(VICT) Retrieve: Vomiting Comet
- From: care4k9@xxxxxxx
- To: vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2008 20:36:41 +0000
The Tale of the Vomiting Comet by Debi Davis
I didn't embrace clicker training with enthusiasm, when I first began my
journey into operant training. "Clicker training?" I thought, "Sheesh, yet
another gimmick!"
I began to learn about clicker training for one reason only: I had no choice. I
wanted to get my service dog certified, and could only do it through one school
here in Tucson who was willing to accept a 9 pound dog. So it was click or
boogie on down the pike.
At first, I went to the training center thinking I would just smile, be polite,
listen to what they had to say, and train like mad on my own between classes my
own way. "My way", a conglomeration of methods, had worked fine for 25 years,
and yes, I had a few bobbles I couldn't resolve, but no dog works flawlessly,
right?
One problem I had was that my dog Peek was a most confident, spitfire of a
Papillon, who shut down at each sign of aversion. A leash pop only stressed
him, and gentle coercion to try to get him to hold an object in his mouth only
made him very adept at vomiting on me.
All my training experience told me the next step was to level him with an ear
pinch, or a toe hitch to FORCE him to comply and retrieve. I couldn't do it. He
is a Papillon, and this breed's crowning glory is their large, fringed,
butterfly-wing shaped ears. Peek was still showing in conformation, and I could
just see him being head/ear shy for the judge.
This dog was the biggest challenge I have ever faced. My 20 years with Border
Collies did not prepare me for this feisty little boy, who simply could NOT be
forced to do anything. He had me weeping more often than not, wondering where
all my dog training skills had gone, stressed and white knuckled whenever I
began a training session, ready to do battle.
So into classes we went, and I snickered through the beginning clicker
instruction thinking it another gimmick. I took the clicker home, though, and
thought I'd just play with it because it was fun to make that clicking sound,
and it gave me something to do with my hands.
Instead, I had an epiphany. Once my dog realized a click meant a treat was
coming, I couldn't get his attention from me. He was velcroed to me. He wanted
more, more, more.
Then I began to pair the click with something he was doing, and got him to
consistently turn his head to one side quickly, and back again. He was just
offering this to me, repeatedly, because I clicked him for it a couple times
and he had come to know that the click marked the moment he was supposed to
remember, and that it also meant "good things are coming."
But more than that, it gave Peek a way to control ME. It gave him back the
power he so desperately wanted: a CHOICE. He was able to offer behaviors and
MAKE me click and treat him, and he thought this was the best game in town.
At the second class, the instructor began to introduce the back chained clicker
retrieve. It's taught from the last behavior to the first, rather than the
other way around. This bypasses the "prey drive", for one thing, and they don't
get in chase it, shake it, kill it, and keep away mode. They learn the last
behavior first: to hold something in their mouth.
I guffawed audibly, and finally told my instructor I'd eat dog kibble if she
could clicker train this dog to retrieve. I couldn't wait until he vomited up
all that cheese and hot dogs all over her white shorts and t-shirt. She was
altogether too smug for me!
Well, she had me sit down in front of Peek and hold out the dumbbell, which she
had smeared with some hot dog juice.
Then she had me click and treat him for sniffing it several times. Then she had
me hold off on the click just long enough for the dog to get a bit frustrated,
and offer me a new behavior to make me click. He did. First he sniffed and
sniffed and kept looking for the click. When it didn't come, he got frustrated
and bumped it with his teeth. CLICK and TREAT!
Then we did that a few times and upped the criteria again, holding off for
more. Like the textbook said, when he couldn't get me to click by bumping it
with his teeth, he got frustrated and bit it. CLICK and TREAT!
I can hear the wheels turning in his head. "Ohh, that's all I have to do to get
her to click and treat me, bite on that stupid stick? Nooooo , problem. Get
those hot dogs ready!"
Then I held out the click until he offered more than a light bite and release.
He got frustrated, and bit down hard, for about a half second. CLICK and TREAT!
At that point, he grabbed the dumbbell out of my hand and held it for two
seconds before dropping it. CLICK AND TREAT!
Man, I'm in tears, I'm screaming with joy, I"m squeezing the life out of Peek
and everyone in the room is also in tears. I take a piece of kibble to my
mouth, swallow it. Nothing has ever tasted so sweet. My boy held the dumbbell
for two seconds. He didn't vomit. His tail wagged, his ears were at attention
and he was having a great time problem solving.
Now, this all happened in the space of about 5 minutes. So I stopped right
then, on a high note, and took him over some agility equipment he loves, played
some ball with him, had a great time for 10 minutes.
