From time to time the subject of clicker training comes up on this forum. I thought some of you might be interested in seeing what it looks like in practice. This is a video of me training my young Toller, Pilot. I am working specifically on two things: return and deliver to right side heel (not just to my hand), and not shaking/chewing the bumper on those last three feet of the return (which is a chronic problem).
https://youtu.be/P6LaAkeau3w
We start with a pivot brick to help him line up correctly, and start interspersing reps without the aid.
Chewiness is more likely as the retrieve goes up in excitement, so we have a very simple set up of the gunner handing off the bumper from very close up. In the first sessions of working on this problem, he started at the gunner and only ran the return (reverse retrieve). In sessions after this we have started low-key tosses and longer distances.
You can see how I respond to errors, no reward and just reset to try again. This isn't a stellar session, more average-to-bad, but we work through his distraction. One benefit of clicker training is that is it very easy to try out solutions to problems without the risks of fallout from too much pressure or confusion.
https://youtu.be/P6LaAkeau3w
We start with a pivot brick to help him line up correctly, and start interspersing reps without the aid.
Chewiness is more likely as the retrieve goes up in excitement, so we have a very simple set up of the gunner handing off the bumper from very close up. In the first sessions of working on this problem, he started at the gunner and only ran the return (reverse retrieve). In sessions after this we have started low-key tosses and longer distances.
You can see how I respond to errors, no reward and just reset to try again. This isn't a stellar session, more average-to-bad, but we work through his distraction. One benefit of clicker training is that is it very easy to try out solutions to problems without the risks of fallout from too much pressure or confusion.
