Shame on me for not blogging each day as it happened. Now my feelings as the days pass are mixing with my feelings at the time. Oh well!
When I first signed up for ClickerExpo, the number one thing I felt uncomfortable with was Shaping. However, after successfully shaping a spin in either direction, I was feeling alot more comfortable with that. (Sidenote: Oh my goodness! I just rewatched that video - Gitta was so TINY!!!). My next big challenge was around cueing. I was having trouble getting things on cue. It took forever for me to get my first few behaviors on cue. Then I taught one more thing and all her cues fell apart. *sigh*. So I was definitely ready to go on Saturday with my new favorite speaker: Kathy Sdao, discussing my new stumbling block: Cueing.
My first session of the day was "What a Cue Can Do: Developing Cueing Skills" with Kathy Sdao. Kathy's lecture was full of fantastic analogies that made us realize the ridiculousness of our own assumptions. She pointed out that problems with cueing (for example, you give a cue but your dog doesn't respond, responds slowly, or responds incorrectly) almost ALWAYS stem from either comprehension or reinforcement. Either they don't understand or you're not paying them enough. One of the analogies that I loved to answer the age-old statement "well - my dog should do what I say because I'm the boss" was something to the effect of "I [Kathy Sdao] am very clear on who my boss is. I know exactly who signs my paycheck. But if he stops paying me - I'm quiting".
As for when to add the cue - I knew almost immediately that I had been adding the cue too early. I had been adding the cue as soon as I saw Gitta starting STARTING to catch on. Kathy says to add the cue when the behavior is happening so much, so fast, so consistently - you want it to stop!!! Incidentally, I bought Karen Pryor's book "Lads Before the Wind", in the bookshop. It's a diary of her life as a dolphin trainer and it's absolutely fascinating - partly because she was one of the very first. And you see the same idea of training a behavior fully before attempting to add a cue. This is a very different idea than traditional training, and though I did shape the behavior first, I think I still have an inclination to add the cue WAY too early.
Another mistake that she pointed out that I absolutely do is to give a cue, the dog does the wrong behavior THEN the right behavior and you click. In my mind I was saying to the dog, "That second one - THAT'S the one I wanted" because I clicked when she preformed the behavior I wanted (the second one). In actuality - I probably trained her to just respond to any cue with the first thing she thinks of and if she doesn't hear the click - keep trying.
She had some more wonderful analogies comparing why a person might not respond to the cue of a green light while driving to why a dog might not respond to a cue you give. She made it seem almost ludicrous that so many people jump to the conclusion that their dog is spiting them or making a dominance play.
And lastly (at least for this blog!) she reminded us that we need to keep each cue salient. Meaning - the cue should leap out from the background. An interesting statistic: the human brain receives 400 billion bits of information per second, we process only 200 bits per second (one half of one millionth of what's possible). Meaning - we filter out TONS of information that our brain determines is not relevant. Our cues can easily become non-relevant to the dog. Especially since they are not a verbal species and we usually choose verbal cues. They can easily cue off of any other consistent physical or tonal cue we give that we may not even be aware of. In another lab - they practiced training service dogs and people would have to give cues their dog understood without being able to see their dog. Many dogs don't respond! They're cueing off of eye contact and body posture. Kathy says she had people in her seminar wear sunglasses and suddenly their cues fell apart because they are unconsciously looking at a part of their dog (like looking slightly up for sit, slightly down for down) and their dog is cuing off of that rather than the word. Kathy didn't explicitly state this (I don't think) - but I think this very point shows why adding the command first (as is done in traditional training - you say sit from the very first sit) is so inefficient. You think you're giving the dog a chance to hear the command over and over and over, but in actuality - you're making the command irrelevant - part of the background. What's much more important is the fact that you are putting a treat on their nose and pushing their rear end down! Once you finally fade off those movements, your dog isn't even hearing the sit command and it's hard to bring it back to the forefront from the background.
After lunch, I had the Cuing Lab session with Kathy Sdao. A continuation of the morning session. I think the biggest ah-ha moment I had here was seeing just how consistent you want the behavior before you add the cue. Additionally, the strategy of getting into a very constant rhythm of behavior-click-treat-behavior-click-treat so the first time you give a cue you are pretty sure they are just about to do the behavior. And lastly - realizing that you want the behavior so consistent - you are willing to bet $100 it's going to happen when you give the cue. If you give the cue and it DOESN'T HAPPEN (when you are FIRST adding the cue) - abort. Go back to clicking every one. You have to win that bet over and over, if you can't, you aren't ready.
The two cueing sessions were probably where I learned the most at clicker expo, but that brief overview (I know it doesn't SEEM brief!) will have to do for now :-)
My last session of the day was the Shaping Lab with Helix Fairweather and Joan Orr.
Once again I got to watch experts work with my dog :-) The first thing they wanted to show was how to use shaping to teach an 'off' or 'leave it'. This time they didn't even ask for volunteers, Joan just looked right at me and said "Can I borrow your puppy?". HA! I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that while all the other adult dogs where laying on their designated mats, Gitta was all over me and my non-working partner (a lady who was in the lab - but didn't bring a dog) trying to get the treats ;-) Later they asked for volunteers for another shaping session. They tried to get a different dog, but they needed one that DIDN'T have a paw targeting behavior. No one fessed up - so Gitta got another session with one of the assistants. It was really quite remarkable. I think the thing I came away with was that the truly magical part of shaping isn't he AH-HA moment when they figure out how to make you click. It's the part just before that when they aren't conscience of what is getting the click - but some other part of their brain makes them do it more anyway. That's the power of the science. And that was one of my big takeaways from the expo. This is science. It has been studied. It works on all species (as Karen Pryor said later - any organism with a brainstem, that eats). We know that often science proves that things work in a way that is counter-intuitive. The earth goes round the sun even though it seems as if the sun goes round the earth. And the science of operant conditioning is a science.
