Category: Advanced Stuff ¤
  Author: Carmel Rickard ¤
   Title: Backchaining ¤

Kim Burrell, who (like me) is interested in flyball, wants to know what
backchaining is. Kim, I'm sure that someone will point you to the right
thing to read in the useful Keepers Page, but in the meantime here's a
brief bit of info. It's the theory that when you teach a new routine (or
series of behaviours - the retrieve for example is a series of
behaviours, so is the flyball routine) you start with the last bit and
when that is down pat, you put the next to last bit just before it and
so on, backwards. That way, the person or animal working through the
routine, is moving through bits it knows always better and better. The
classic example used is of learning to play a piece of music. Most of us
started with the first page, right? Bad idea. If you begin with the last
page (or the last line of the last page for those who are excessively
good) and THEN the second to last whatever and THEN the third to last
whatever, then when you come to play the blessed piece in the
competition, you are playing material which is more and more familiar to
you as you progress through it, rather than less and less. In c/t
training, there's another advantage. You can let the animal know that a
reward comes after the last piece of the puzzle. so as you get towards
the end, the animal knows that a reward is coming. BUT you can
manipulate that knowledge and stop the dog or whatever before you get to
the last bit of behaviour if it hasn't been up to scratch. In other
words, that last bit of behaviour becomes another important clue to the
animal. If it is "allowed" to do that last bit, then indeed fortune is
smiling. And yummies aren't far behind.

I was scrupulous about it and put the theory to the test when I taught
my dogs to retrieve. Now I'm a convert. It absolutely works.

And this, dear people on the list, is the first time I've ventured an
explanation of any clicking thing in this forum. So if it's not quite
right, please say so. Oh, and please don't forget that Kim and I are
anxiously awaiting suggestions of how we start teaching our dogs to
flyball.

Carmel Rickard
Durban
South Africa