In my swedish blog, I have decided to post a training tip each day for a couple of weeks. This time of year is really hectic for me and it’s hard to find time and inspiration for blogging unless you have some kind of structure. I have planned for about fifteen tips and I will try to translate most of them into English and post them here.
My first tip is about adding cues. There are many different opinions on how and when to add a cue to a shaped behavior. This is my opinion. I think it is important that the cue is presented before the dog offers the behavior, not at the same time. Therefore, I find that a good goal is to try to make your first session when adding a cue look like your dog already knows the cue. Your timing is important here, try to add the cue just before the dog offers the behavior you want to name. This is of course dependent on that your dog will offer the behavior in a predictable manner. Here is a video from this morning, it’s the first session with Squid (now 9 months) where I name the shaped behavior of grabbing the tail:
parlance ,
Fanny, thank you for posting tips. I’ll be coming here frequently to see the new ones.
I was interested to see you didn’t click for the behaviour that the dog offered without the cue. I’ll do the same.
Also, I’m wondering why you want to teach the trick of grabbing the tail. Is it because you want your dog to stretch his body?
Nat ,
Good point! I look forward to reading the rest of your tips.
Sarah ,
I really appreciate you going to the trouble of translating your blog, looking forward to more tips!
Oh, and Squid is hilarious, reminds me of my BC puppy.
Jane ,
I know you love dogs and wanna know more about them 🙂
Hope it helps!
http://www.dogbreedswiki.com
karily ,
love your blog “
Adding a Cue at Fanny’s Clicker Dog Blog ,
[…] the behavior, or after the behavior (just before the click and/or reward). As I pointed out in this post last summer, I choose to add the cue before the behavior. It just makes much more sense to me than […]