After these sessions I grabbed all the books and videos I had brought with me ("Don't Shoot the Dog", "Take a Bow Wow", "The How of Bow Wow", "The Shape of Bow Wow") and all those I had bought over the weekend ("Lads Before the Wind", "On Behavior", and two Kathy Sdao Seminars on DVD) and took them to the book signing. I got a thrill when Kathy Sdao looked at my nametag and asked if I had a blog and had blogged about the expo. Turns out - if you search ClickerExpo our blog is the second hit! She had seen my blog and even looked around a bit - yeah!! I gave her a little thrill (or maybe a scary feeling of being stalked) when I told her that all my training videos are on my ipod for easy viewing in the field. She laughed and said she never thought she'd end up on someones ipod!
I had dinner (along with the rest of the table) with Helix Fairweather and enjoyed talking to some of her previous CyberAgility participants. They all seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed the course! I also realized that I could probably hold my own session at next year's clicker expo on how to do the typical things with video that dog trainers want to do. Cut scenes, add text, add music, do slow-motion. I'll probably try putting together a step by step with the program I use to help out all those dog trainers out there that just want to post training video - not produce an academy award wining film.
And now - I've run out of blogging steam - but I think that covers day 2 pretty well. Day 3 is coming up soon!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
CyberAgility - Offered Eye Contact
You may have noticed that this blog also often serves as my own training journal. I am starting to try to tape as many sessions as I can. I find that it 1) helps motivate me when I can look back and see that we really have made progress; and 2) let's me review the sessions. In this case, though my rates aren't as high as I'd like, Gitta was more focused than I had thought she was at the time.
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 and this time we were at a hotel (for the Clicker Expo!). I had her in a extra tall xpen and I think that affected our treat delivery.
And here are the results. Our goal was 10 clicks per minute for Session 1 and 15 CPM for Sessions 2 and 3.
Session 1: 8 CPM
Session 2: 12 CPM
Session 3: 12 CPM
She had done so well previously, I tried dropping the treat between her feet for the first session (Feeding Scheme C in Helix's course). This really didn't work too well. I think the treats were hard to find on the patterned carpet. We only got 8CPM when our goal was 10 CPM. Also - since this was a new place - I really should have started with the easiest scheme (treat to mouth) and only made it harder once she was doing well in the new location. However, a review of the session shows that she really came back to give eye contact quite well. The slow time was more a function of finding the treat.
The next two sessions I fed her directly. After having treats dropped on the floor - she still seemed convinced there might be some down there. But again, it looked better on tape than it felt at the time. She got off track a few times looking for the treat, but came back quite readily.
So all in all - not great but not bad. I think at least half of the drop-off in rate of reinforcement had to do with awkward treat delivery, rather than lack of understanding or motivation on the dogs part. But what I REALLY learned was that a split second lapse in concentration feels like forever and even for a simple behavior like this, video really helps you see how you are really doing.
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 and this time we were at a hotel (for the Clicker Expo!). I had her in a extra tall xpen and I think that affected our treat delivery.
And here are the results. Our goal was 10 clicks per minute for Session 1 and 15 CPM for Sessions 2 and 3.
Session 1: 8 CPM
Session 2: 12 CPM
Session 3: 12 CPM
She had done so well previously, I tried dropping the treat between her feet for the first session (Feeding Scheme C in Helix's course). This really didn't work too well. I think the treats were hard to find on the patterned carpet. We only got 8CPM when our goal was 10 CPM. Also - since this was a new place - I really should have started with the easiest scheme (treat to mouth) and only made it harder once she was doing well in the new location. However, a review of the session shows that she really came back to give eye contact quite well. The slow time was more a function of finding the treat.
The next two sessions I fed her directly. After having treats dropped on the floor - she still seemed convinced there might be some down there. But again, it looked better on tape than it felt at the time. She got off track a few times looking for the treat, but came back quite readily.
So all in all - not great but not bad. I think at least half of the drop-off in rate of reinforcement had to do with awkward treat delivery, rather than lack of understanding or motivation on the dogs part. But what I REALLY learned was that a split second lapse in concentration feels like forever and even for a simple behavior like this, video really helps you see how you are really doing.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
My Day at the ClickerExpo: Friday
I've just finished day 2 of the ClickerExpo and it is impossible to relate everything I've learned or the amazingness of the experience. The information is fantastic - but more than that - the sense of renewed excitement, motivation, and anticipation is almost more than I can take! It's really hard to leave feeling so excited and ready to dedicate yourself and then return to real life with a job, a kid, dishes, laundry . . . but that's a problem for next week. And one I plan to weather.
Though I can't possibly cover it all - I'll try and list each session chronologically and some extremely high level thoughts, especially of anything new that I learned or insights made.
Friday started with an introductory session. Each speaker was introduced and the amount of collective experience and breadth of experience was amazing. However, for me the highlight was that I just happened to sit down next to someone from Austin. When we really looked at each other - we realized that we recognized each other from agility though we didn't really know each other. We talked about how things were going in agility with our most recent dogs and then out of the blue she asked if I wanted to meet at the front desk before lunch and walk over. From that moment, we spent meals and breaks together and generally palled around like we were best friends attending the expo together. It was just one of those time where you just click. However, our clicker experience was very different - so we had NO sessions together :-)
My first 'real' session was "A Moment of Science: Clicker training 101 - Part 1" with Kathy Sdao. In this first session (and many of those to follow), I realized I knew more than I realized. Though I don't have much experience, I have alot of knowledge. When I got Gitta, I devoured books and videos. About the fifth time the scientific terms were explained, I had finally caught on to the terminology. So, most of this was review. But after about 2 mins, I didn't care at all. Kathy was the most unbelievable speaker I'd ever heard. She was so dynamic, and exciting, and funny, and hilarious, and full of great stories, and fantastic metaphors, and spoke in a way that had you nodding in agreement like a gospel church. Thank god she doesn't run a cult - because she has uncanny speaking skills. Though I guess some COULD consider clicker trainers a bit cultish. :-) I'm guessing it won't take long for my husband to get tired of me saying "and Kathy said this, and Kathy said that". She's going on my list of people whose seminars I will go to if it's anywhere close by - pretty much no matter the particular topic.
