Kathy Sdao Seminar: Working Spot!

The seminar was set up as a series of mini-lectures, and between each one, we were paired up with another dog/handler team and several auditors. The working dogs would make a plan and then train, while the observers would help with data collection and then have a small group discussion on how things went, what to change on the next round, etc.

As the title implies, Maisy and I had one of the working spots. Although she was amazing, I was not. Sigh. I was so frustrated by the tasks set to us. Truthfully, it had very little to do with Maisy, the tasks, or the seminar. Remember: the seminar happened back in early October, which was about two months after I had separated from my (now ex-) husband. There were a lot of adjustments to be made during that time, and honestly, I probably wasn’t in the right mind-space to be training a dog.

Each day had a separate training task. The first day had to do with targeting; to be honest, I forget exactly what we were supposed to be doing now, but I remember trying to get her back feet on a piece of carpet. Utter failure. (Short legged dogs are hard!) The second day was a bit better; Kathy showed us a commercial of a dog who took a chicken strip from his owner, held it until given some sauce, then dipped it in the sauce and ate it. We were to work on this in whatever form we wanted. This went better; I worked on having Maisy hold a dog biscuit without eating it.

Here are some of the things that really hit home with me. I’m not sure that these were new things, exactly, but they were things that I understood in a new way after the seminar.

Train in Short Sets

I’ve heard this about a billion times before, but somehow I never do it. You get on a roll and don’t want to stop, or just lose track of time. We got around that in the seminar by deciding how long we were going to train (usually between 30 and 90 seconds), and then having someone time us. And even then, some of us had a tendency to do “just one more rep.”

Training in short sets is important, though. Part of this is because you can only concentrate for so long; good dog training requires you to both SEE what the dog is doing and then to MARK it with good timing. This is hard work, and something people often underestimate. Taking regular and frequent breaks allows you to rest between sets, and thus keep your eyes (and thumb!) fresh.

Training in short sets also allows you to think in between. This is incredibly important when it comes to…

Criteria and When to Change It

First, keep your criteria the same throughout each set. Since your sets are going to be short, it should be easier to resist the temptation to change it midstream. The problem with trying to change it on the fly is that it tends to throw off your timing. In addition to seeing and marking, you’re now analyzing performance and deciding what to click. I don’t know about you, but my brain just cannot do that much at once!

Raising criteria can be done based on the rate of reinforcement (Kathy recommends doing so when you get into the double digits per minute), the percentage correct (most people do so at around 80%), or by the density of reinforcement. This last one comes in to play with duration behaviors where you can’t get reinforcement rates in the double digits. Instead of giving one treat per click, you give a larger amount so that the dog would end up with roughly the same amount per minute.

Once you’re ready to raise criteria, do so by looking at the responses you are currently accepting. You’ll have “technically meets expectations, but nothing special” on one end of the continuum, “average responses” in the middle, and “outstanding!” at the other end. Raise criteria by clicking only average-to-outstanding behaviors, and drop the “technically meets standards.”

If something unexpected happens- either super good or super bad- STOP. End the set and think because…

Planning is Important

Perhaps the most important thing I learned was how specific you should be in order to train well. Many of us had the tendency to state “I am going to work on duration now,” but that really doesn’t say a whole lot. Instead, Kathy challenged us to be very specific in what we mean by duration. Much better to say “I’m going to click when she holds the dog biscuit centered and lengthwise in her mouth without mouthing it for a minimum of two seconds.”

In other words, know what you’re going to click. There should be no guesswork about whether or not something meets criteria.

So, even though I felt sad and frustrated the entire weekend, I learned enough to make it worthwhile. I am fortunate to have a dog who will keep working for me even when I’m not feeling up to par. So, it was a great seminar, and I’m so glad I got to have a working spot with Kathy!

Shedd Animal Training Seminar: Advanced Concepts in Reinforcement

Okay, gang, I’m back with the Shedd Animal Training Seminar recaps. It’s been awhile, but thankfully I left off at a pretty good breaking point because we’ve come to the section on advanced concepts.

