Author Topic: clicker specific question  (Read 1630 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Gromit

  • Site Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 102
  • Gender: Female
  • Always look up.
clicker specific question
« on: May 23, 2020, 09:09:49 PM »
Hello folks, hope you are all doing ok. My query is on the niceties of clicker training a pooch to stay inside an open garden gateway. Should I click for her staying inside whilst I am on the path outside, and if so how would I teach her to stay within the "boundary" if I am within the garden too? Thoughts appreciated please.

Offline Barry H

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 249
  • Gender: Male
Re: clicker specific question
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2020, 09:51:09 AM »
TBH maybe you're overthinking this.  A reliable stay is all that's required with the emphasis on reliable which means making sure pooch doesn't move away until you release him/her.  Then, it doesn't matter where you are...  I used to leave Jack in a stay in the garden and go inside and watch him through a window to see how long he'd last.  When he could do ten minutes I cracked before he did.  Also useful technique for initial recall training though obviously the stay only needs to be long enough to get inside...  Much harder to do a reliable stay, or recall, away from home with many more distractions, of course.

I have nothing against using a clicker, but I do/have done all my training without one.   Just personal choice.  I found I was always losing, treading on or forgetting them.  I prefer to use an emphatic 'Yes!' instead.

Offline Mari

  • Site Member
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1082
  • Gender: Female
Re: clicker specific question
« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2020, 10:56:31 AM »
I would start by teaching the dog to ask for permission before stepping through the gateway. Teach her to look at you and wait for your command before leaving. I would keep her on a lead and either ask for her to wait and look at me or just hold her back until she understands that she needs to wait. Click and reward when she is waiting and give the command that means she can walk through. When she understands that she needs to wait for permission I would slowly increase/vary the waiting time before giving the cue to go. When the behaviour is reliable enough to train without a lead I would also move around while she waits so she understands that she is to wait for permission even if you are not right next to her. In addition I would sometimes call her away instead of giving the cue to go. Then click and reward big time for staying. Making sure the area is a rewarding place to stay.

I did something similar to this when teaching my dog to stay on sidewalks. We never stepped off a sidewalk before she looked at me and I told her she could go. She got really good at it and I felt safe letting her off lead in small parks and grassy areas in the busy city where I lived at the time. I could trust her to not run into the road even if it was close to us.

One thing I did to really make the behaviour reliable is not really clicker theory, but I'll share it anyway. I would step of the sidewalk myself without giving her the cue to go. We had trained enough that she mostly understood to stay until I said she could step down even if I went ahead. But if she kept going I would gasp theatrically and ask quietly "what did you do?". My dog is very sensitive so she would instantly back up and wait looking a little sheepish. Like I said, not technically clicker training theory, but I think of this as quality control when the behaviour has been taught through positive reinforcement.

I'm not a dog trainer, but that would be my approach  :blink:

Offline Gromit

  • Site Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 102
  • Gender: Female
  • Always look up.
Re: clicker specific question
« Reply #3 on: May 24, 2020, 09:19:22 PM »
Thanks for the help Barry and Mari. To be a bit more specific, I am wanting her to to learn to stay within the garden (which doesn't have a gate fitted, just a gap) when I am also in the garden. Your replies do help though so I am grateful for your ideas, as you say, waiting for permission is the key.
Just now it reminds me of my old rough collie who used to wait behind the garden gate for us to return from town. One time my kids forgot to close the gate when they left and on return my dog was lying in the open gateway with his paws dangling off the step, as cool as could be. Such a good lad!