As for new things I learned, one thing I thought was very interesting was an addition she made to the standard reinforcement/punishment grid. I'm not going to explain the grid here (this is for the well versed trainers in my readership, not for the guys at work that I sometimes push into reading my blog), but what she added that can really help understand what this means for the dog is emotional correlates.
The other piece of information of note is her explanation that you can only extinguish behaviors you've fueled. Meaning (I think) that you can used extinction (ignoring behavior till it goes away) on barking if you have reinforced it (perhaps by giving the dog negative attention). But extinction will not work if you didn't create the problem (like for self-rewarding barking, barking at the door, etc). A good distinction to make since it's awfully easy to try and ignore bad behavior and claim you are using the scientific method of extinction :-)
After an extremely underwhelming lunch (my only gripe about the expo was the substandard (for the cost) lunches), I went to the Shaping lecture with Helix Fairweather and Joan Orr. This was not a lab session and I had been leaving Gitta in the room - planning on bringing her only to the labs. Helix had mentioned during our first CyberAgility course that maybe she could use Gitta as a demo dog during the Shaping session. I certainly thought it would be great to see that - but I wasn't sure how she'd do for the rest of the lecture. I decided not to bring her and headed to the session. Helix asked if I had Gitta and I told her I wasn't bringing her to the lecture sessions. Helix seemed disappointed and a few minutes later I heard her tell Joan Orr that she 'lost her rottie pup' for demos. Well - if they were definitely going to use her I was going to bring her! So I told Helix I was going to get her and if she couldn't make it through the whole time - I'd just step out for a bit and put her up after the demo. I RAN to the room, grabbed Gitta, 2 frozen kongs, 2 rawhides and RAN back. I gave her a kong and a rawhide and she just settled in, sprawled out, and happily chewed her treats. When Helix and Joan played their first video (which included some clicking), Gitta stopped dead on the first clicker and jerked her head up. I heard the folks behind me laughing at her - she was just too adorable!!! Helix did use her as a demo dog, shaping her to knock over a cone and put her nose in. The shaping was definitely interesting, but I was even more excited about how Gitta reacted to it. She's on a tiny stage - only a few feet off the ground. There are people and dogs all around and she's working with a completely new person. And I never saw a single indication of stress. As soon as she got a click and treat from Helix she happily worked for her for the 5 minute demo. She was enthusiastic, happy, and stayed on the stage (except to get a treat that fell off the edge). She was REMARKABLY unfazed by it all. And she was the perfect demo dog. Clearly she was familiar with clicker training, but at the same time, she knows so little, she's a blank slate. It really showed the science and practice of it, without any 'tricks up your sleeve' or cooking show type demonstrations (like where you see what it looks like in the beginning and then they pull out a second finished cake they had already made).
Again, I felt like I had absorbed most of the information in my reading (and even more so in just one week of CyberAgility), but it was a great presentation, with videos of animals of other species as well (a cat and a fish) which really drove home how amazingly powerful this type of training is.
Lastly I had my first lab session: "Out of the Gate: Practice for New Handlers and Dogs" with Emma Parsons. Once again, I felt like it was a little basic. It wasn't really for people who are relatively new (that's me) - it was for people that are ACTUALLY new - like never done clicker training before. Still - once again it was a great refresher. Plus it forced me to do some things that all the books and videos tell you to do - but I never made myself work on. And that is the mechanics of clicking and treating. The mechanics of timing, and of getting a treat only after the click (with NO hand movement by the treating hand before the click). Once again, I credit CyberAgility with preparing me for this. I honestly feel like I just bought into quick treat delivery with CyberAgility and I was rewarded (clicked if you will!) by having one of the assistants comment on how still I was with my treat hand and how good my mechanics were. And even though it was pretty much review - it can be good to be forced into practicing your clicker skills on something you aren't invested in. When I'm at home - I want to train the behaviors I need. Agility behaviors, obedience behaviors, husbandry, etc. That can make you frustrated when you don't make progress, or cut corners. This working session let me really concentrate on my clicker skills since I wasn't as concerned about the behavior I was teaching! It actually led to better clicker work, and (not coincidentally), a better, more productive session for Gitta.
All in all, this first day was all about getting energized and excited. And also about learning more about Gitta's temperament and personality. That part was truly exciting. I've had so many people come up and talk about how good she did, and how amazing it is that she's so at ease. And it is amazing. She was truly unbelievable and she is turning into everything I wanted, and everything I didn't even know I wanted. She's had dogs growl or bark at her when she got too close (the quarters are small), or even take her bone when she tossed it around and it landed by them. Never once has she shown the slightest aggressive or fearful behavior. She is just all puppy exuberance and good spirit.
Coming soon (though probably not tonight): day 2.
Though I can't possibly cover it all - I'll try and list each session chronologically and some extremely high level thoughts, especially of anything new that I learned or insights made.
Friday started with an introductory session. Each speaker was introduced and the amount of collective experience and breadth of experience was amazing. However, for me the highlight was that I just happened to sit down next to someone from Austin. When we really looked at each other - we realized that we recognized each other from agility though we didn't really know each other. We talked about how things were going in agility with our most recent dogs and then out of the blue she asked if I wanted to meet at the front desk before lunch and walk over. From that moment, we spent meals and breaks together and generally palled around like we were best friends attending the expo together. It was just one of those time where you just click. However, our clicker experience was very different - so we had NO sessions together :-)
My first 'real' session was "A Moment of Science: Clicker training 101 - Part 1" with Kathy Sdao. In this first session (and many of those to follow), I realized I knew more than I realized. Though I don't have much experience, I have alot of knowledge. When I got Gitta, I devoured books and videos. About the fifth time the scientific terms were explained, I had finally caught on to the terminology. So, most of this was review. But after about 2 mins, I didn't care at all. Kathy was the most unbelievable speaker I'd ever heard. She was so dynamic, and exciting, and funny, and hilarious, and full of great stories, and fantastic metaphors, and spoke in a way that had you nodding in agreement like a gospel church. Thank god she doesn't run a cult - because she has uncanny speaking skills. Though I guess some COULD consider clicker trainers a bit cultish. :-) I'm guessing it won't take long for my husband to get tired of me saying "and Kathy said this, and Kathy said that". She's going on my list of people whose seminars I will go to if it's anywhere close by - pretty much no matter the particular topic.