Ken defined advanced concepts as those that require experience in order to apply them. This is any training that ventures past the basics of “reward behaviors you want and ignore the ones you don’t.” You know you’re ready to start dabbling in some of these concepts when you understand training theory well enough to know when to ask for help (seriously. All good trainers get in over their heads sometimes) and you have some good mechanical skills (able to use a marker with good time, able to deliver reinforcers efficiently and effectively).

That said, just because YOU are ready to use an advanced concept does not mean that your animal (or your human client) is ready for the concept. So you also need to know when it’s appropriate to use one of these concepts, and when to stick with the basics.

A great example of this is the concept of defining criteria for a behavior. In the early stages, we think of behavior as a black-or-white kind of thing: either the behavior was 100% correct, or it was wrong. Except… there IS a gray area in training. This happens fairly often when a behavior is still in training, especially when you’re shaping a behavior with a series of approximations. Sometimes the animal gives you something you weren’t looking for or expecting, and you need to make a quick judgment call about whether or not to mark it.

With that out of the way, let’s talk a bit about when Ken considers reinforcement to be an advanced concept.

Being sprayed by a water bottle is a secondary reinforcer for this dolphin.

One situation in which using reinforcement requires an experienced trainer is when a secondary reinforcer is being used. Also called a conditioned reinforcer, this is something that the animal is taught to value. The most common example is a clicker or marker, but it’s anything that any animal will accept as a reinforcer. Secondary reinforcers can be indispensable when an animal is sick and is refusing to eat but you need to give them medications or reward them for a behavior.

Ken notes that your relationship to the animal is critical when you’re using a secondary reinforcer; while a kiss from your significant other may be welcomed, a kiss from your boss probably won’t be. For a more in depth discussion on secondary reinforcers, please see this post. http://reactivechampion.blogspot.com/2011/08/ken-ramirez-seminar-non-food.html

Another reinforcement technique that Ken considers to be an advanced concept is the use of variable reinforcement. Ken likes to look at reinforcement schedules simply. Instead of all the technical terms like CRF, FI, FR, VI, VR, etc., he tends to see them as either continuous and consistent or variable and intermittent. Of course, he readily agrees that understanding the technical terms can be helpful, but said that most of the time, it really isn’t necessary in most situations.

Variable reinforcement happens when an animal does not get a reinforcer for each and every behavior. It’s often used in training because it makes a behavior more resistant to extinction. This allows you to have the animal do a number of behaviors for only one reinforcer. However, it does need to be carefully introduced or it can lead to frustration in your animal.

Although there are many ways to introduce a variable schedule of reinforcement, Ken shared how the Shedd staff do it. First, every new trainer AND every new animal begins with a continuous, fixed schedule of reinforcement. They will provide a variety in the types of reinforcers, though. Then, they condition and establish secondary reinforcers (see the post linked above for more details on this). Next, start using your secondary reinforcers so that they are not always followed by a primary reinforcer. Finally, use other well-established behaviors as a reinforcer. This entire process generally takes four to six weeks with an experience trainer AND an experienced animal. With a naïve trainer and animal combo, it can take several years.

There is one more advanced concept in regards to reinforcement that Ken discussed: negative reinforcement. However, I decided it makes more sense to present it with the seminar summary on aversives and punishment. Keep an eye out for the next installment in the Shedd Animal Training Seminar series!

Training Tuesday: The Joy of Training

Maisy and I continue to work hard. Well, "work" is probably the wrong word. Maisy actually stands by the front door (we only use that door to go to the park across the street from our house) and whines if I haven't trained with her yet that day; she loves the heeling game we play. For my part, I feel exhilarated after training sessions. Although I expend a lot of energy during our training sessions, they are so much fun that it doesn't seem like a chore.

