Kim and I have continued our obedience training using the clicker. Found this amazing american book on the subject: Clickertraining for obedience, by Morgan Spector (he's a Sheltie-owner himself, even better!). He writes detailed and educational about the theory behind the clicker technique and in the rest of the book about every single and tiny step towards the finished obedience moment. I think, if you buy this book, you won't need any other about clicker training! Ofcourse the described exercises are those used at obedience trials in America, but it is no problem to translate and use the knowledge for swedish trials.

Unfortunately we ran into a delicat problem after a period of training: Kim got tired!!! That is theoretically impossible when you're training operant, everything is built on the dogs own will to get results. There is no musts whatsoever. But, Kim got tired, lost the spark totally and showed in every way that this was something he did no longer want to participate in. Playing on the other hand, that was something he still enjoyed!

It turned out that we where not alone about this problem. Kathy, my friend in USA, has also used clicker training and her Dunny has reacted the exact same way! This photo she sent me and wrote: "This Dunny photo is sooo funny (at least to me); when I get that reaction, I know it's time to vary the treats!" And in there was the answer: to vary the treats! I was so stubborn, thinking that since Kim loves food he would settle with chicken meatballs and boiled liver as treats... Boy, was I wrong! Yes, toys ahead for a friendly play and a calm cuddle every once in a while as a treat after the click, and Kims interest for clicker training is back on top!

Kim carries his own trainingstuff to "school".

2002-08-01
Kim and I have been to clicker class. The purpose of the class was to teach us, the handlers, to use the clicker, the theory behind operant learning and to learn proper timing (that is not easy, I can tell you that!). So we have done circus acts and trix, it doesn't matter if we do wrong then, those tricks aren't something we will use later. When you use clicker training it is a big plus if the dog thinks and takes initiative by himself. Kim, who has never gotten any training the "classical" way, acts without restraint. When he was out on a walk with daddy and got to taste the wild growing raspberries and blueberries, he simply watched how Roger did it, then he started picking the berries himself from the bushes!

The last session of the class we had a test. All participants was to show three tricks of their own choice, that the others would grade from 1-5. The heat was oppressive and none of the dogs were especially thrilled to do anything at all, but they where all there trying when the clicker was revealed and treats were just around the corner... ;-)

Kim did really great, together we got 84 out of 105 possible points. That was only two points from the winner and by that we got an honourable second place! The first thing we showed was something we had worked on for weeks. Kim can pick out different balls by colour. See the pictures below:

Kim can separate yellow from blue! Are you with us? "Kim, which is the yellow one?"	CLICK! "Correkt! On to the next: Kim, which ball is blue?"
CLICK! "Good boy!! That is correct!"	"But... Didn't I have another ball? Kim, where is the red one?"
CLICK! "THERE it was!!!"	"Ooooh, you're such a good boy!!!"

This exercise was probably the most advanced one that was shown in class, but then it did take quite a while to teach. The red ball none was expecting, that caused a big applause from the audience, to Kims delight! The next step will be to ask if there perhaps exists any green ball in the collection. It doesn't, and then Kim will shake his head - cool, ha?!!

The other two tricks was a little less advanced - to get Kim to sit nicely in a begging posture and to zig-zig between my legs (OK, the last is probably the most advanced one for me!)

This took only three trainingsessions for Kim to figure out!

During the class we got a bundle of ideas and inspiration to what you can do with your dog. One of the instructors has a dog that is afraid of bikes. She has taught that dog to overcome it's fear using the clicker, and also to find the right place beside the bicycle to get the harness on. Another idea is to teach the dog where the toilet is at home, and then you can tell your guests that the dog will show them the next time someone is in need! Or why not teach the dog to retrieve a package of towels when someone sneezes, or dig out YOUR shoes among the rest of the families? Helping out in the household are also popular things to do, for instance carry the new washed clothes to the basket, clean up and so on. At the moment I'm teaching Kim to play basket ball! And we enjoy every single minute on the way!!! :-)

"Click click" from Karin & Kim!!