Category: Crossing Over ¤
  Author: Melinda Johnson ¤
   Title: How Is Clicker Training Different? ¤

>Any other suggestions or ideas on
>how to explain why clicking is better than "getting the dog to do it and
>then praising it", where "getting it to do it" is done by physical handling
>rather than waiting for the behaviour?

Let's break this down and look at each piece:

1.)  "getting the dog to do it and then praising it"

Training is a matter of communication.  The animal must understand what we
want in order to perform the desired behavior on cue.  The clicker
communicates more quickly and precisely than verbal praise.  The CLICK! is
like taking a photograph; it's able to mark a precise instant in time.  The
clicker sounds different than anything else the animal normally hears.
Compared to the human voice, the CLICK! can be recognized at greater
distance and in distracting (noisy) settings.  Using the clicker tells the
dog EXACTLY what he is being rewarded for.  The trouble with praising
*after* the behavior is done is that it doesn't capture the exact moment of
desired behavior, and the dog may tune out human voice.  It doesn't do a
good job of communicating what we wanted, so it can take a dog longer to
understand.  Conversely, the clicker communicates *during* the behavior.

2.)  "praising it"

Training is also a matter of motivation.  Praise means nothing whatsoever
to a dog until you give it meaning, as in "praise-then-treat".  Praise is
like the clicker in that it works when it's a conditioned reinforcer, but
it's conditioned only by following it with a reward that the dog wants.
Praise isn't quick enough or clear enough to communicate as well as the
clicker.  In dogs conditioned with positive punishers (P+), the praise is
useful only in that it indicates the trainer is in a good mood and is
unlikely to punish.  This is beautifully explained in Jean Donaldson's
book, "Culture Clash", which I would highly recommend to both you and your
trainer friend.

3.)  "'getting it to do it' is done by physical handling rather than
waiting for the behaviour"

There are several ways to get a behavior.  The end result we want is that
the dog takes responsibility for offering the behavior by himself, in
response to a cue from the trainer.  Eliciting behavior is causing the dog
to do the behavior in answer to something you are doing, such as physically
pushing the dog into a sit.  Emitted behaviors are ones the dog offers on
his own, such as when he sits because he thought of it.

a.  Physically putting a dog into a position is one of the poorest ways to
accomplish this because the thought and energy comes from the trainer,
rather than from the dog.  (Elicited behavior)
If you teach a dog all behaviors by physical assist, you will end up with a
"pupet on a string" mentality in your dog.  This is the same mentality you
get by using traditional "Jerk & Praise" training.  This dog will wait for
the energy to come from the trainer.

b.  Luring with food or a target works well, but the lure or target must be
faded quickly.  Again, the beginning efforts are coming from the trainer
while you are luring.  (Elicited behavior)
There are some behaviors that are nearly impossible to teach some dogs
without luring.  For instance, most dogs lie down and get back up on the
same side.  A "roll over" is lying down on one side, and getting up on the
other side.  Hence, "roll over" is easiest to teach most dogs by luring
with treats or by targetting.

c.  Dogs learn quite quickly when we catch the dog doing the behavior
naturally and mark it with the clicker, followed by the treat.  In this
case, all of the energy and thought process that results in the behavior
comes from the dog's brain.  (Emitted behavior)
If you teach the dog using mainly emitted behaviors, you end up with a dog
who is a creative problem solver, a thinking being who is eager to discover
new behaviors that you will reward.  By learning to offer new behaviors,
this dog becomes easier and easier to train.  A dog trained primarily by
using emitted behavior is very different from a dog who is trained by
punishment and who is taught to wait for a cue before offering behavior.

I hope your trainer friend and you have a great time learning together.
What an adventure!

Smiles, wags, chirps, and CLICKS!

Melinda Johnson
Vanderbear Wheaten Terriers          ^v^
Gandalf, baby YF Amazon Parrot   -m-m-
mjj@accessone.com
Creative Clicker Critter Training  (tm)