Of course, it certainly helps that I see measurable progress every time. Part of that is because I've taken Denise Fenzi's advice to challenge my dog: I have raised criteria fast and furious since I've begun working on Maisy's heeling. Okay, it wasn't really me raising the criteria- Denise has coached me through each step. I'll admit, I was initially skeptical with how far and how high she wanted me to raise criteria. I really didn't think we could do it. Maisy has proved me wrong, though. This dog is capable of amazing things!

Take a look at this video. I've posted it before, less than two months ago, in fact. Then watch this:



Amazing, no? As the video says, my task was to vary my pace and direction frequently. I was striving for some kind of change roughly every three seconds. At the same time, I drastically reduced the frequency of ball-reward, and used verbal praise in its place. This was to teach Maisy that my changing speed and direction is the reason to pay attention, not just the ball. It totally worked, too. She went for almost 90 seconds without a ball throw, and she doesn't show any dampening of enthusiasm!

I've also started adding in some non-toy play, which you can see it at the beginning of the video. This wasn't something Denise suggested (although I don't think she disapproved), but I wanted to start building some reinforcers that were based on me, not an external object. Right now, this really only works before we start training- she's so amped up then that she'll play back. If I try to do it during a session, she will sometimes play back, but usually she licks her lips, or shows me some other stress signal. We'll keep working on it.

Another area where I've been raising criteria like crazy is with Maisy's dumbbell retrieve. As you may remember, we were stuck at the stage where Maisy would pick it up and hand it to me. Click here to see our last retrieve video.

A couple weeks ago, feeling empowered by our success with heeling, I decided to get out the dumbbell again. I started easy, asking Maisy to just pick it up off the floor. Then I moved it about a foot away. Then another. I kept tossing it further and further until she was retrieving it from six to ten feet away. The video below was taken at my aunt and uncle's cabin- a new environment- and Maisy absolutely rocked it.



But I don't think that simply asking more from Maisy was the key to our success here. In watching the two videos, the part that struck me most was how much I was talking to her, encouraging her, and praising her. In the first video, I was doing "proper" clicker training- being silent and letting the dog think. That works for many things, but it didn't work here. Once I started helping her with my voice, though, things just took off.

Yes, I broke the rules and repeated my cue. So what. She wasn't going to respond to the cue anyway (she was too distracted by those treats on the counter), and by gently reminding her what I wanted, she was able to be successful. I praised when she got close, and celebrated when she grabbed it. In the video, you can see her whole demeanor change when I do. You can also see that in each successive retrieve, she trots out to the dumbbell more confidently. She understands what she's supposed to do now, thanks to a little verbal support. 

Finally, I'm going to leave you with one last video. If you follow us on Facebook, you've already seen it, so I'll just link to it. Click here if you want to see what happens when the training session is over and we're just screwing around. That's right- she can do a drop on recall! What an awesome dog! Training is truly a time of joy for us both. 

Clicker Expo 2011 (Chicago): Kay Laurence- Raising Criteria

I really, really enjoyed Kay Laurence's session on raising criteria. One of the most difficult parts of shaping is knowing when, and how much, to raise criteria. Or at least, I think so. At any rate, there is a definite art to it, and I loved seeing Kay's take on it.

Although each presenter used slightly different words, the theme of “think-plan-do” recurred over and over at Clicker Expo, so it should come as no surprise that Kay emphasized the importance of planning your sessions in advance. Kay explained that planning helps you develop clear criteria. If you don't know exactly what you want, how is your dog supposed to figure it out? At best, unclear criteria slows down learning. At worst, it creates messy, inconsistent behaviors.

Therefore, you need to decide what your criteria is, and then click only the behaviors which meet it. If in doubt, don't click. It is more confusing for the dog if you click several variations of the same behavior than if you don't click several perfect versions. Of course, this is easier said than done. I know I often have the tendency to want to help my dog by clicking good tries, but Kay said that it is nearly impossible to tidy up messy behaviors later on. As a result, it becomes clear that knowing when to withhold the click is as much of a skill as knowing when to click.

