 Expert on clicker training, Stephen G. King, freely shared his knowledge with delegates at this years BVNA Congress in new 'Meet The Specialist' sesslons. Here, Dot Creighton, DipAVN (Surg), give her impression of the sessions:
The clicker training session, presented by Stephen King, was also popular. Stephen is the owner of Crosskeys, a mail order company which specialises in behaviour titles, among other topics, and author of several training videos and books (including 'Ready, Steady. . . Click!').
The 'clicker' is a handheld device which emits a single click.
Stephen's seven years of clicker training experience with domestic and zoo animals were put to good use as he demonstrated clicker techniques with his short-legged assistant, Paddy the cocker spaniel. He showed delegates how first to familiarise the animal with the clicker by repeated 'clicking and treating'. Then he progressed to 'high density reinforcement' training, where the animal is taught a required behaviour in a short space of time. He also demonstrated how to use a clicker (rather than the trainer's voice) to let the dog know exactly when it was performing the desired behaviour correctly. This is termed 'marking' the correct behaviour.
Stephen also explained the importance of collecting data, and plotting the animal's correct responses daily on a graph after each training session. This provides a method of monitoring the animal's progress. A decline or flat trend in such a graph would indicate that the trainer needed to reassess his or her training method.
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"Thanks, it arrived yesterday morning, Clicker Train Your Dog video. Much enjoyed, particularly the targetting bit as I'm currently training a very tiny 12 week old Yorkie and it's a long way to lean down LOL! I normally teach close attention heelwork by teaching touch the hand but obviously in this case I'm having to use a target stick instead! I have sit, stand and almost down in place and she can manage three steps to heel so far".
Beverley Sargeson UK |
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We received the clicker cue cards this morning from you as a result in entering the Dog World Give-away Competition
Thank you very much. We are already seeing the benefits and both the dogs have responded well.
We are especially pleased with the 12month old boy who we have been having problems with. We havent had him long and he came to us with some very bad habits some we are getting on top of others are taking awhile yet he has responded well to this clicker idea.
So Thank you
Rgards Joanne & Paul Causer |
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Dear Stephen,
I am writing to let you know how beneficial your training sessions have been for both me and Spike (my puppy German Shepherd Dog), who is now 9 months old.
I have found your method of clicker training to be both kind and rewarding.
After just three courses the amount we have achieved is remarkable, and I am looking forward to course four!
The fact that you do not use choke chains or any kind of force to achieve results is exactly what I was looking for in my dog training lessons and is great.
I would not hesitate to recommend your classes and always find both you and Josie helpful and interested in how me and Spike are getting along.
Yours Sincerely
Michelle Holden. |
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Dear Steve,
I have booked my place on your next dog-training course. As you know, I have already done several courses at Crosskeys. I find it very helpful in training Patch. He has made more progress with every course I have been on with him. These days people are often impressed with how well trained my dog is!
I had Patch some time before I started taking him to training classes, although I had been advised that he would benefit from being trained to a high standard.
I was a bit wary of training classes after my experience of them with my first dog, Sam. I felt that the methods I was expected to use with Sam, involving the use of choke chains were cruel as well as ineffective. I made better progress with him when I stopped taking him to classes and trained him myself.
Your training classes are a complete contrast to my previous experience. I saw your advert in the Yellow Pages, which said, "Pet dog training made fun" , and that you use modern reward methods. I telephoned and asked if you used choke chains and was told that you do NOT allow them in your classes. I had made other enquires about classes for Patch, but the others would have expected me to use a choke chain. As I was not prepared to use one, I did not take him to classes until I found out about yours.
I have found that training Patch using your clicker training method is both enjoyable and effective. Patch seems to enjoy the classes, and I think his life is more interesting now training gives him something to think about. I now have a much better behaved dog, without ever having had to use training methods that I consider cruel. It shows that with dogs, as with humans, rewards are far more effective than punishments. I look forward to the next training class!
Yours Sincerely
Mandy Hains |
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Just had to drop you a line and say thank you for the advice in your video. You have saved my life. I moved to Spain 3 months ago with my five year old spaniel/collie, a rescue dog, who is called Bramble. She is beautifully behaved after extensive obedience training in Scotland. Since moving to Spain I have since rescued another dog called Bunty, the mother was a boxer cross, the father ? anybody's guess. I got Bunty at eight weeks old, she and her five brothers and sisters were going to be put down.So after a few weeks of hell I met a woman in the internet cafe who told me about clicker training. She very kindly gave me her video to watch. It's wonderful. I have been using the clicker for three days now and can't believe the difference in Bunty. She touches the touch stick with four touches before getting her treat. She now moves to touch the touch stick. Amazing. I noticed at the end of the video that you have a booklet on training tips, I would very much like a copy.If you could e-mail me with the information I would be most grateful. Also could you let me know your web address as I may order some books on-line.
