Starting CyberAgility – Web-based Clicker Training

One way in which the ClickerExpo has already influenced me is that it led me to CyberAgility. One of the speakers at the ClickerExpo is Helix Fairweather. When I was trying to decide who to have dinner with (you can sign up to be at a particular faculty’s table), I noticed that Helix taught clicker agility classes. Not only that – but she did it remotely – over the web.

As a techie – this actually appeals to me. I believe I had actually LOOKED for an online clicker class years ago – but opted not to since at the time I didn’t know if the instructor was any good and the cost was about the same as a regular class.

This time around – I felt comfortable with Helix’s credentials, and I needed some guidance when it came to ‘pure’ clicker training. I was actually far less interested in the agility aspect (at the moment) than in the clicker aspect. However, the first ‘module’ of CyberAgility is all about foundation and relationship. So it is PERFECT for us right now.

From the first article – I knew the course was already worth the cost of admission. One thing that Helix REALLY focuses on is planning and record keeping. Her exercises have a target click per minute that lets you know if you’re ready for the next step. This is an area where I have always struggled and couldn’t make myself really buy in to the concept. Helix lays it out so well and even in our first session I could see the benefits.

Below is our first CyberAgility period on “Offered Eye Contact”. You can see that our 4 yr old’s room has now become the dog training room He sleeps with us and his toys were long ago moved to the living room. So his room is basically a place to store his clothes. It has a dresser, a thomas the train table, and that’s it.

I had three sessions of 1 minute where I tracked how many clicks Gitta got in that 1 minute interval. Between each session I had a quick play session. I was using kibble (she’ll work for it!) and it was right before bed – so she was already well fed. But she’s usually a pretty motivated dog – so that doesn’t usually seem to be too much of a factor

And here are the results. Our goal was 15 clicks per minute.
Session 1: 16 CPM
Session 2: 12 CPM
Session 3: 18 CPM

You can see that in the first session I accidentally put my hand on the bait bag after treating. But by the end I had the timing down better. The old me would have considered her wandering off in Session 2 to be ‘non training time’. I definitely would have gotten her attention rather than waiting her out. But since I was counting Clicks per Minute, that lapse was simply part of the training. It brought her CPM down for the session. But remarkably – she DID come back on her own and start offering eye contact again and we still ended up with 12 CPM!

You can also see we have some work to do on ‘Give’

All in all – I’m excited about the session, excited about the class, and excited that even though it’s a Cyber class – I’ll get to meet the teacher in person this weekend and she’ll get to see my pup in person. It’s going to be an AWESOME weekend!