Quick question... What is the most effective way to use the clicker when marking a behaviour, and also cueing it? For example, my pup is being ever so good at house training and we've had no accidents...yet! Every time he wees, just before he finishes I click then reward him, normally with fuss but sometimes with a tasty kibble. I'm following pippas advice and not adding a cue yet. But, when I first start saying 'have a wee' to start the association in his mind between words and act, what comes first? Do I cue, click and reward or click, cue and reward? And how on earth can I attach images to posts from my iPhone? Am I being really stupid here?! Thanks everyone! S
Re: Clickers cues and rewards...? I didn't bother clicking for the toilet training. There's no issue about adding the cue immediately; just do it when the pup has started weeing. Then praise and a treat (or three if you listen to JulieT ) once he's finished. Not sure about specifically using the iPhone, but for images you have to use a third-party site for hosting them (such as imgur, flickr, dropbox) and then paste the link to them in here. There's a post about it in the technical section.
Re: Clickers cues and rewards...? You add a cue "when you have the behaviour". Since a puppy weeing is both fluent and reliable behaviour, you can add the cue immediately to associate it with the behaviour. 3 treats is critically important.
Re: Clickers cues and rewards...? And it's: Cue Click Reward Your cue must either immediately precede or overlap with the behaviour. Cues that come after the behaviour won't be learned. So, initially, cue as the wee starts flowing. Eventually you'll be able to say your cue before the wee starts and you'll get a wee on cue. For a while though, cue only when you're 100% certain that a wee has commenced or is imminent. Clicks and rewards come at the end of the behaviour you want. So click as the last drop of wee is falling
Re: Clickers cues and rewards...? Ok thanks thats great... minor problem... have said 'have a wee' a couple of times, just as he's started weeing, said it gently but positively, and he got excited and stopped weeing and ran to me...?! hmmm... perhaps not ready for the cue yet?
Re: Clickers cues and rewards...? Heehee, clever puppy I'd choose a new cue that you can start from scratch with, and delay it a bit. Say it when he's in full flight with the wee, or closer to the end of the wee. As long as the cue happens during the wee, he'll learn that it means 'wee'
Re: Clickers cues and rewards...? Great will do, thanks Oberon ! So many questions in only just over 24 hours!!