Yours With Much Gratitude,Lucy Smith
Ready, Steady, Click! by Stephen G. King
An excellent introduction to dog training based on positive reinforcement. The author clearly and concisely describes the science that underlies learning in all species, and applies it well to the training of pet dogs. The twenty Training Tips for Success at the end of the book are great guidelines for all trainers.
Deborah Jones, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Kent State University Stark Campus
Planet Canine / Akron, OH
APDT Member #1663 |
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Here is another excellent and useful publication from Crosskeys and Stephen King. King is a pioneer in putting forth the practice of clicker training and the scientific principles that underlie it. |
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"Ready, Steady, Click" offers the reader the ABCs of clicker training, all the way through to the XYZs. This book focuses on positive reinforcement training, but also recognizes that there are other methods, and makes a strong case for making the right choice. This slender book is full of information. It explains how dogs learn and how to best teach them. It contains everything anyone needs to know about getting started in clicker training -- from what the clicker is, and when and why to click, all the way to the complex schedules of reinforcement. This book teaches you how to train your dog to do something. But it also explains how to teach him to refrain from doing certain things, or at least to do them less annoyingly or less frequently. Here is a book that runs the entire gamut of training possibilities, both positive and negative, but with an ultra-heavy emphasis on the positive. In doing so, the author points his readers in the right direction, helps them make the right decisions, and arms them with enough information to travel safely and effectively down the chosen road of positive reinforcement training.
What a blessing for their dogs!
Sheila Booth, author of the award-winning book, Purely Positive Training
CLICK HERE TO BUY ONLINE |
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Ready, Steady, Click Workbook! by By Claire L Davies, MA with Stephen G King
Following on the success of Stephen King's manual "Ready, Steady,Click", in conjunction with Claire L Davies, Stephen has now produced a Workbook to encourage the reader to put into practice all the skills of Clicker Training and use of the Target Stick learned from the original text.
The reader is introduced to a series of questions, each designed to make you think about the principles behind Clicker Training, and just why it works so successfully. This is a great way to test your knowledge - and yes, the answers are given at the back - so any misunderstandings or misconceptions can soon be ironed out. As an example, the reader is asked to consider such questions as "Deprivation occurs when a reinforcer becomes less powerful after a dog has gone a period of time without it" - True or False? Each section is followed by a Summary of Points covering the key elements of that section.
But is it not all brainstorming! At the end of each section there are some fun practical tasks to try out with your dog, and even some designed to get you thinking about your own behaviour.
Ready Steady Click Workbook ends with a Pop Quiz of questions for you to answer, and this time there are no printed answers to which to refer.
An interesting and fun way to test your knowledge, and at the same time, brush up on those areas where you find gaps.
Dee Woodcock.
Fellow of the Animal Care College
CLICK HERE TO BUY ONLINE
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 Dear Dogs Today ,
Rosie my 5 month old chocolate Labrador, and I have just completed a Clicker Training course and we just had to write and tell everyone what a brilliant time we had.
I've had a puppy and a rescue dog in the past but never bothered to train them properly - thinking it was just too much like hard work. When Rosie came along I had been dog-less for months and wasn't certain I would ever be able to have another canine friend. My circumstances changed quite suddenly when I was allowed to start teleworking and so I decided this time was the ideal time to get that choco Labrador I had yearned for. I decided I must learn how to care for her properly and get expert advice.
I enrolled on a five week introduction for puppies course at Crosskeys in Romford. The tutor Stephen G King was just the most knowledgeable and friendly person. He obviously loves dogs and made the whole art of clicker training so easy, Rosie and I were clicking away from the start. There were only about seven of us (14 if you count the dogs) on the hour long training - so we all got lots of individual tuition and attention. Added to this Stephen's free advice on diet, dog care and dogs in general - it was a totally worthwhile experience.
I can't tell you what a difference learning Clicker training has meant to us. Rosie's face lights up when we practice - you can actually see her thinking. The course has finished now but along with my fellow students we are enrolling on a Clicker Agility course starting at Crosskeys in May.
I now have three clickers and pockets permanently filled with bits of sausage! I also have one of the best behaved puppies in the park. I would wholly recommend you get involved with clicker training - give it a go and see the results.
Regards
Ruth Du-Lieu & Rosie
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