forth. If you keep working on this, the dog will come closer and closer - pretty soon, you have a "Check in with me by coming close to me."
"Later, you can add taking hold of the dog's collar. Always release the dog to play after the dog "complies". You still haven't given a verbal cue for these behaviors; you're just clicking and treating, always raising the criteria. Be ready - if the dog suddenly races to you, click, give the dog a jackpot (say 10-12 treats hand-fed one-by-one), and end this particular training session. You still haven't said a word! It will come. Later. this behavior, Check in with you, will tend to be repeated, even in another training session, because it has been well-rewarded."
"During household routines, as you move around the house, let's assume the dog is welcome to come along. If it's old enough not to chew wires and the like, and you have time to be aware of its presence. If it's a puppy, you need to work out how to keep the puppy (and the wires) safe. If you dog moves around the house with you, cue the dog, as you begin making your move. Here, I use words such as: 'I'm going upstairs; wanna come?' Then, moving toward the bottom of the stairs, I stick out my flat palm (baby finger down, thumb up, and I say (to both dogs), 'Up!' The dogs go up the stairs ahead of me. I can see them, and not trip over them, nor have them rush me from behind. When they reach the top, being faster than me, they both turn and face me. I DO NOT want them playing together on or near the stairs. First, I reinforce this turn at the top of the stairs (click/treat, which eventually 'deteriorates' into praise/pat, when the behavior is utterly familiar, then to 'nice doggies' or some such similar remark me). After the stop-at-top is reinforced, I begin to delay the click, moving, myself, past the dogs, and partway down the little hallway, where i click/treat. This gets the dogs away from the top of the stairs."
"The entire routine is a 'You may come with me' conditioning (meaning, I want them with me!), a conditioning to come along promptly ('race you up the stairs'), a conditioning that results in 'No playing on the stairs!'"
"I hope this illustrates the kinds of cues you can use with dogs who already know how to behave well around the house, and do so. I click the dogs for going to their beds, for lying down on them, even for jumping on my bed, for sitting, for lying down on it. Talk about taking over the dog's mind with conditioning! By rewarding them for getting on (and for getting off) my bed, I assert my possession of it - control over my dog's behavior. The dogs think this is just fine; after all, their volitions have been quite thoroughly engaged."
"Yesterday I had an unexpected visit from an animal control officer (I'd met and chatted with him before, and he was responding to my complaint of several days ago). We walked in my intruder gate; my dogs barked, waking me from a nap. I led him through the house and downstairs, dogs coming along. There, Kwali jumped on him. He said, 'Down.' (haha!) I said, Kwali, Off. HE beat me to 'Thank you.' Gooooood officer! I then got the dogs' mats, and clicked their sits, downs, and the like, while talking to the officer. My concentration was split, of course, I just let him wait me out through this. My dogs think all visitors are THEIR visitors. Why shouldn't they? I don't have that many, and to come in my house, you ALMOST have to like dogs - you do have to tolerate them. If there's some reason for an exception, I'll pen my dogs, or crate them, or shut them out for a bit, till I get them doing reliable, long, down-stays together (and individually also)."
"What I'm saying here is that the idea of clicking for behaviors you like has almost infinite possibilities, that is can be tied in with most household routines. You can (as I sometimes do) shut the dogs in one part of the house, leave, then return, and click the dogs for their good behavior 'while you were gone,' though they will in fact be being clicked for the behavior they were doing when you clicked, and you DO need to be aware of that."
"Where their natural behavior is one thing (and this can vary with context), and what you want is another, you can lure or cue the other, then click/treat. There seems to be endless opportunities during any one day or night to click/treat (reinforce behavior you like). I used to reinforce lying quietly, in crates, on dog beds, on my bed, on the floor, under the desk, near my feet, and so forth. I still reinforce that occasionally, with a glance, especially if a dog is waking up or beginning to move - then I'll speak to the dog, and immediately return to work."
"Puppies need special adaptations. Rescue dogs benefit immensely from being specifically cued - told 'what is happening now.' Older dogs who are already clicker-savy simply love the acknowledgement, the inclusion, and the chance to communicate - to participate."
"Grooming, mail clips, baths, become easy using a clicker, shaping behaviors in little bits, a bit at a time."
Also see CUES FOR MULTIPLE DOGS and TARGETING.
The following is taken from a "list" discussion regarding "clicker training" for dog control. The comments are by Carol Whitney from Sooke, B.C., Canada. Carol can be reached at cwhitney@islandnet.com
Copyright 1999 by Carol Whitney. Right to publish on pgaa.com granted to Pet Guardian Angels of America. Contact the author for permission to reprint elsewhere.
Carol highly recommended the following books, in addition to "Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training" mentioned earlier. These books can be purchased on-line through Amazon.com by clicking the book
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