I've been clicker training my dog since he was about 10 months old (wish I had discovered it sooner). I spent lots of time practicing commands in different environments. Room by room, to the yard to the driveway out on a neigborhood walk, in a field on concrete etc......and then around distractions.

As he has aged he has required less practice and time to generalize a command. As a matter of fact, I can teach something in the kitchen and move it outside the next day and he performs without requiring any practice. With the exception of being in the vicinity of heavy distractions aka squirrels or other small running creatures, the generalization is almost instant.

He is 8 years old. Does the ability to generalize increase with maturity or is it the amount of training over a long period of time that influences this?

I'd think it's a combination of all those factors. Also it will depend on the dog. Some are naturally better at generalizing and others are more literal minded and need to be shown that a command is a command no matter where it's given.

I think humans don't give our dogs enough credit when it comes to generalizing.

You listen to some people talk, specifically about puppies, and it is like they are breaking down every single piece of the environment in which a dog performs. I am seriously waiting for the day someone says "Well, he's never performed a 'sit' at 78 degrees with 80% humidity." *headdesk*

When my ten-month-old Sheltie had learned "sit", and did it reliably on cue in my living room, he proceeded to do it in every room of my house, every room of my boyfriend's house, with or without a lure, on various surfaces (carpet, linoleum, hardwood floor, soft cushion), in different situations (in the crate, on my bed, by the baby gate), with various distractions (TV, people talking, guests, dogs barking). This was without me actually attempting to "proof" yet or test his sit limits.

I train 90% of my dogs behaviors while I sit on my butt on the floor in my living room, next to a bucket of treats. The catch is that when I say a behavior is "trained" I mean I am getting it on cue 100% of the time when I ask for it.

I think part of it is that the dog learns very quickly EXACTLY what the behavior is when it is taught through clicker training, especially when free-shaped. There is no confusion. The click means "do that thing you're doing right this second!" You mark a precise moment in time, and you get a precise behavior back. In contrast, people who do a lot of luring and physical touching to teach behaviors are not getting these precise behaviors and it leads to confusion in the dog -- and when you up the ante, the behavior quickly dissolves.

 Quote: Matt Wyrick

I'd think it's a combination of all those factors. Also it will depend on the dog. Some are naturally better at generalizing and others are more literal minded and need to be shown that a command is a command no matter where it's given.

Yes. I think you're exactly right. I've trained both.

My own tendency is always to err on the side of being sure, and also to explain it that way to new owners/trainers.

There is no harm in proofing for change in venues before proofing for distractions, and I'd much rather do that than correct a dog who understood the command in the kitchen fine but who didn't carry it over to the sidewalk or the yard.

As Sheila points out, she has seen both ends of the spectrum in the same dog, at different levels of maturity.

 Quote: katherine ostiguy

You listen to some people talk, specifically about puppies, and it is like they are breaking down every single piece of the environment in which a dog performs.

I did have to do this for my dog when he was a puppy, his curiosity and drive to investigate anything new or different in his environment even if it had been less than 2 minutes since he was in the room, overruled the training from a previous venue. The training proceeded quickly; but I always had the "need to check it out" excitement to work through first. So maybe it wasn't as much a generalization problem of the behavior but generalization of his focus on me. But in my experience this is pretty normal puppy behavior and my boy was slow to mature. Once maturity kicked in the generalization process was much quicker.

 Quote: katherine ostiguy

I think part of it is that the dog learns very quickly EXACTLY what the behavior is when it is taught through clicker training

ABSOLUTELY!

As far as free shaping and luring; I think I always lure, not intentionally but none the less luring is happening. The inhalation of a breath as he gets closer to the behavior, a slight tenseness of a muscle, the small smile as I watch him work through a problem, all involuntary as I stand stoically still, but all read by my dog. I think it is kind of like the "hot or cold" game.

With that being said; I believe his focus is greater whan I free shape because he is deciphering my cues.