As for new things I learned, one thing I thought was very interesting was an addition she made to the standard reinforcement/punishment grid. I'm not going to explain the grid here (this is for the well versed trainers in my readership, not for the guys at work that I sometimes push into reading my blog), but what she added that can really help understand what this means for the dog is emotional correlates.
| positive reinforcement satisfaction | positive punishment anxiety |
| negative punishment frustration | negative reinforcement relief |
The other piece of information of note is her explanation that you can only extinguish behaviors you've fueled. Meaning (I think) that you can used extinction (ignoring behavior till it goes away) on barking if you have reinforced it (perhaps by giving the dog negative attention). But extinction will not work if you didn't create the problem (like for self-rewarding barking, barking at the door, etc). A good distinction to make since it's awfully easy to try and ignore bad behavior and claim you are using the scientific method of extinction :-)
After an extremely underwhelming lunch (my only gripe about the expo was the substandard (for the cost) lunches), I went to the Shaping lecture with Helix Fairweather and Joan Orr. This was not a lab session and I had been leaving Gitta in the room - planning on bringing her only to the labs. Helix had mentioned during our first CyberAgility course that maybe she could use Gitta as a demo dog during the Shaping session. I certainly thought it would be great to see that - but I wasn't sure how she'd do for the rest of the lecture. I decided not to bring her and headed to the session. Helix asked if I had Gitta and I told her I wasn't bringing her to the lecture sessions. Helix seemed disappointed and a few minutes later I heard her tell Joan Orr that she 'lost her rottie pup' for demos. Well - if they were definitely going to use her I was going to bring her! So I told Helix I was going to get her and if she couldn't make it through the whole time - I'd just step out for a bit and put her up after the demo. I RAN to the room, grabbed Gitta, 2 frozen kongs, 2 rawhides and RAN back. I gave her a kong and a rawhide and she just settled in, sprawled out, and happily chewed her treats. When Helix and Joan played their first video (which included some clicking), Gitta stopped dead on the first clicker and jerked her head up. I heard the folks behind me laughing at her - she was just too adorable!!! Helix did use her as a demo dog, shaping her to knock over a cone and put her nose in. The shaping was definitely interesting, but I was even more excited about how Gitta reacted to it. She's on a tiny stage - only a few feet off the ground. There are people and dogs all around and she's working with a completely new person. And I never saw a single indication of stress. As soon as she got a click and treat from Helix she happily worked for her for the 5 minute demo. She was enthusiastic, happy, and stayed on the stage (except to get a treat that fell off the edge). She was REMARKABLY unfazed by it all. And she was the perfect demo dog. Clearly she was familiar with clicker training, but at the same time, she knows so little, she's a blank slate. It really showed the science and practice of it, without any 'tricks up your sleeve' or cooking show type demonstrations (like where you see what it looks like in the beginning and then they pull out a second finished cake they had already made).
Again, I felt like I had absorbed most of the information in my reading (and even more so in just one week of CyberAgility), but it was a great presentation, with videos of animals of other species as well (a cat and a fish) which really drove home how amazingly powerful this type of training is.
Lastly I had my first lab session: "Out of the Gate: Practice for New Handlers and Dogs" with Emma Parsons. Once again, I felt like it was a little basic. It wasn't really for people who are relatively new (that's me) - it was for people that are ACTUALLY new - like never done clicker training before. Still - once again it was a great refresher. Plus it forced me to do some things that all the books and videos tell you to do - but I never made myself work on. And that is the mechanics of clicking and treating. The mechanics of timing, and of getting a treat only after the click (with NO hand movement by the treating hand before the click). Once again, I credit CyberAgility with preparing me for this. I honestly feel like I just bought into quick treat delivery with CyberAgility and I was rewarded (clicked if you will!) by having one of the assistants comment on how still I was with my treat hand and how good my mechanics were. And even though it was pretty much review - it can be good to be forced into practicing your clicker skills on something you aren't invested in. When I'm at home - I want to train the behaviors I need. Agility behaviors, obedience behaviors, husbandry, etc. That can make you frustrated when you don't make progress, or cut corners. This working session let me really concentrate on my clicker skills since I wasn't as concerned about the behavior I was teaching! It actually led to better clicker work, and (not coincidentally), a better, more productive session for Gitta.
All in all, this first day was all about getting energized and excited. And also about learning more about Gitta's temperament and personality. That part was truly exciting. I've had so many people come up and talk about how good she did, and how amazing it is that she's so at ease. And it is amazing. She was truly unbelievable and she is turning into everything I wanted, and everything I didn't even know I wanted. She's had dogs growl or bark at her when she got too close (the quarters are small), or even take her bone when she tossed it around and it landed by them. Never once has she shown the slightest aggressive or fearful behavior. She is just all puppy exuberance and good spirit.
Coming soon (though probably not tonight): day 2.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
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!
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!
Preparing for the Expo
I made all these stuffed Kongs (and such) last night so they could go in the freezer. Each is a little doggie gormeat treat :-) BilJac smooshed in the bottom (nice a smellable though the small bottom hole), super hugh fiber kibble in the middle (we give a veterinary formula called W/D to our dogs when they have soft poop from all the training treats), and cheezewiz on top. Then I popped the whole bunch in the freezer.
I'm even thinking about buying a little dry ice for my cooler to keep everything really fresh and frozen!
Ouch! And Double Ouch!
So this weekend - poor Denver broke a tooth.
