September-October201.. - Dogs Naturally Magazine

y: Dana ScottPart 4Cues: Knowing your ABC'sWhen training your dog, you have taught him that certainbehaviors will earn him good consequences (Reinforcementor food and fun). You have taught him the following:The next logical step is to teach your dog which behavioryou would like him to do and when you would like him todo it. This is a cue: a word or signal that lets your dogknow when you want him to offer the associated behavior.The use of cues or commands is where clicker trainingis very different from traditional training methods. Traditionaltraining methods are command based; they operateon the assumption that commands drive behaviors. Traditionaldog trainers say a word such as Sit, then manipulatethe dog in such as way as to get him to perform the sit. Thisis absolutely backwards and although dogs can be taughtwith these methods, they are inefficient and often stressfulfor the dog.B (Behavior) > C (Consequence)An Antecedent is something that comes before a behavior.Cues are a form of Antecedent called discriminativestimuli: an antecedent that lets your dog know that if heperforms a certain behavior now, he is likely to get reinforcedfor it. When you put behaviors on cue, you nowhave the following:A (Antecedent) > B (Behaviour) > C (Consequence)It is useless to teach the dog a cue before he understandsthat the behavior will earn him reinforcement. This is whyyou must reinforce the behavior first through shaping; youmust first focus on the B > C. Remember, consequencesdrive behavior, not cues. Cues merely suggest to the dogwhich behavior will earn him reinforcement at thatparticular moment.Let's say you are out in your car and stopped at a redlight. You wait until the green light flashes, and then youstart driving. It may appear that the green light is whatprompted you to start driving when in fact it did not. Youstart driving because you need to get home from work. Arrivingwhere you want to go is the happy consequence tothe behavior of driving. Going home reinforces driving.The green light merely suggests that it is an opportunetime to resume driving but it does not compel you todrive. The green light is mere an antecedent or a cue.In order for a cue to function as an antecedent, it must bepredictive which is to say it must come before the behavior.To add a cue then, you would give the dog the cue beforehe engages in the behavior and the cue should not beattached to any other behavior. For example, if you want toteach your dog to sit, you would begin by shaping it. Onceyou click the dog for sitting, the dog will begin toDogs...Naturally! September/October 2010