Clickers & Other Training Tools
There are times where I find I have to “defend” the way I train dogs. I usually just laugh at the person wanting to prove I am wrong and I move on. I could challenge the person and have them “defend” their training method. I could trash talk that person and try to tarnish their reputation. In an industry with very little regulations, this can be difficult for some to navigate in their minds. Do some training tools have results in the desired or undesired behavior right away? Yep. Absolutely. Humans are lazy and we all love a quick fix. Human sees a trainer put a choke chain on dog- dog isn’t pulling the human down the street on a walk anymore. Humans literally see the transformation before their eyes. Now the dog has been wearing a choke chain for a few weeks now and the human thinks that the dog has learned to not pull on walks and human opts to not use the choke chain on the next walk. What do you think happens on this next walk? Think about it, human is removing something that suppressed an unwanted behavior, no training other then wearing this particular tool. Dog is going to know this tool is not on them and the dog will more then likely continue the pulling on leash because all the dog learned to do was not pull while choke chain was on. The dog did not learn to not pull while out on a walk regardless of what they are wearing. Some people are okay with this. I am not okay with this and it is because when I use tools in training, my goal is to have the dog learn what I am looking for in behavior on cue. If I am not reinforcing the dog for anything good, the dog is not learning they are doing something out of habit and/or avoiding what the dog finds aversive. Now does every dog find a choke collar aversive? I don’t know, but what is aversive is up to the learner.
What is it with a clicker that people just seem to despise? Or belittle? A clicker is literally a plastic tool that makes a consistent sound. Why do some people feel the need to disregard this so quickly? Maybe it is the misconception behind clicker trainers. Many people think clicker training = train with treats. Okay…well that can be part of clicker training, but not even close to all of it. If someone is unfamiliar with something many times they challenge it. I guess it can be fear of the unknown. Who knows, but prong collars and choke chains must be cool so people feel better about using these tools. They are tools. The clicker is a tool. A helps with getting behaviors, but ultimately tools should be faded out. Otherwise, does the learner actually understand what the teacher is trying to teach or is the learner just actively following food (lure) or avoiding something they find aversive?
Clicker training is marker training. A marker helps communicate with the learner (because this isn’t just about dogs) and lets the learner know the exact moment when they did the correct behavior. Clickers are great because they are clear and consistent. Markers do not have to be a clicker, but a verbal “yes” is common as well. Whatever the marker cue is, the dog has to be primed to know marker cue = some sort of reinforcement is coming. Not necessarily treats for the reinforcement. It could be treats, but guess what?!?! The learner decides what is reinforcing. Not the owner of the dog, not the curator at the zoo, not anyone besides the learner. Another cue can become reinforcement!
Most dogs love food. Food means they can survive. This automatically becomes a high reinforcer to most dogs. However, many dogs loooovvveee the ball. Ball is life. So a smart trainer would utilize this as reinforcement…as long as it does not cause a dog to go over threshold due to high arousal. I will write about arousal & thresholds in another post.
Some breeds of dogs have been bred to just be companions for humans. Now these dogs may find affection/attention from the owner highly reinforcing. Notice I say highly. Everyone has tiers for what is reinforcing to them. A high reinforcement for humans is money. Money is basically a key component to survival in our world. When I work with any dog, I never have a “plan” before I know the dog. Every dog is different and finding out what motivates them to work with you is one of the best ways to establish a good relationship. Anyway, back to the clicker…it becomes a conditioned reinforcer for the learner.
Primary reinforcer - food. Conditioned reinforcer - clicker.
Having a behavior performed by a habit instead of a purpose is a big deal. Having thinking skills is important. Letting an animal work out their problems/thoughts in their head is a skill. I personally want my dog to be able to think and perform without me. I want my dog to have skills they carry out without me asking them to do it every single time. The reinforcement with my training will always be there in some capacity, which means the dog will want to work/train alongside me.
Happy training!
