Clicker Training to Modify Behavior

    • Gold Top Dog

    Clicker Training to Modify Behavior

    Most people think of clicker training as "training", but it is also a great way to modify any behavior.  
    • Gold Top Dog
    Hi! Can you give some examples? [&:]
    • Gold Top Dog
    Can you delinate the line between "training" and modifying a behavior? Because I have a hard time seperating the two.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I can give a short example of using a clicker to modify behaviour rather than to just "train" something.
     
    I was working with a girl of mine who was uncannily nervous of strange dogs as a pup. Nervous to the point that she screamed anytime one was near her. So I brought out the clicker and started rather far away, and we started doing a bit of parallel walking with a lady who had a Border Collie. Within ten minutes (probably less, but I'm estimating) of clicker work the dog went from being a screaming nervous mess to sitting by, laying with, walking under (she's a pup), being TOTALLY comfortable around this dog. With a little more work with other dogs she has become a totally different dog altogether. Of course, you could do this without the clicker (desensitization), but because she was used to the clicker, I decided to use it AS a method of desensitizing her, and counterconditioning her response to strange dogs to that of a positive response.
    • Gold Top Dog
    From the other thread on Leash Aggression:
    http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=313840

    I have had great success recently with this.  I think a lot of it has come from working at a distance and also minimizing his abilities to be reactive (meaning we don't walk on straight trails where we can't get WAY off the trail).  I have used a clicker to mark the relaxed behavior or even the interested but not growling/lunging stuff.  I give huge rewards if I notice his interest, call his name and he looks at me.  All three of these books have really helped in my understanding of how to go about changing this.

    • Gold Top Dog
    I am with Houndlove, I still don't know the difference.  I use the clicker to get the deisred behavior but what I am doing is training.  Does that make sense.  E.g. I used the clicker to get sit, down, shake, etc but also use the click for no pulling, calm, etc.
    • Gold Top Dog
    They are in effect one and the same basically. Both are modifying behaviour, yes, however they are distinguished usually based upon the fact that in "teaching" a behaviour, you are starting usually from scratch and developing a behaviour to the extent that you want it. When teaching a particular behaviour, such as any trick training, you usually aren't concerning yourself with underlying emotions.
     
    In behaviour modification, you are working with an already established behaviour, usually an unwanted one, and "re-training" a different behaviour to a more acceptable one. Behaviour mod also includes things like habituaiton, classical conditioning, desensitization, counter conditioning, changing foundation aspects of a dog's behaviour and emotions so that you can THEN use operant conditioning to modify the behaviour you want.
     
    Does that make it a little more clear?
    • Gold Top Dog
    Yes, thank you.  Still trying to work through in my mind and my observation of my dogs on the "usually aren't concerning yourself with unerlying emotions."  I'll get back to you on that.  Thanks again.
    • Gold Top Dog
    ORIGINAL: Kim_MacMillan
    Does that make it a little more clear?


    That was super helpful, thanks! [:D]

    So, does this sound about right?:

    luring, shaping, capturing, correcting ... these are "training" forms of behavior mod.

    concepts and practices regarding "habituaiton, classical conditioning, desensitization, counter conditioning" like NILIF, pack dynamics, and building a clicker language are behavior mod forms that are deeper or more systemic.

    "behavior mod" is more of an underlaying psycho-emotional ground upon which "training" for specific choices occurs?
    • Gold Top Dog
    As Karen Pryor often says, "It's just behavior".  So, JMHO, the real answer is that training and behavior modification are pretty much the same.  It's just that some people make a distinction similar to what you have described in your post.  [:)]  
    • Gold Top Dog
    Using the clicker to mark and reward good behavior or calm attitude in public as helped Shadow calm down in public. It builds trust. This week, Shadow walked into the vet's office, instead of me having to drag him in. While I may train him specific commands that determine what his behavior may be in a given instance, the overall effect is a behavioral modification. He trusts me more, which makes him more confident and happy and not as prone to being afraid or confrontational, which could also result from being afraid or uncertain.