Let me start by saying that I know I made a big no-no but, I have a 4 month old GSD and the wife has a 5 month old Choc Lab. We fell in love with both dogs the minute we saw them. Now to the story. Before finding Leerburg my wife and I both being deputies value the opinons of other LEO's more than most. So thanks for all your information ED and glad I found your site. Man you know it all. Ok we started training the old fashioned way--well sort of.. semi reward/yank and crank. Our department K-9's were trainined this way. The lab seems to be learning faster and I think I have her down, she hers a click and looks to my wife. So I think thats ok. The GSD who is full of energy waits for 3-7 secs and then will kinda look around. We work with both dogs the same...for loading I tried 2- 5 minute sessions 1 day and then again the next. she is on lead and stays within 6 feet. I just randomly click wait about 1 sec treat and then wait 3-5 sec and click again. the process goes until no interest or no treats left. Does this seem normal? This is my first clicker experience. Thanks in advance
Deputy J.A. Vance

Do you have the Marker video? if not, you need to get it. it goes over all the basics of how to begin.

for loading the clicker you don't wait, you click and treat. You also need to teach the dog the words that mean training is about to happen and that training is over. Just randomly clicking in the beginning stages is not what's recommended. The click needs to be given a value first and that's done by loading or "charging the mark"

http://leerburg.com/219.htm

In addition, you should never keep training until the interest runs out. The dog should always be left wanting more. Otherwise he will remember training as being boring.

To load the clicker this is what I do.

click, treat. click, treat. click, treat. (about 10-15 or more times). then I do click, pause (1-2 sec), treat. During the pause I am seeing if the dog is looking for the treat. If he is, that means he thinks, oh, I heard a click, now I should be getting a treat (in other words, he associates the click with his reward). So now I will do click, pause (1 sec), treat. About 5-10 times. Then I end the session.

Second session is click, treat. Click, treat. Click treat. (3-5 times). Then I add the pauses again and gradually make the pauses longer. When you see the dog looking for his treat, and he is doing this consistently, you have charged your mark. End of 2nd session.

The next thing I do (3rd session) is put a treat in my hand in a fist. I hold my fist out to the dog. when his nose touches my fist, I click and open my fist so he can eat the treat. I do this about 10 times. Next, I put my treat and clicker in my fist and hold out the other fist (with no treat). My two fists are close together. Now, I do not click when he touches my "treat fist" but only when he touches my non-treat fist. We do this until his light bulb goes on and he figures out he has to touch the EMPTY fist to get his treat from the other hand. This may take either one or two sessions depending on the dog.

By this time the dog has figured out he has to "do something" to earn a click and a treat.

The DVD Cindy mentioned is 3 1/2 hours long and goes into great detail about clicker training. It is a really really good helpful video, but unfortunately does not have any video of a dog who has never ever done clicker training being "charged". I figured out my way from reading some of the clicker books that Leerburg sells.

Hope this helps

And I would order the video asap.
http://leerburg.com/219.htm


Also, meanwhile, http://leerburg.com/qamarkers.htm and http://leerburg.com/markers.htm

 Quote: angela burrell

The DVD Cindy mentioned is 3 1/2 hours long and goes into great detail about clicker training. It is a really really good helpful video, but unfortunately does not have any video of a dog who has never ever done clicker training being "charged". I figured out my way from reading some of the clicker books that Leerburg sells.

Angela, there is a section on charging the mark with a dog that's never experienced it before. Max, the Jack Russell terrier. The owner tries it (incorrectly) and then I do it (hopefully, correctly )

Thanks for all the information. I have not yet ordered the video but I plan to, Cindy I forgot to mention you but I must say my wife (also a deputy) is amazed at your work. we have watched the you tube with you and rush many times. I will be putting the methods explained before to use ASAP. I love the tip about the hand touch I think the lab will catch on quick. I hope you folks keep the tips coming. Any knowledge you can throw on my I assure you will be put to good use. I know this is not the place put my GSD now 4 months old has a small crook in her ear that makes it turn in. think it is time to tape or wait till 5th month she is still teething as I am now the proud owner of a baby tooth. came out during training last night..WOooHOOO...agin thanks in advance.sorry I am so long winded just excited about my pups!!!

Edited by John Vance (11/19/2008 09:37 PM)
Edit reason: I am typo king!!

I think you will love clicker training, it really is amazing how quickly and easily it can be used to teach dogs new behaviors or to problem solve existing issues.

What used to take me several days or even week to teach now takes one or two short sessions with refreshers to teach.

"Don't shoot the dog" by Karen pryor is an excellent book for people new to operant conditioning and positive reinforcement as a behavior modifier!

 Quote: cindy easton rhodes

 Quote: angela burrell

The DVD Cindy mentioned is 3 1/2 hours long and goes into great detail about clicker training. It is a really really good helpful video, but unfortunately does not have any video of a dog who has never ever done clicker training being "charged". I figured out my way from reading some of the clicker books that Leerburg sells.

Angela, there is a section on charging the mark with a dog that's never experienced it before. Max, the Jack Russell terrier. The owner tries it (incorrectly) and then I do it (hopefully, correctly )

Yes, you're right. I went and watched it again. I remembered that part in my brain as being a demonstration of a dog that was distracted and didn't really like his treats. (running away from raw meat! lol) But the first part was charging the mark.

It shows the technique you should use to introduce the click/treat combination to the dog. However, it didn't spend a lot of time to demonstrate how to know when your dog understands the click. (the next baby step after the introduction).

I progress from hand touching, when I think the dog understands that he has to touch my opposite hand to get the click/treat, to putting an object on the floor directly in front of me (you could also use a short target stick). I use a full soup can or dog food can. The dog has to touch the can (or target) to get his click/treat.

From there I progress to behaviours like Back Up, Sit and Down. So far that is as far as I got, I am using the marker DVD to learn how to do more complex behaviours. This is a DVD that is so packed you have to watch it over and over.

I have always combined loading the clicker and teaching eye contact. I take treats, if the pup wants to bounce all over the place I put her on the leash, sit down and wait. The pup knows I have something yummy and sooner or later she is going to look in my eye. Sometimes it is just a half second glance but then I clikc and treat. How long I do this, depends on the dog but in my case after the first session all dogs I have done it with offer eye contact and after hearing a click, look to my hand to get the treat as fast as possible. I usually do several sessions to reinforce it. I have tried it for adults and pups of different breeds and I think I am going to stick with this in the future also.

Dear John: Just received the DVD on clicker training yesterday. Great, Great video!! Lots of good info.

Loved the cats! Cindy and Ed, we will be seeing a video on marker training your cat?! Ha! Your cats sure wanted to be apart of the action!!!