(VICT) Re: Teaching Retrieving
- From: "Ann Edie" <annedie@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:44:39 -0400
Hi, Kitty, (and I think Kim was also interested in how to teach retrieving),
Kitty, I think perhaps you just have to break the behavior down a bit more
than you have.
Like Ridge, I start with the object in my hand and just hold it out for the
dog to touch, then c/t.
Then I delay the c/t a little and see if I can get a more energetic touch,
then c/t.
Then I delay a bit more, and see if I can get a bit of a lip curl or teeth
touching the object, c/t.
Then I wait for more open mouth and grasp with the teeth. (Or, you can
shape grasp with the lips instead of the teeth, if you prefer.)
I do this all with the dog's favorite toy or preferred object at first, and
all at close range, with the object still in my hand.
(With a dog which already likes to take things into its mouth, I actually
teach the release first. But you do not have that sort of dog, so I would
start with the grasp behavior.)
Once the behavior of grasping the object is strong, I add the verbal cue.
Then I capture the release of the object and put that behavior on cue. When
the dog has the object in its mouth and my hand is still on the object, I
just wait for the jaws to release and c/t that. Again, I don't add the
verbal cue until the behavior is as I want it. (The situation is itself an
environmental cue for the behavior.)
Once I have a "take" and a "give" on cue, then I start moving the object
around, up and down, left and right, but still in my hand.
Then I put the object on a nearby surface, like a chair or the floor, still
within reach where I can point to it with my hand if the dog needs the help
to focus on it.
When this is strong, then I start tossing the object a little distance, like
a foot or so away from me and ask the dog to "take".
Then I move on to other objects, starting back at the beginning, but running
through the steps faster this time, as the dog's response allows.
After a while, the dog generalizes the "take" and "give" cues and only needs
to be introduced to a new object to understand that I want her to retrieve
it.
Does your dog like to play fetch with any toys or a ball? If so, you can
introduce the cues during play as she is performing the behaviors. If the
dog likes to play tug-o'-war, I introduce the "give" and "take" cues during
that game as well. Besides associating the behaviors with the cues, I find
this to be a good way to prevent the dog from getting too wild and
overexcited during play. It interrupts the instinctual prey drive physical
activity and interjects a bit of mental processing into the game. And the
reinforcer for correct responses to the "give" and "take" cues is the
continuation of the game.
Has your dog been taught or learned on her own that she is not supposed to
pick up or chew objects other than her specific toys? If so, it may take a
little while to untrain this behavior and train the new behavior of picking
things up with her mouth. Sometimes, moving the object around and getting
the dog's energy level up a bit can encourage the dog to try to "catch" the
object.
It may also help to have two separate cues for the two different behaviors
of targetting an object and retrieving an object.
I hope these suggestions address your question. If they don't do the trick,
I'm sure that others will have more insights.
The above discussion covers only retrieving of a dropped or tossed object.
Attaching names to specific objects and asking the dog to find and retrieve
one of several objects is a nice further refinement which can be taught if
desired.
Actually, It was really easy to teach Panda to retrieve. I first introduced
the activity by teaching her to retrieve a canvas frisbee at one of her
birthday parties. Then, when the photographer, Neil S., was here taking
photos for Panda's book, we decided to teach her to fetch my keys so that
Neil could try to document the training process. Panda learned it so
quickly, after just a couple of touches and a couple of attempts to return
the keys to my hand, that neil had to be really fast to capture the steps in
the process.
It was a real hoot the first time we went for a walk down the high school
hallways just after Panda had discovered that retrieving was a highly
reinforced behavior, (and before it had come under stimulus control)! As we
walked through the corridors, Panda picked up and handed me several crumpled
pieces of paper, pencils, and an ID card which was completely flat and
therefore very tricky to get up off the floor! She was doing a very
credible job as a custodian!
Panda was also the one who got the idea of retrieving her leash for me. I
would get into the car with her, and once the door was closed, I would drop
her leash to free my hands to fasten my seat belt. Panda, ever alert and
ready to be helpful, simply reached down and picked up the leash loop and
handed it back to me. I captured that with a c/t, and, voila, she was
trained!
When I am putting her halter and harness on, and I drop the leash so that it
doesn't get tangled up with the harness as I am fastening the martingale and
the belly strap, she will also pick up the leash loop and deliver it to my
hand.
Another interesting thing is that Panda actually prefers to pick up the
leash and other objects by the metal parts rather than by the leather parts.
Most dogs, I think, don't like to pick up metal objects in their mouths.
But Panda will pick up the leash by one of the metal rings instead of by the
leather strap, and she will pick up my keys by the metal keys themselves
rather than by the leather or plastic holder. So I don't have to worry
about her chewing on her leash or other leather objects.
The surprising thing is that horses seem to have a real bent for retrieving.
My Arabian horse, Magnat, also loves to retrieve, as do many other clicker
trained horses I have heard of.
Panda does get a bit distracted when I ask her to retrieve something that I
have dropped on the grass--just so you know that she is not perfect! (smile)
Isn't Clicker Training grand!
Best,
Ann
----- Original Message -----
From: "kitty hevener" <khevener@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 1:35 PM
Subject: (VICT) Re: something I should probably know and don't
> there should have been a comma between leash and snorkel. My problme is
> getting her to take it the first time.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ridge Euler" <ridge_e@xxxxxxx>
> To: <vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 9:17 AM
> Subject: (VICT) Re: something I should probably know and don't
>
>
> what is a leash snorkel????? the way I teach it is I have something in my
> hand then tell them to get it. if they touch it c/t. keep doing this
> then
> if they pick it up out of your hand c/t. then I add the cue get it. then
> when they get the "get it" down I wait till they hold it longer and then
> I
> cue "hold". then if they drop it back in my hand I c/t then cue "give".
> sorry it is not in as much detail as others would write but this is how I
> do
> it.
> Ridge and Buckley Guide/SD
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: kitty hevener<mailto:khevener@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: visually impaired clicker
> trainers<mailto:vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 8:42 AM
> Subject: (VICT) something I should probably know and don't
>
>
> am wondering how you teach your dog to actually pick up an object such as
> leash snorkel, etc. I know how to target the object, but am having
> trouble
> with going from targeting to actually picking it up.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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