So choosing your criteria and sticking with it is important, but it's also important to make sure that you are picking small, easily achievable steps. Kay said that a clicker-savvy dog should be able to figure out what the criteria is in two clicks. If it takes longer, your criteria is probably too high. Although you want quality from the outset, you can't set the bar so high that the dog can't find it. You will get further with lots of quick, small steps than with fewer, bigger steps.

As for how quickly those steps should be taken, Kay recommended increasing the criteria once your dog is able to do five repetitions of the behavior without error and without hesitation. It is important to get five solid reps; raising criteria too quickly means that you're building the behavior on a shaky foundation.

While raising criteria too fast, too soon is more problematic than too slow, a failure to raise criteria at the correct time can be detrimental, too. If you stick at a lower level too long, you run the risk of “locking in” that level of behavior, and making it harder to raise criteria as a result.

Kay believes that you will make the most progress if you take frequent, short breaks. She has found that alternating 20 clicks and treats with a 10-20 second break ten times will yield more progress than 200 clicks and treats in a row. This is partially because it gives you a chance to quickly evaluate how your dog is performing. It's much harder to make this decision on the fly, while training, so she advised us to take a break in order to have time to think.

Another thing to consider during your breaks is your location. Kay said that dogs are very geographically aware, and recommended playing with the environment as part of the criteria. Change the direction you're facing, or introduce small objects as distractions. Use props that help your dog be successful and fade them out later on. Explore how these things affect your dog's behavior.

Breaks can also help you evaluate if your treats are helping or hurting your progress. Tossing a dark colored treat on a dark colored surface is going to slow your dog down. So is throwing treats that break into little pieces when they land, causing the dog to sniff around to find them all. You might also find that your dog is anticipating where or how you're going to give him the treat, so you might need to vary the delivery. If you're tossing treats to reset the behavior, randomly alternate which direction you're throwing it, as well as if you're throwing it overhanded, underhanded, or like a frisbee.

On the subject of tossing treats to reset the behavior, Kay said that it's okay to toss a treat even if you withheld a click. Tossing the treat lets them know they were on the right track, but didn't quite meet the criteria. As odd as it sounds, she said dogs really do seem to understand that the absence of a click means they need to try harder next time.

Like Cecilie Koste, Kay said you should make breaks clear to the dog. Either you're working with him or you're not. Do your best to avoid confusing him. Although she didn't recommend using stations, she did say that when you're on a break, you shouldn't look at, talk to, or otherwise engage your dog.


Overall, I really enjoyed Kay's session. It was a lab, which meant I got to see her interact with a wide variety of dogs. She often chose criteria points that I wouldn't have thought of, which was interesting. The biggest thing is that I tend to shape forwards, towards something, and she seemed to be shaping backwards. For example, when teaching a dog to go around a cone, I would probably start by clicking orientation towards the cone, then steps toward the cone, etc. Kay started with trotting towards the trainer. Then she had the dog trot towards the trainer with the cone visible next to her. She gradually moved the cone into the dog's path so that the dog had to choose to go around it to get to her.

I also really appreciated her emphasis on quality; I'm not very good at being clear with my criteria, and often accept “close enough.” This, of course, prevents me from getting precise behaviors. Sometimes this is okay, but sometimes I would like more consistent results. Watching her train really helped me understand the importance of selecting a clear clickable moment, and I'm looking forward to implementing this in the future.

But what about you guys? How do you choose what your criteria will be? When do you know your dog is ready for the next step? How quickly do you move? What problems have you had, and what do you think you might do differently? Let me know!

Training Tuesday: Chicken Edition

With Thanksgiving in the middle of this last fortnight, our training schedule was significantly disrupted. Our travel plans also offered new opportunities for training that I don’t usually have. As a result, this update is not about relaxation, but rather about chickens.

Here’s a video of what we did:


This is why I both love and hate taking video of my training. On one hand, it’s fun to see where things are going well. On the other, it really exposes the flaws in my training. But then again, I do appreciate being able to pick apart those flaws so I can do it better next time.

