Hi, everyone. I want to share something from the video (which hasn't
come out yet). I came up with this formula to help people remember
the very simple steps in clicker training. They are simple, but
counter-intuitive, so I thought it was important to come up with an
anachronism for the steps.

People P Plan
Can C Catch
Shape S Shape
Confident C Cue
Pups P Proof

I hope this helps.

Here are the 5 steps:

Plan: First plan what you would like the dog to do. They say that
it's easier to teach a dog to work with a prop for the first 3
behaviors.

If you want the dog to go onto a small throw rug, break it into
steps: first you want to dog to look at the rug, then approach the
rug, then step on it with one foot, then two feet, and eventually
get all four feet on it. You plan to spark the dog's curiosity by
holding the rug up off the floor to showing it to him, then dropping
it on the floor. You start out in a place with as few distractions
as possible.

Catch (him doing something right): When the dog turns toward the
rug, click and treat. You've caught him headed in the direction you
want -- toward the rug. He doesn't have to get on the rug to earn
the first click. This is called a "close approximation" to the
behavior you want, so catch him doing it and reward it.

Shape: Once he realizes that he will get a reward for looking at
the rug, and does it successfully 80% of the time, move to the next
step in your plan and withhold your treat until he actually moves
toward the rug. Just looking is no longer going to get a treat! If
he fails at the next step consistently, you will have to go back a
step.

Please remember that the 80% of the time is just an approximation.
For example, say he looks at the rug twice out of the two times that
you put it down. He's ready for the next step. Or, say he simply
looks and approaches the first time. There is no reason to hold him
back by clicking and reinforcing him for just looking at the rug
when he is clearly ready to move toward it. This is actually where
the magic of clicker training comes into play! You will have to
watch him closely and see how he is doing in achieving the goal.
This is actually the fun of clicker training, because this is where
you learn about your dog and where you learn how best to communicate
with him. You might have to go back a step or two, but you also
might have to accelerate a lot faster than you ever planned on -- so
be prepared!! Usually the dogs amaze you at how fast they are
getting it, so you make the mistake of thinking it's just a
coincidence. For example, the dog might skip steps 2-4 and go
straight from step 1 to step 5, so be prepared to give him a jackpot
(more than one treat given in quick succession). As he gets more
confident, you raise the stakes and keep working your plan until he
successfully goes onto the rug 80% of the time.

Cue: Now you add a verbal cue! Notice that this is the opposite of
our usual, instinctive way to train! We normally would say, "Sit,"
and then force the dog into the sit position. This is illogical.

When a baby learns the word, "Hot," it's usually AFTER he touched
something hot, not before, and he NEVER forgets it. So remember to
withhold the verbal cue until after the dog has already learned the
behavior.

In this case, you wait until the dog is actually stepping on the rug
successfully several times before adding the cue, "Go on," and you
do it at the exact moment that he steps on it. Then you click and
treat. You keep this up and eventually move the cue to about 2
seconds before he steps on the rug ... then 3 seconds, 5, etc.,
until you can give the cue before he even turns toward the rug and
looks at it. The words "go on" will actually take on a positive
connotation for the dog. They represent a hint to help him get
reinforced.

Proof: Now, he's doing the behavior perfectly, but he will not be
able to do it in other locations and times with varying degrees of
distraction and distance. So you do something called "proofing" the
behavior. For example, perhaps you have always worked with the rug
inside; now you must start from scratch and train him outside in the
back yard. (Remember to go all the way back to step one and don't
use the cue.) When he's successful outside, move from morning to
afternoon. Then try it from farther away or from a different
direction. Then try it with another family pet watching (this is
adding a distraction). Then try it in the front yard. Eventually
you should be able to do it downtown while a fire truck pumps water
on a burning building with a crowd present.

This sounds really tedious, but remember that you are actually
teaching the dog HOW TO LEARN. Therefore, for the first proofing,
you may have to start over from scratch, but he might learn it a
little quicker. Each successive proof will start from scratch as if
he doesn't know the trick, but he will be more adventurous and try
things faster to get reinforced faster.

When you move to teaching the second behavior, he has a better idea
of how to learn. By the time you get to the third one, he's trying
lots of things, it's a game to him, and he's feeling very powerful
(but not dominant) because he can make you click.

If your dog doesn't perform in the new setting, just take away the
rug without punishing. Try it again in 20 minutes or several
hours. If the dog really likes the reinforcement that you have
picked, he will try to win the game persistently until he gets his
click and treat. The beauty of this method is that if he wins the
game, you win, too!!

This method is just amazing for traditionally hard-to-teach dogs:
crazy puppies, shy dogs, and aggressive dogs. Because you're not
doing alpha rolls and forcing the aggressive dog to submit, you're
not in the same kind of danger. If your dog is shy, this technique
is a great confidence builder and will help the dog in so many other
areas of his life. If your puppy is wild and all over the place, he
will learn focus and self-discipline, and you won't have
to "discipline" him by punishing him.

If your dog is blind, it's obvious that showing him the rug or a
hand signal as a lure is not going to work (although it's amazing
that Lassie seems to be able to tell when I'm giving a hand signal
that she learned before she went blind. Can she hear the shift in
my body position, the way my voice sounds when I shift?). Instead,
try an auditory lure. For example, instead of holding the throw rug
up and showing it, hold it up and tap it, then plop it down on the
ground so the dog can hear it.

Good luck to you all in working with your dogs and I hope this is
helpful. Remember, People Can Shape Confident Pups!

Best,

Andrea