Clicker help

[Justicemom]

Ok I don't laugh but I broke my puppy. I have been clicker training Birch and he is a sponge learns so fast it isn't funny. But I have never clicker trained a dog before so I am not sure how to proceed.

Yesterday I taught Birch to sit. He did great and was offering the sit(straight , legs under body, tuck sit-yes) in less than 10 mins. I even start to pair in with the verbal cue. This morning I was teaching him to sit in front and heel positions. he is getting it. But now this evening he wouldn't do anything else he will just sit there. I have tried to wait him out , tried to release him by throwing food, tugging. Which he will do but as soon as he releases the tug or gets the food he sits and won't move. It could be at my feet or 10 ft away.

He will growl and whine but not move. Hell he is doing better sit stays then Diva. How should I proceeed. I waited for him to offer another behavior and clicked that but as soon as I clicked he sat again and didn't move for 10 minutes. His sit is perfect, I like that behavior but I want him to do something else!

Wild puppy where are you!

 

[k9kreationz]

Hmmm....is he associating the click with reward, or the click with sit? I wonder because he sat when you clicked his other behavior.

Maybe throw a toy, box, something out there to shape a behavior (like standing on a box) and see what he does when you click. If he sits, then he's associating click with sit.

I'm definitely no trainer, but at least this is a first step....to see if he's associating clicker with treat, or clicker with sit.

 

[Emmasmom]

I can't offer any advice, but I can just see you sitting there too, trying to outwit and outwait a Sheltie puppy. Good luck.

 

[SheepOfBlue]

Sit == foooood he is just being to smart for you. The growling is "so I am sitting now food me!"

As to the clicker I never used one as it felt like I needed a third hand to do everything so I gave up (see Sca is the smart one)

 

[Justicemom]

Hmmm....is he associating the click with reward, or the click with sit? I wonder because he sat when you clicked his other behavior.

Maybe throw a toy, box, something out there to shape a behavior (like standing on a box) and see what he does when you click. If he sits, then he's associating click with sit.

I'm definitely no trainer, but at least this is a first step....to see if he's associating clicker with treat, or clicker with sit.

Definitely the click equals trick in his little mind.I know this because I have shaped him to stand on a balance disk. It is a small one and he really needs to work to get all 4 paws on it. He learned this in 2 5 mins sessions.

I just think he likes the sit behavior. He will do it on cue now. I was reading on Karen Pryor's site that once they start offering the behavior and doing it on cue that I should ignore it unless it follows the cue. It just seems so fast for that.

 

[Jaynie]

Ah, the joys of puppy training!

I "broke" a puppy once, too. Neechee was 6 weeks old when I brought him home (I know, I know, too young - I was pretty ignorant of dogs back then). The next day, training book in hand, I taught him to sit in about 5 minutes. I was delighted, until I discovered that he would sit no matter what command I gave him. (We also learned down that day.) He would sit so hard his little ears would bounce. I'd go to the dog food cabinet, he'd sit. I'd tell him "crate", he'd sit. I'd take him outside and say "go-go-go" (my potty cue word), and he'd sit. All the while, looking terribly pleased with himself, and the sit was absolutely perfect.

My trainer told me to ignore it unless it was the behavior I'd requested, so this went on about a months. He finally worked it out on his own. Until the end of his 17 years, he would sit so hard his ears bounced any time it was requested. He never lost that enthusiasm for sitting! Even when I showed him in obedience - while stopping during the heel, he'd sit so hard his entire head would bounce.

I wouldn't curb Birch's enthusiasm at the moment. HE thinks he's doing the right thing, and that's a big confidence builder (though he hardly seems to need more confidence LOL). But I do agree, he's probably equated the clicker not as the reward, but as the command. (OOPS!) He's young, he'll get it straightened out. He just needs a bit more experience.

My border collies would learn a command, then try modifying it until they knew exactly what you wanted. Exasperating, but once they got it, they GOT it.

 

[Mikos_Mom]

Aaaawww... what a darling!! I know it's not what you're really looking for... but imagine how much that puppy wants to please you when he's constantly doing the behaviour he's learned will make you happy and earn him a reward.

Miko was the same way. I'd teach a behaviour and he'd it to sit every time. I taught "down" and then for quite some time I couldn't get him to just "sit" and not go down every time. I tought "touch" and then I couldn't get him to "touch" without doing it from a sit first. siiiiiiiiiiigh

I ended up backing off from "sit" altogether. (clearly he had that one down pat... a nice tucked sit btw... too bad I don't have the time or opportunity to work with him for obedience) Anyway, after backing off from "sit" and only asking for the other behaviours, I got him to stop associating them all with each other.

Good luck!!