CLICKER TRAINING BUSBY
by Marney Wells, UK

“... Casanova by nature, a real charmer ...”

I am sure that most of you have heard of Clicker training, unfortunately, a lot of what you hear is criticism from people who have never used the Clicker or, even worse, criticism from people who have used a Clicker wrongly.

Until about 2 years ago, I have to admit, I could see no reason to use a Clicker, after all, I did not really want to have yet another thing to carry about (or leave at home on the table!). I always had my voice with me and especially as I train for competition obedience and Working Trials, it would be just another training aid that I would not be able to take with me when competing. After all, Biggles (Arad Llewlyn Bren of Copyhold) and Bertie (Cyclone Sweetheart of Copyhold CDex UDex) had been successful in obedience, working trials and agility, and Trilby (Libellula Lass of Copyhold CDex UDex) had had 7 years of competing in all three disciplines with quite pleasing results.

But, it was about then that Trilby and I met up with Anne Bussey, a brilliant dog trainer who has since become a very good friend and who also happened to really understand Clicker training. She convinced me to cross over to Clicker training and the change in Trilby’s attitude to her work was stunning. Many people commented on her improvement at obedience shows and we were actually chosen to work in the West of England regional team for the obedience competition at Crufts 2003 - but that is another story!

Having seen the improvement in Trilby’s work, I was determined that my next Stafford would be Clicker trained right from the word go, so as soon as Busby (Beraka Hurricane of Copyhold) had had a couple of days to settle in, his Clicker training began. He was then 6½ weeks old.

The reason the Clicker is so effective is that it is a consistent and precise sound that always means that the dog will receive a reward. To ‘explain’ this to Busby, he had to hear the click then be given a reward within one second until he knew what the Click meant. So, when he was having his chicken for breakfast for instance, I would ‘Click and Treat’ all of the little pieces in his dish. This had several advantages - he was hungry at the time, it was very tasty and easily eaten food, and he was not having extra food just for training, which would have made him too fat. To help him understand that Click means food, I would Click and Treat 4 or 5 times then have a break of a couple of seconds, then Click and Treat for maybe 6 or 7 times, then a break of 5 seconds, then back to 4 or 5 Clicks and Treats. By being unpredictable with the Clicks and Treats, but always remembering that the food comes within one second of the Click, Busby had soon realised that the magic noise meant something really good would happen. After a breakfast and lunch (cheese sandwich cut up really small) fed in the same way, I was pretty confident that he had the idea, so to make sure that he understood, I waited until he was looking away from me, Clicked and his response was almost startled as he looked round to see what treat he had coming to him! To use the Clicker training jargon, I had ‘charged’ the clicker. (NB Busby was not in the least bit bothered by the noise of the Clicker, but it is certainly not a good idea to Click too close to the dog to start with and if the dog is sound sensitive, the Clicker should be muffled in a glove or pocket until the dog is used to it.)

I could now move on to training Busby using the Clicker as a marker for anything he did that I wanted him to do. By doing this consistently, Busby soon realised which actions paid off and so repeated them to earn the Click and Treat (this is called ‘positively reinforcing’ the behaviour). He also understood that the Click means the end of the exercise, so he could rush back to me to be rewarded. At the same time, he learnt that anything he did which I did not like was ignored, so it simply wasn’t worth doing it again.

We started with the ‘sit’. I lured him into the postion by holding a titbit just above his nose and slowly moving it back as if I was going to move it between his ears. As he lowered his bottom to the floor, I would Click and Treat. (NB As Clicker training is used to ‘shape’ behaviour, you do not wait until the dog has actually completed the movement before you click. Any effort on the dog’s part to go into the desired position is rewarded to start with, then, as he understands more of what is required, you can withhold the click for longer.)

Busby soon got the hang of sitting with the treat in my hand, so I was then able to use just a hand signal and when he really understood that, I put in the verbal ‘Sit’ command just before the signal. All the time, he was getting a Click and Treat for everything he did right. (NB There is no reason to use a command word until the dog understands a signal as dogs rely on body language to communicate and certainly do not understand human speech - however high the volume! - until it has been taught to them.) Once he was confidently sitting every time I used the command, I stopped Clicking and Treating every one and rewarded randomly, choosing the best ones and keeping him guessing as to when the Click and Treat was coming.

At the same time as learning the ‘sit’, Busby was also being taught the ‘down’ and how to walk backwards (needed in some obedience exercises when he reaches the higher classes - nothing like positive thinking!). Picking up a dumb-bell was also something we started very early on. It can cause all sorts of problems using conventional training methods, but with the positive way that Clicker training works, Busby was happily picking up a dumb-bell at 7½ weeks old! And, by then, he was also learning to touch my hand with his nose which is a very useful thing to teach, not only can this be used as an informal recall command but will be useful for him retrieving articles out of search squares, and definitely useful if he has picked up something around the house that he shouldn’t have - rather than turn it into a chasing game which I will certainly never win, I can put my hand down to him and he will deliver whatever it is into my hand for his Click and Treat.

Of course, Busby was also learning all the things he needs for every day good behaviour, like recalls, not jumping up, walking on a loose lead and not barging ahead of me through doorways. He was being socialised with as many people, animals and situations as early as possible (I have very strong feelings that sensible socialisation is far more important that waiting for vaccinations) and getting used to different people handling him. I was also teaching him to play with tuggy toys in a controllable manner, which means that, not only do we have great fun together, but I can sometimes use the toy as a reward following a Click instead of food.

Staffords love this type of training as they are convinced that they are in charge and that they have actually trained the handler to give them rewards - they love it!

Whatever Busby is being trained to do, when he gets it right, he is rewarded, and in this way he learnt to do all the necessary exercises to pass his Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog Scheme Bronze Award tests at 5 months old! Of coruse, once your Stafford understands Clicker training, you can use it to train all sorts of tricks. Having him wave goodbye or rolling over to play dead are fun - in fact, anything that your dog is physically capable of doing can be trained this way. The only limit is your imagination!