Then we went back to sitting on the floor, he progressed at warp speed. He
grabbed that dumbbell, held it while I gave him a "keep going" signal of
"goooood", quiet and drawn out, with my hand palms up in a stay position, which
he understood already.
When he held it for a few seconds I clicked and treated. Jackpotted! I had an
adrenaline rush. I was a blithering idiot. I ate another piece of kibble right
there in front of the whole class. And I enjoyed it.
The next day I began lowering the dumbbell, having him reach in all directions
for it in one 5 minute session. In another 5 minute session, I had him
retrieving it from the floor, as I inched it away further and further from my
body.
Eventually, a day later, I threw it and he brought it back, sat in front of me
and held it.I can't believe this stuff. This WORKS! Praise the click, I've been
SAVED.
By day three he was retrieving other objects, like pencils, pens, hair curlers,
paper bags. By day four he was retrieving metal objects and the rest is
history. I now have a dog whose very favorite task in the whole world is
retrieving items for me, and he does it at warp speed, loving it.
But that was only the beginning. I was not allowed to use a choke on him in
class, and instead was fitted with a Gentle Leader. I was shown how to circle
into the dog, catch his attention when he was in position, and click for
placement. In one class period, he got the message: click next to mom's side
means stay right there and you'll get a great reward. It worked!
In one day, he went from a pulling monster, who constantly required leash pops,
to a dog delighted to walk by my side because he never knew quite when he might
be reinforced for it.
The Gentle leader was out of use in less than a week, even in the park because
he was ready all the time to make me click and treat him.
The rest of his training went like wildfire. In less than 3 months, he was
tugging clothes from the dryer, making the bed, pressing elevator buttons,
opening and closing doors, tugging clothing off, picking up trash and putting
it in the garbage can, and doing 15 minute solid down sits and stays while I
was out of sight. AMAZING!
I was sold. At that point, I jumped on the clicker lists to learn more about
this amazing way of communicating with animals. I realized that I didn't need
to use any force to get the dog to do exactly what I wanted. That the clicker
gave me surgical precision to MARK THE MOMENT of success so exactly, that I
could build on his successes instead of punishing for mistakes.
It was a totally different mind set, which permeated each part of my life, not
just my dog training efforts. I began to "shape" people I met, I began to use
shaping to diffuse confrontations. My husband began to use shaping with the
high school gang members he teaches in his Geometry classes. Our lives changed
from being emotionally reactive to stress, to shaping behaviors we were seeing
without worrying about "why" someone was motivated to offer a particular
behavior. We just worked with the behavior at hand.
At home, I reinforced everything I could, just to keep my dog thinking and
problem solving. I no longer had to train to put something "on command", I
could just enjoy the process of shaping a behavior--any behavior.
At school, Tim reinforced those students in their seats when the bell rang, and
before long, the gang members who wore tardy slips like a badge of honor began
rushing to sit down before the bell rang because they never knew if this might
be the day their teacher handed out "Geo-Dollars". Geo Dollars was my husband's
"Token Economy", like monopoly money. They could be turned in for choice of
music for the class day, or pencils, erasers, grade points.
It changed completely how my husband communicated with his students. He threw
out all punishers, and began to heavily reinforce acceptable behaviors. He put
trouble makers in charge of groups or projects, and reinforced every thing he
could. The year end tally said it all: The yearly failure rate had been steady
for a decade at about 40%. For the first time, the yearly failure rate had
plummeted to 11%.
The same thing has happened in my communication with animals. My "failure rate"
was fairly high on certain behaviors I couldn't lure, coerce or force.
Understanding the laws of learning gave me a joy in training, a permanent
vacation from stress I had never before known.
Now, what really has me charged up is how liberating clicker training is for
those in the disability community who want to train their own assistance dogs.
People with severe mobility problems are given back their ability to train all
the way through without ever having to physically move the dog around the
floor. They no longer have to wait for a trainer who can strong arm their dog.
People with disabilities have been incredibly empowered by operant training.
For those interested in sharing experiences or learning more about clicker
training specifically for assistance work, there is a list called
OC-Assist-Dogs which offers a "safe house" for those who do not want to use
positive punishment or negative reinforcement in their training programs. It
can be accessed by going to http://www.onelist.com and typing in
"OC-Assist-Dogs" in the open field.
Debi Davis & the Service Papillons, Tucson, AZ
copyright 1999 Debi Davis
--
Christy Hill
A'Mickey
***************
http://home.att.net/~care4k9
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