OUCH!
We were tugging in line (about to run agility at a dog show!) when he suddenly spit out the tug and started doing weird things with his mouth and toungue. It looked so much like when the puppies lost teeth and were working them out of their mouths that I immediately grabbed his mouth to check. I could see some bleeding and some bit of something white and I thought one of his teeth looked 'off'. Luckily - our vet also runs agility - so after I ran (yes we ran!) - she looked at him and confirmed. Slab fracture (I think that's what they call it) and it would have to come out.
It actually turned out to be a tooth he broke 4 years ago. At that time - he was young enough that our vet (different vet) encouraged us to repair the tooth rather than remove it. I think it was mostly the repair that broke - but either way - this time it had to come out.
The surgury went great and Denver was a champ. But when I paid the bill - I noticed the second ouch. Nope - not the price - that was actually better than I expected. It was a little line up at the top of the bill. "Species: Geriactric Canine".
DOUBLE OUCH!
That seemed a bit harsh to me! It actually kindof hurt to read it! Yes he is 8 years old, and yes that's getting on up there. I certainly think of him as 'past his prime' - but geriactric? :-( It's funny how something as simple as an automatic billing classification can make us physically wince.
OUCH!
We were tugging in line (about to run agility at a dog show!) when he suddenly spit out the tug and started doing weird things with his mouth and toungue. It looked so much like when the puppies lost teeth and were working them out of their mouths that I immediately grabbed his mouth to check. I could see some bleeding and some bit of something white and I thought one of his teeth looked 'off'. Luckily - our vet also runs agility - so after I ran (yes we ran!) - she looked at him and confirmed. Slab fracture (I think that's what they call it) and it would have to come out.
It actually turned out to be a tooth he broke 4 years ago. At that time - he was young enough that our vet (different vet) encouraged us to repair the tooth rather than remove it. I think it was mostly the repair that broke - but either way - this time it had to come out.
The surgury went great and Denver was a champ. But when I paid the bill - I noticed the second ouch. Nope - not the price - that was actually better than I expected. It was a little line up at the top of the bill. "Species: Geriactric Canine".
DOUBLE OUCH!
That seemed a bit harsh to me! It actually kindof hurt to read it! Yes he is 8 years old, and yes that's getting on up there. I certainly think of him as 'past his prime' - but geriactric? :-( It's funny how something as simple as an automatic billing classification can make us physically wince.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Consolidated ClickerExpo Schedule
I put the following schedule together for my own use. It doesn't have the descriptions of each session like my last post - but it's easy to see what I'm doing when.
Clicker Expo THIS WEEK!!!
This is largely a repost - but I have made some tweaks to my schedule. I had a tough time choosing between "To Use or Not to Use: Complicated Training Tools" which discusses such things as the "No Reward Mark" and "Targeting in the Nth Dimension: Why and How You Should Master Targeting". Before I had chosen "To Use or Not to Use", but I have since switched to the Targeting session. This is because a) I'm struggling a bit with targeting and definitely struggling with calm 'husbandry' type behaviors (which you can use targeting to address) and b) I realized I could do one more hands on lab, and I'm all about hands on - it's how I learn! The targeting session knocked out "To Use or Not to Use" and the targeting lab knocked out "Using What You've Learned: How to Develop Your Own Training Plan".
In addition - I'm having dinner (along with the rest of the table :-) with Helix Fairweather with whom I have just started a virtual clicker class (sort of like a correspondence course - more on that later)!
I'm ridiculously excited and I know the experience is going to be amazing. It'll be a tad bit scary and hectic since Gitta is on the young and unmannerly side :-) But she's cute, friendly, and fun, so I think it will all work out.
Each time slot has a choice of 3 different sessions, plus 2 'labs' - so you have to make some tough choices on where you spend your time. Gitta will be the dog I bring to the hands on 'labs'. Here is what I've decided to attend (lengthy - but I wanted to capture it somewhere - feel free to skim):
FRIDAY
Reaching the Animal Mind: Opening Plenary Session
Karen Pryor, Aaron Clayton
Clicker training is a lot more than a method or a training approach; it’s the leading edge of a new technology. Clicker training is a replicable, transferable, and reliable system by which many people can learn to do something that previously had been difficult, chancy, and requiring immeasurable individual skill. A technology does not limit you to one use: to dogs but not horses; to gymnasts but not pilots; to pets but not police dogs. A technology can have as many applications as there are people to think them up. At ClickerExpo you’ll meet some of the most brilliant innovators in the field, the people who are taking this technology further every day. Your host Karen Pryor, trainer, teacher, and scientist, is one of those people. With highlights from her new book, Reaching the Animal Mind, Karen will share with you her latest perspectives on clicker training as a communication system, one that all of us, from beginners to experts, can use, not just to communicate with animals, but to understand when animals communicate back.
A Moment of Science: Clicker training 101 - Part 1
Kathy Sdao
Are you new to clicker training? Or are you using it, but a bit confused by the terminology and the reasons behind what we do? Here's a crash course, in two parts, on clicker training, learning theory, and the laws governing how learning really works. You'll learn what you need to know about the underlying science to get out of the gate fast.Kathy Sdao, psychologist, marine mammal trainer, and dog professional, is a gifted teacher who will help you understand why the principles work and what all the terms really mean. Start your ClickerExpo experience on Friday with these two Sessions, and you will have the foundation and vocabulary to help you understand, enjoy, and benefit from the rest of the program.
Shaping!: Build the Behavior You Want
Helix Fairweather, Joan Orr
Shaping behavior by reinforcing small steps toward a future goal is one of the core processes of clicker training, and a vital skill for the trainer. It is often hard for trainers to make the shift from luring, prompting, or leading the animal through the desired movements, to letting the animal discover what “works” on its own, but the benefits to both trainer and animal are enormous. Shaping builds the trainer's observational and mechanical skills, and is the foundation of teaching complex behaviors, making training fun for the animal and strengthening the relationship between animal and trainer.We'll review the foundations of solid shaping technique, including how to begin a shaping session, how to build behavior in increments, how and why to employ a high rate of reinforcement, and how to appropriately raise criteria. We'll also cover open-ended/creative shaping versus goal-oriented shaping so that you can employ both intentionally and appropriately.Trainers who have never shaped before, or have done limited shaping, or trainers who are frustrated with their shaping results will all benefit from this Session. We'll use live shaping demonstrations with dogs from the audience to illustrate important shaping concepts and techniques.
