Category: How Dogs Learn

Learning is a Click Away

Michael Baugh, CPDT-KA, CDBC

It’s not rocket science but, sure enough, it’s science.  That may be the coolest thing about clicker training.   There’s hard core science behind it.  Okay maybe that’s the second coolest thing.  Number one is how well it works.

So dial back to B.F. Skinner.  He’s the first one who toyed with the idea of using secondary reinforcement to help animals (people too) learn.  What’s that?  Good question.  But let’s look at first things first: primary reinforcement – the stuff that builds behavior.  Usually primary reinforcement is something with a bit of biological drive behind it (think food, sex and survival).  Learn to hunt; earn food.  Get the courtship right; get the girl.  Outsmart the tiger; live another day.  Those are all important behaviors with strong primary reinforcement keeping them going.  So, what about our dogs?  Sit nicely; get your dinner.  Learn a new trick; get some treats.  Get it?

Now let’s turn to the secondary reinforcement.  That’s anything that signals to the animal (or person) that the primary reinforcement is on the way.  Sea mammal trainers use a high pitched whistle.  Dolphin jumps the hoop; trainer blows the whistle; come get your fish.  Game shows have their own version.  Contestant answers the question; a bell or a siren sounds; and here’s the announcer with your prize package.  Dog trainers use a clicker.  Rover rolls over; trainer clicks as soon as it happens; Rover gets his bit of food.  It’s called a secondary reinforcement because it isn’t the real deal (the primary).  It signals or predicts the good stuff is on the way.

Why a clicker?  There’s some evidence Skinner thought about using a cricket toy which is very similar to a modern clicker.  But it wasn’t until much later that his students Marian and Keller Breland experimented clickers.  Karen Pryor made them the industry standard in modern dog training.

Maybe the real question is: why click?  The answer is super simple.

( Read More )

Psyching Out Your Dog

Michael Baugh, CPDT-KA, CDBC

Something funny happens when your dog starts to get good at learning.  She can tell when you are in training mode and when you are not.  Basically she knows when the reinforcement is available compared to when you simply aren’t paying.  How?  Well, you have that treat bag on your hip.  There’s that clicker in your hand.  And you’re standing sort of at attention leaning over your dog saying all those “commands.”  You are so obvious (yeah, I am too).

Stella. Courtesy Brett Chisholm Photography

Maybe your dog loves to work when the treat bar is open.  But the rest of the time it’s “no deal.”  How do you get your dog to respond in real life, all the time, anywhere?  My answer: psych her out.

That bag on your hip, the clicker in your hand and the way you stand and talk are all part of what behavior scientists call your “stimulus package.”  You don’t have to remember the name.  Just remember that it alerts your dog that it’s time to act nice; it predicts  goodies are coming.  In order to psych our dogs out, all we have to do is make that set up a bit less obvious and a whole lot more unpredictable.  Anything can predict goodies.

Try this.  Hide some treats in a candy jar in the living room.  Later ask your dog to do her best trick or maybe just a simple “sit” or “down.”  When she does it – BAM give her one of those secret treats.  Wow, she thinks, I didn’t see that coming.

Slip some morsels of goodness in your pocket one day when your dog isn’t looking.  Put the clicker in your other pocket.  Call your dog to you and surprise her with a click and treat when she gets there.  Whoa, that never happened before.

How about some surprise training on a walk. This is new.  Going to the vet?  Train there.  Cool, you do this everywhere.  Why not train in your p.j.’s?  Hey, those are cute.

This is all about teaching your dog that she should be ready all the time and anywhere.  Training (and the possibility for reinforcement) doesn’t just happen when you wear a certain outfit in a certain place at certain times.  Training can happen wherever you are, often when your dog least expects it.

The result is a dog who is joyfully alert whenever you are around.  This could be another opportunity.  She watches and listens.  What’s he want me to do?  And when you say the word she acts quickly.  Yes, she thinks, I love this game.

Fearful Dogs

Stella looking a bit worried. Photo Courtesty Robyn Arouty Photography

MICHAEL BAUGH, CPDT-KA, CDBC

HOUSTON – Fear in dogs is rather common, just as it is in humans. In fact, in both species it’s normal. Fear has an evolutionary function. In the proper context it protects the gene pool. Remember survival of the fittest? The cautious survived too. Keep that in mind.

Curiosity in dogs (and people) is also normal. We’re both social creatures. In the case of dogs, curiosity conquers fear easily in the early stages of development. Around the age of 5 weeks, dogs become mobile and start taking in their environment. By the time they go home with their new families at about the age of 7-8 weeks, they are in their prime for meeting and bonding with human beings.

( Read more and watch video )