Sample Lesson
See: Clicker Training, and Treating and Cueing
Behavior: RECALL TO HANDThe Cultivated Canine will help you teach your dog to touch a hand target moving toward you from a distance of 6 feet with distractions. Why teach this to your dog? The recall is vital for all dogs and could be a lifesaver. It takes longer to write out the instructions than to teach the dog the Recall to Hand. Training sessions should be 3 - 5 minutes with the dog always ending with success. Go back to the last successful behavior if your time is up and the dog has not performed the current criterion.  |
 Recall to Hand has several segments. We teach the dog the end behavior first or 'back-chain' the behavior. 1. When your dog touches your hand a few inches from his nose, click and, if using a treat, toss the treat on the floor to reset your dog. 2. Remove your hand and wait until the dog looks at you before presenting your hand again. 3. Always click and reward when the dog performs the criterion you are looking for. |
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4. Keep the steps small. The biggest problem is expecting too much of the dog by jumping over steps. Keep the dog successful or the dog may lose interest. 5. Move the target (your hand) a foot away so your dog must move to touch your hand. 6. When this behavior is reliable -10 X a minute, add a cue. Tell the dog to "touch" as the dog starts to move toward your hand. Click just before the dog touches your hand, treat just after he touches your hand. Click for movement. Treat for position. 7. Next have your dog wait for the cue before he touches your hand. You may have to remove your hand if the dog starts to move forward before you give your cue. You might have to tell your dog to stay or wait, present your hand, and then cue the dog to "touch". When the dog waits for the cue and then touches your hand, click and treat. 8. Once the dog reliably waits for the cue before touching your hand, take a small step away. Cue your dog to touch your hand, always clicking and treating when the dog performs the behavior you're looking for. 9. As your dog waits reliably for the cue, take another small step away, clicking and treating each time the dog waits for the cue. Continue until you are six feet away. |
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10. When the dog reliably waits for the cue, "touch", before moving forward from 6 feet, add a small distraction, maybe a stick. The dog should walk past the stick and touch your hand on cue. Remember to click and treat. When the dog reliably walks past a stick, put a toy between you and the dog. If the dog picks up the toy, back up and get close to the dog before cueing and having the dog touch your hand. Gradually work your way toward the toy on the ground and soon your dog will ignore the toy and pass right by it on cue to touch your hand and get its click and treat. You may have to give the dog a higher value treat |
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11. Continue to add distractions, maybe a piece of food, or a remote control mouse, until the dog walks past to get its click and a higher value treat than the one on the ground. 13. You can convert this behavior into the dog following your hand with a touch cue to get him past a scary object, other dogs, or into his crate. The dog will easily transfer his touch cue from your hand to a target stick, a lid, or whatever else you choose to use as a target. |
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This Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is learning modifier cues: left/right, big/little, slow/fast. She has been cued: left around.
This is also a compound cue - 2 cues at once.What you have done is shape the behavior in small stages. As the dog begins to learn that trying behaviors earns clicks and treats, the dog will begin to offer more and more behaviors to earn a click and treat. The exception is if your dog was punished for trying a behavior. It then has no incentive to see what will work. Clicker training is a positive reinforcement method of dog training. You will ALWAYS be able to identify a clicker-trained dog by how it offers behaviors to find the right one.
The sequence is always:
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