Out of the Gate: Practice for New Handlers and Dogs
Hands-on With Dog
Emma Parsons
This Learning Lab is a hands-on follow-up to the Moment of Science Session (Part 1). Now that your head is buzzing with what clicker training is all about, come and practice! This Lab is a solid introduction for those new to clicker training, and serves as a refresher for those uncertain about their own basic practices. Participants will be involved in exercises that develop both mechanical and observational skills. These include mechanics of clicking, timing of clicking, treat delivery, and the beginning of shaping. You’ll begin to sharpen your timing and observational skills and then put it all together to teach new behaviors!
Saturday
What a Cue Can Do: Developing Cueing Skills
Kathy Sdao
Effective cueing is essential for achieving reliable responses. The process of adding cues in clicker training is different than in other training methods. Getting behaviors on cue is often the most difficult concept for new clicker trainers to understand, because the process is somewhat counterintuitive.This Learning Session is about choosing and maintaining effective cues for operant behaviors, and is also about understanding how cues are integral to more advanced training applications. Kathy Sdao will show you how to use cues to gain control of operant behaviors. You'll learn what a cue is—and isn't—and how cues differ from commands. We'll discuss how to choose cues to maximize clarity, how to transfer a known cue to a novel cue, and how cues function in behavior chains. You'll also learn how cues can be transferred and combined to produce complex and flexible behaviors, and how to avoid the “good enough” syndrome.
What a Cue Can Do in Action Part 1: Cue Comprehension
Hands-on With Dog
Kathy Sdao
Cue comprehension is the foundation of fluent, reliable, real-life behavior. With a solid mastery of cueing, you’ll be able to minimize confusion in your trainees by choosing cues with more forethought—making the most of every training opportunity. In this Learning Lab, you’ll lean two different ways to add a cue to a behavior, how to extinguish off-cue behavior, and how to choose “animal-friendly” cues (ones that are easily perceived and understood). In-class exercises include adding a cue by fading a lure, and adding a cue by using temporal conditioning. We’ll use the science of classical conditioning to improve cue training, and contrast familiar methods of adding cues with a more clicker-based method.
Shaping!: In Action
Hands-on With Dog
Helix Fairweather, Joan Orr
This Learning Lab is designed for those new to shaping or uncertain about whether they're on the right track with their shaping skills, including people who have trained their dogs primarily with lure/reward techniques but want to learn how to transition from luring to shaping. In this Lab you’ll learn how to shape, raise criteria to ensure success, use non-linear criteria, and shape using a high rate of reinforcement. We'll work on improving your observational skills and your ability to deliver a high rate of reinforcement. If needed, we’ll explore exercises for “loosening up” dogs that are used to waiting politely for instruction/guidance from their handler rather than offering behaviors. Training exercises include: shaping a movement (spin or back up); shaping an interaction with an object (chair, ball, toy); shaping a target touch; and using the target to get started with shaping another behavior (leg weave, heeling, etc.). Depending on the skill level and progress of participating dog and handler teams, we may be able to demonstrate and discuss “next level” issues: How do you shape a longer duration behavior? How do you improve the shaped behavior after it is on cue? How do you teach the dog to work facing away from you, going away from you, or staying fifty feet off? Can you shape behavior in a noisy, distracting environment?
A Panel Discussion
Faculty
Saturday afternoon at ClickerExpo always finds us engaged in a Panel Discussion. Sound boring? Actually, it’s just the opposite! The questions are interesting, the answers are pithy, and the panelists are FUNNY. Put seven top trainers on one stage and you really see how many points of view there are on questions ranging from “What skills make a top trainer?” to “How do you personally work through spots where you seem to plateau?” One attendee described the Panel Discussion as “Better than the Tonight Show—and you don't have to stay up late.” Attendees are invited to submit topics and questions in writing to moderator Aaron Clayton by Saturday morning. Want to learn more? You can listen to a past panel discussion and read the following panel discussion-related articles: Sharing the Wealth; Getting to the Core.
SUNDAY
Dog Toys?: Get Serious!
— Sponsored by KONG
The original KONG has long been used by pet owners for entertaining their pooches, but, increasingly, the training community has been finding broader roles for KONGs and other toys. Join KONG's Behavior and Training Specialist Mark Hines to learn about some of these varied uses, including how to use dog toys to help solve canine behavioral challenges. Learn how dog toys are used by police and military K-9 trainers to motivate their K-9 partners. Mark will also cover helping you choose a safe dog toy that's the right size.
The Mind of the Trainer: Live Training Demonstrations by Expo Faculty Narrated by Karen Pryor
Faculty
There's nothing like seeing a skilled shaper in action to sharpen your own shaping skills. In this Session, members of the ClickerExpo Faculty will take turns free-shaping behavior with YOUR dogs, while Karen Pryor explains what's going on. This is bound to be fascinating and fun. You'll see great timing and high rates of reinforcement. You’ll see how quickly—or slowly—the seasoned shaper raises criteria. You'll see shaping shortcuts and ingenious problem-solving on the fly. You'll see flubs and accidental results, too; nobody's perfect, and half the fun of shaping is the surprises along the way.
Targeting in the Nth Dimension: Why and How You Should Master Targeting
Virginia Broitman
When you think of target training, what do you think of first? People are often introduced to target training using a target stick, teaching “follow the target” or “spin.” But a target stick involves only the first dimension of target training. In fact, targeting is a skill that is N dimensions deep, with ever more complex layers (N is the mathematical notation for many or of unknown quantity). Teaching advanced targeting is exhilarating for the trainer and the student.