I did three things well in this video. First, I put Maisy on a long line for (most of) the training. This helped prevent her from engaging in the behavior I was trying to eliminate. Second, I used very high value treats: tortilla chips. Maisy is a sucker for the crispy, carby goodness of chips, and I used that to my full advantage. Finally, I think my timing was pretty good. Although it’s hard to hear the clicker in the video, it seems like most of my clicks were well-timed.

I think the biggest thing I did wrong was not planning my training. I usually plan my sessions in some way, either on paper or in my head, but this one was completely unplanned. And it shows. There are lots of errors in this video, and I think they all resulted from a lack of planning.

I didn’t think about how I was going to approach the chickens with Maisy. I would have been better off doing some parallel walking instead of using a head-on approach which mimicked chasing. At the same time, walking parallel would have allowed me to keep a better distance away from them. It’s very clear that we started out too close to those exciting chickens, which made the task much harder for Maisy than it needed to be.

I also didn’t do a very good job of providing her with feedback. My rate of reinforcement could have been much higher if I’d spent a few minutes thinking about which behaviors were desirable. I was clicking Maisy only for turning away from the chickens to look at me when I should have also clicked for sustained focus, heeling, and offering behaviors such as sits and downs. Maisy really deserved to be paid better for her hard work.

Finally, I did a horrible job of adjusting the criteria, especially in the off-leash segment. Which, let’s be honest, I shouldn’t have even attempted. She was not ready to be off-leash, but she had done so well, and it was my last chance to work with Maisy on the chickens before we left. If I’d done some planning, I would have known she wasn’t ready. But even if she had been ready for it, I failed to adjust the rest of the criteria. When you make one part of the task harder, you should temporarily make the rest of your criteria easier. When I took her off-leash, I should have started further away, worked for shorter periods of time, and used a higher rate of reinforcement.

Despite my not-so-great training, Maisy really did a great job. Sometimes it amazes me that she learns anything at all with me as her trainer. Honestly, if I were to rename this blog, I think I’d call it “Shame About the Handler.” Maisy has a lot of potential, and I don’t have the skills needed to help her live up to it yet. Thankfully, Maisy doesn’t care about wasted potential. As long as I keep her in tennis balls and bully sticks, she’s thrilled to be my dog.

Asking the Wrong Questions

I’ve spent a lot of time over the last week thinking about no reward markers and keep going signals. In fact, I’ve thought so much about it, that I just had to post about it again.

In the comments to my last post on this topic, the point came up that there is a huge difference between shaping and competition. This is absolutely true. Shaping is about teaching a new skill, while competition is about testing a skill which is, presumably, under stimulus control. This means that you can’t really compare how a dog interprets silence from the learning stage to the performing stage; they’re two completely different contexts.

More than that, though, I realized I was also asking the wrong question entirely. When it comes to shaping, the question should not be How does my dog interpret silence? Instead, the question should be Why is there silence at all?

Think about that for a moment.

Now think about your last shaping session with your dog. How much silence was there? And why was there that much silence? For my last session, there was about thirty seconds of silence. Why was there that much silence? Well, because Maisy didn’t meet my criteria, of course.

But is that true?

My job as a clicker trainer is two-fold: split the task down into many small steps, and give a high rate of reinforcement when my criteria is met. These two things are interrelated. If a task is properly broken down into small, achievable steps, your rate of reinforcement will naturally be quite high. Likewise, the inverse is true: if you lump the steps together by setting the criteria too high, it will take your dog longer to figure it out, and thus your rate of reinforcement will be lower.

So why was there that much silence? Because I failed to do my job as a trainer. I lumped when I should have split.

Clicker training is difficult to master. To be a truly efficient trainer, you need to not only be able to split the task up into small steps, but you also need to be able to analyze your dog’s response, assess whether that means your criteria is too high, too low, or just right, and then adjust that criteria… and you need to be able to do all of that in a matter of seconds!

Thankfully, clicker training is also easy to learn. Even if you never move beyond the basic "click the behavior you like and give your dog a treat" stage, your dog will still learn. That's what I love about clicker training: regardless of your skill level, it has something to offer to everyone.