One of the things that has really stuck with me from the Clicker Expo was such a small thing. A very basic idea, but it sounded so simple and effective. It was the way Ken Ramirez, head trainer at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, moves through a training session.
He keeps sessions fast and streamlined. There was video of him with one of the sea lions. In it, he asked for behaviors every few seconds. On a success, the animal got a click, a reward, and a new cue. On a failure, he would pause for just a moment, really just a few seconds at most, then carry on with the session as before. No 'No Reward Marker' (NRM), no disengagement from the animal, just an instant of stillness.
Ken described it as giving the learner a chance to realize that there was going to be no reward, consider the events, and then move on without undue stress. An NRM can cause an animal to worry, or even shut down, if used inappropriately. And disengaging from the the session is pretty self-defeating, not to mention it leaves the poor animal wondering what it did that was SO BAD that the trainer doesn't want to play any more.
I had not consciously integrated this style into my training sessions before. Partly because I was afraid I would confuse the dogs, and partly because I wasn't sure I could be consistent with a new style. Tonight, though, it just happened organically. And you know what? It felt really good.
Sadie has a habit of throwing behaviors (and herself) at me when she gets excited during training. The little pauses seemed to give her a chance to re-collect and to re-focus. Somewhat less mauling and lots of successful behaviors resulted. Plus, she seems to like the fast-paced requests.
Maxwell is ridiculously alert and intense during sessions, but is also a very soft dog. I once accidentally shut him down with a gentle NRM (not even used intentionally). Using the slight pauses, though, seemed to really give him a chance to recognize a mistake without obsessing over it. We would simply move on to a few different behaviors and try again later. Often getting it right on the second try!
A successful training night, with happy dogs.
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