Targeting opens up to you and your dog a world with many dimensions: targeting with paws, nose, tail; targeting to your hands and other body parts; targeting to objects close to you or far from you; targeting to objects you name; targeting with eyes (just imagine being able to move your dog using eye contact!).
Targeting is the foundation of many service behaviors and is critical for creating stress-free husbandry situations in zoos and aquariums. SAR (search and rescue), agility, obedience, and other sports all make use of targeting. In this multimedia Session, you'll see the many dimensions of targeting in action, discover a logical way to structure and think about targeting, and learn how you can develop a learning platform for your dog that will take you and him N dimensions deep.
Nth Dimension Targeting: In Action
Hands-on With Dog
Virginia Broitman
In this Learning Lab, we will practice developing medium-complexity targeting behaviors. Hands-on practice Sessions will improve your ability to shape different dimensions of targeting behavior. Exercises will use the dog's different body parts, rear, foot, and/or side, to target. We will also teach eye targeting. We will address how to add duration and will deal with distractions and distance. Participants will be asked to think up a novel targeting skill for their dogs, develop a simple training plan, and put that plan to work.
Plenary Session: Back to the Future! Conference Review and a Glimpse of What Lies Ahead
Karen Pryor, Aaron Clayton
ClickerExpo has fantastic breadth and depth. But that means you can't be everywhere you'd like to be and see everything you'd like to see. In our final Session, we bring you highlights from the weekend, as well as experiences that faculty members want to share. We'll take some time to summarize the three days and look at what comes next. Join us for this satisfying wrap-up.
In addition - I'm having dinner (along with the rest of the table :-) with Helix Fairweather with whom I have just started a virtual clicker class (sort of like a correspondence course - more on that later)!
I'm ridiculously excited and I know the experience is going to be amazing. It'll be a tad bit scary and hectic since Gitta is on the young and unmannerly side :-) But she's cute, friendly, and fun, so I think it will all work out.
Each time slot has a choice of 3 different sessions, plus 2 'labs' - so you have to make some tough choices on where you spend your time. Gitta will be the dog I bring to the hands on 'labs'. Here is what I've decided to attend (lengthy - but I wanted to capture it somewhere - feel free to skim):
FRIDAY
Reaching the Animal Mind: Opening Plenary Session
Karen Pryor, Aaron Clayton
Clicker training is a lot more than a method or a training approach; it’s the leading edge of a new technology. Clicker training is a replicable, transferable, and reliable system by which many people can learn to do something that previously had been difficult, chancy, and requiring immeasurable individual skill. A technology does not limit you to one use: to dogs but not horses; to gymnasts but not pilots; to pets but not police dogs. A technology can have as many applications as there are people to think them up. At ClickerExpo you’ll meet some of the most brilliant innovators in the field, the people who are taking this technology further every day. Your host Karen Pryor, trainer, teacher, and scientist, is one of those people. With highlights from her new book, Reaching the Animal Mind, Karen will share with you her latest perspectives on clicker training as a communication system, one that all of us, from beginners to experts, can use, not just to communicate with animals, but to understand when animals communicate back.
A Moment of Science: Clicker training 101 - Part 1
Kathy Sdao
Are you new to clicker training? Or are you using it, but a bit confused by the terminology and the reasons behind what we do? Here's a crash course, in two parts, on clicker training, learning theory, and the laws governing how learning really works. You'll learn what you need to know about the underlying science to get out of the gate fast.Kathy Sdao, psychologist, marine mammal trainer, and dog professional, is a gifted teacher who will help you understand why the principles work and what all the terms really mean. Start your ClickerExpo experience on Friday with these two Sessions, and you will have the foundation and vocabulary to help you understand, enjoy, and benefit from the rest of the program.
Shaping!: Build the Behavior You Want
Helix Fairweather, Joan Orr
Shaping behavior by reinforcing small steps toward a future goal is one of the core processes of clicker training, and a vital skill for the trainer. It is often hard for trainers to make the shift from luring, prompting, or leading the animal through the desired movements, to letting the animal discover what “works” on its own, but the benefits to both trainer and animal are enormous. Shaping builds the trainer's observational and mechanical skills, and is the foundation of teaching complex behaviors, making training fun for the animal and strengthening the relationship between animal and trainer.We'll review the foundations of solid shaping technique, including how to begin a shaping session, how to build behavior in increments, how and why to employ a high rate of reinforcement, and how to appropriately raise criteria. We'll also cover open-ended/creative shaping versus goal-oriented shaping so that you can employ both intentionally and appropriately.Trainers who have never shaped before, or have done limited shaping, or trainers who are frustrated with their shaping results will all benefit from this Session. We'll use live shaping demonstrations with dogs from the audience to illustrate important shaping concepts and techniques.
Out of the Gate: Practice for New Handlers and Dogs
Hands-on With Dog
Emma Parsons
This Learning Lab is a hands-on follow-up to the Moment of Science Session (Part 1). Now that your head is buzzing with what clicker training is all about, come and practice! This Lab is a solid introduction for those new to clicker training, and serves as a refresher for those uncertain about their own basic practices. Participants will be involved in exercises that develop both mechanical and observational skills. These include mechanics of clicking, timing of clicking, treat delivery, and the beginning of shaping. You’ll begin to sharpen your timing and observational skills and then put it all together to teach new behaviors!
Saturday
What a Cue Can Do: Developing Cueing Skills
Kathy Sdao
Effective cueing is essential for achieving reliable responses. The process of adding cues in clicker training is different than in other training methods. Getting behaviors on cue is often the most difficult concept for new clicker trainers to understand, because the process is somewhat counterintuitive.This Learning Session is about choosing and maintaining effective cues for operant behaviors, and is also about understanding how cues are integral to more advanced training applications. Kathy Sdao will show you how to use cues to gain control of operant behaviors. You'll learn what a cue is—and isn't—and how cues differ from commands. We'll discuss how to choose cues to maximize clarity, how to transfer a known cue to a novel cue, and how cues function in behavior chains. You'll also learn how cues can be transferred and combined to produce complex and flexible behaviors, and how to avoid the “good enough” syndrome.
