Maybe a verbal event marker would be better. The nature of verbal markers being less precise, anyway. On that note, I've started to read "When Pigs Fly" and was really interested by the following: That does make a lot of sense, and really highlights the power of the clicker.
I can't quote your text box! You've done something clever with that... I stay away from all that amygdala stuff.....I have no idea how brains work, and I'm always a bit wary of dog trainers that start explaining things in those terms....but, maybe that's just my limited education on those subjects. "Don't understand, so will ignore...". Maybe I should look it up....
I don't understand it, either, but I liken it to a bang. When you hear a loud, short, bang, you flinch. This is a reflex, not something you have to think about before responding accordingly. Most other noises, we actually decide how to react to. A spoken word is far, far more complex than the click, in duration, tone, volume, variance, and so you can understand why a dog would have to process this noise. Compare it against other known words. Link that with an appropriate response. Or maybe it's just another part of the inane chatter that comes out of our mouths to be ignored. Whereas the click has no variance; it's always the same tiny duration, the same volume (more or less), the same tone and it always has the same outcome. If (and it may be a big if!) this is stored in the part of the brain that deals with reflexes, then the paired reaction would be immediately accessible. The book goes on to say: It's only a hypothesis, but it's one I like the sound of
It does say that, and it's true. The amygdala/cortex conversation just takes it to another level. Because it's clearer, the brain can associate it with an emotion immediately. I've just done some very limited reading into it. This article is quite interesting: http://boingboing.net/2013/08/12/whos-afraid-of-the-amygdala.html The part about the amygdala always being "switched on" and monitoring in the background would mean that, if indeed the click is being picked up there, rather than in the cortex, then it is a much more powerful tool. It means that, even when a dog is otherwise engaged, the click will still register whereas a word may not.
In my line of work it is the difference between instant pattern recognition and having to slog it out by a process of elimination and deduction....... (dogs and heuristics? *shudder*.....I have tea to cook)
OK, here's a bit from last night. We had nearly two hours out delivering some pork cheeks to a friend of mine who was tucked up with flu. All I'm doing here is consolidating being interesting to my dogs, so they choose to stay close. Lots of games and general silliness in the snow. You can see it doesn't all go exactly according to plan, but I'm really happy with how they generally choose to spend time with me rather than ranging far and wide. Love my dooglies. By the way, it's long so I don't expect anyone to watch it all! There is audio if you turn the volume all the way up. One problem with the GoPro is that the mic is on the back, so when you wear it on your chest, everything gets muffled!
Oh! I nearly forgot. At the end of that walk, we got back onto the road and, walking towards me, was a friend of mine with his 2.5-year-old. He said to his son to say hi to the dogs, so I called over and said they were scared of kids and might bark. He said it didn't matter if they barked, and he got his son to approach mega slowly while I fed lots of treats. At first, the dogs were a bit jumpy, but they didn't bark once and after a couple of minutes, Willow was licking the kid's hands (which were probably sticky with something tasty because he's a kid). I was so pleased with them. It's so handy to have a bullet-proof kid with a really cool parent.
Reallly interesting vids, thanks for sharing. I admit feeling a bit glum about this in my neck of the woods. I so wish I could find something that makes walks more interesting for Simba! I have tried to use fetch, balls, tugs, etc etc etc but once we are out on the trails he is absolutely not interested in anything but sniffing. Which is ok, I guess, but it leads to trouble when he catches a scent that is far more interesting than my treats. He recalls "pretty" good....except for those cases when I really want him to recall, in other words, once I know he's suddenly found "something" that makes him zoom away. Sigh. So I still use the training lead, and often hold it for the most part, just because I don't trust him completely. Which is fine, he gets to bumble along pretty well with it. And I let it go to practice recall during the walk, too. But for example, the other day, we went to our trails and just so happened to find another guy with a dog getting out of a vehicle as we drove up. I waited for a couple of minutes so he could get ahead of me, but Simba was just full of beans when we got on our way - it was a beautiful warm sunny day so maybe a bit of spring fever along with the knowledge that another dog was just ahead. So I held onto the lead because otherwise I knew he would be gone. Anyhow we did catch up with the guy, the dogs had a little play, then we got to a fork in the path so I opted to go down it. This part has a short but steep up and down section, and as I'm going down it's really icy so I have to let the lead go other wise i risk getting pulled over by Simba as he works up speed on the down. But usually he stops at the top waiting for me and I whistle him back so by the time he gets to me I'mm at the lowest part and then I can grab the lead and he can help pull me up (heh not always but sometimes when it's icy the extra help is appreciated.). I knew it was a risk to let the lead go given his excitement that day but I figured he had got it out of his system by playing with the other dog. Nope. Soon as I dropped the lead he got going down the hill, then up, then around the corner....zoom....no whistle was bringing him back. So I spent about 15 minutes walking up and down that one section - it's close to some houses, there, and I was pretty sure he had zoomed off that way but couldn't be sure. I tried calling (hopeless, I don't know why I bother because he NEVER responds to that), my mouth whistle (which is usually pretty effective) and finally I tried the whistle again once I saw him appear in the trees and he came zooming back. So....I wish I could crack this, but not sure how. Fetch is just not interesting to him, even at home in the garden, we can do some tosses with the ball, and he's all enthusiastic for a few but then it is boring. I do the retrieve with the dummy-thing but again, only a few and then it gets boring. When I take these things out to the dog park to try to get some interest there, nope, generally he will completely ignore the ball for the joys of sniffing. Out on the trail, forget it. Sigh. I will keep persevering but it's disheartening at times. Great to see these vids to get motivation!