What a Cue Can Do in Action Part 1: Cue Comprehension
Hands-on With Dog
Kathy Sdao
Cue comprehension is the foundation of fluent, reliable, real-life behavior. With a solid mastery of cueing, you’ll be able to minimize confusion in your trainees by choosing cues with more forethought—making the most of every training opportunity. In this Learning Lab, you’ll lean two different ways to add a cue to a behavior, how to extinguish off-cue behavior, and how to choose “animal-friendly” cues (ones that are easily perceived and understood). In-class exercises include adding a cue by fading a lure, and adding a cue by using temporal conditioning. We’ll use the science of classical conditioning to improve cue training, and contrast familiar methods of adding cues with a more clicker-based method.
Shaping!: In Action
Hands-on With Dog
Helix Fairweather, Joan Orr
This Learning Lab is designed for those new to shaping or uncertain about whether they're on the right track with their shaping skills, including people who have trained their dogs primarily with lure/reward techniques but want to learn how to transition from luring to shaping. In this Lab you’ll learn how to shape, raise criteria to ensure success, use non-linear criteria, and shape using a high rate of reinforcement. We'll work on improving your observational skills and your ability to deliver a high rate of reinforcement. If needed, we’ll explore exercises for “loosening up” dogs that are used to waiting politely for instruction/guidance from their handler rather than offering behaviors. Training exercises include: shaping a movement (spin or back up); shaping an interaction with an object (chair, ball, toy); shaping a target touch; and using the target to get started with shaping another behavior (leg weave, heeling, etc.). Depending on the skill level and progress of participating dog and handler teams, we may be able to demonstrate and discuss “next level” issues: How do you shape a longer duration behavior? How do you improve the shaped behavior after it is on cue? How do you teach the dog to work facing away from you, going away from you, or staying fifty feet off? Can you shape behavior in a noisy, distracting environment?
A Panel Discussion
Faculty
Saturday afternoon at ClickerExpo always finds us engaged in a Panel Discussion. Sound boring? Actually, it’s just the opposite! The questions are interesting, the answers are pithy, and the panelists are FUNNY. Put seven top trainers on one stage and you really see how many points of view there are on questions ranging from “What skills make a top trainer?” to “How do you personally work through spots where you seem to plateau?” One attendee described the Panel Discussion as “Better than the Tonight Show—and you don't have to stay up late.” Attendees are invited to submit topics and questions in writing to moderator Aaron Clayton by Saturday morning. Want to learn more? You can listen to a past panel discussion and read the following panel discussion-related articles: Sharing the Wealth; Getting to the Core.
SUNDAY
Dog Toys?: Get Serious!
— Sponsored by KONG
The original KONG has long been used by pet owners for entertaining their pooches, but, increasingly, the training community has been finding broader roles for KONGs and other toys. Join KONG's Behavior and Training Specialist Mark Hines to learn about some of these varied uses, including how to use dog toys to help solve canine behavioral challenges. Learn how dog toys are used by police and military K-9 trainers to motivate their K-9 partners. Mark will also cover helping you choose a safe dog toy that's the right size.
The Mind of the Trainer: Live Training Demonstrations by Expo Faculty Narrated by Karen Pryor
Faculty
There's nothing like seeing a skilled shaper in action to sharpen your own shaping skills. In this Session, members of the ClickerExpo Faculty will take turns free-shaping behavior with YOUR dogs, while Karen Pryor explains what's going on. This is bound to be fascinating and fun. You'll see great timing and high rates of reinforcement. You’ll see how quickly—or slowly—the seasoned shaper raises criteria. You'll see shaping shortcuts and ingenious problem-solving on the fly. You'll see flubs and accidental results, too; nobody's perfect, and half the fun of shaping is the surprises along the way.
Targeting in the Nth Dimension: Why and How You Should Master Targeting
Virginia Broitman
When you think of target training, what do you think of first? People are often introduced to target training using a target stick, teaching “follow the target” or “spin.” But a target stick involves only the first dimension of target training. In fact, targeting is a skill that is N dimensions deep, with ever more complex layers (N is the mathematical notation for many or of unknown quantity). Teaching advanced targeting is exhilarating for the trainer and the student.
Targeting opens up to you and your dog a world with many dimensions: targeting with paws, nose, tail; targeting to your hands and other body parts; targeting to objects close to you or far from you; targeting to objects you name; targeting with eyes (just imagine being able to move your dog using eye contact!).
Targeting is the foundation of many service behaviors and is critical for creating stress-free husbandry situations in zoos and aquariums. SAR (search and rescue), agility, obedience, and other sports all make use of targeting. In this multimedia Session, you'll see the many dimensions of targeting in action, discover a logical way to structure and think about targeting, and learn how you can develop a learning platform for your dog that will take you and him N dimensions deep.
Nth Dimension Targeting: In Action
Hands-on With Dog
Virginia Broitman
In this Learning Lab, we will practice developing medium-complexity targeting behaviors. Hands-on practice Sessions will improve your ability to shape different dimensions of targeting behavior. Exercises will use the dog's different body parts, rear, foot, and/or side, to target. We will also teach eye targeting. We will address how to add duration and will deal with distractions and distance. Participants will be asked to think up a novel targeting skill for their dogs, develop a simple training plan, and put that plan to work.
Plenary Session: Back to the Future! Conference Review and a Glimpse of What Lies Ahead
Karen Pryor, Aaron Clayton
ClickerExpo has fantastic breadth and depth. But that means you can't be everywhere you'd like to be and see everything you'd like to see. In our final Session, we bring you highlights from the weekend, as well as experiences that faculty members want to share. We'll take some time to summarize the three days and look at what comes next. Join us for this satisfying wrap-up.
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