Introducing Clicker Training to your Springer
First step is to get yourself a clicker, available from the Its A Spring Thing shop.
Step 1. "Charge up" your clicker
Click the clicker once (in-out) and give your dog a treat
Hint: Use something your dog really likes at first. Small pieces or something really tasty like liver, cheese, hotdog sausages etc. Keep the bits small so that the dog can enjoy it and be ready for the next thing quickly. Don’t use something that needs to be chewed, like a biscuit.
Repeat this until your dog reacts to the clicker (by startling, pricking her ears, or suddenly looking for the treat). If she does, you’re ready for the next step....
Hint: Try to keep your timing random (1-5 seconds between one click-and-treat time and the next).
This is called "establishing a secondary reinforcer" but most people call it "charging up the clicker"!
Remember, click first, then treat.
Step 2. Three ways to train: Capturing, Luring, or Shaping Behaviors – what you chose to do is up to you, make sure it fits on with your style of training
Capturing a Behavior
Wait for your dog to do something you like. It can be anything: lifting one paw, a "sit", touching your hand with its nose, even looking at you (for a distracted dog) or standing with all four feet on the ground (for a dog that likes to jump up).
When you see it, click the clicker during the behavior and give the dog the treat.
Every time your dog does the behavior again, click and treat.
TIPS
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Timing is important. Think of the clicker as a camera that marks the instant the dog’s doing the right thing.
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Don’t bother saying the name of the behavior at this point. Dogs learn through association, and you want them to associate the cue (or command) with the complete, proper, and prompt action. Besides, you might distract your dog or yourself!
Luring a Behavior
Hold a treat in front of your dog’s nose. Being a Springer, it will probably try to lick it, but don’t let it eat it yet. You can use it as a "nose magnet," since your Springer will probably follow it everywhere. You can "lure" or "guide" your dog into a position you want it to learn. For example, you can lure a "sit" by slowly moving the treat from its nose back towards the top of its head (keep it low, so your dog won’t jump up).
As soon as your dog is in the position you want, click the clicker and give it the treat in your hand.
Shaping a Behavior
This is sort of an advanced form of "capturing". You start by clicking & treating the barest hint of the behavior you want to end up with, and then concentrate on taking small steps closer to your goal.
For example, you might click & treat every time your dog turns its head to the left. Soon the dog will be doing it more and more. Then you only click & treat when your dog has turned it further. Then only when the dog turns it far and takes a step towards the left. Then a head turn and two steps, then three. Eventually you will get your Springer to turn in a complete circle, and will only be clicking & treating for that. Then you wait for your dog to do two circles, and click&treat. Then only click&treat the faster ones. Eventually, you will have "shaped" a spin.
3. Add a Cue Word
When your dog is doing this trick reliably, to the point where you can predict when it is about to do it, start adding a cue.
For example, if you know your dog is about to sit, say "Sit". If you know your dog is about to lift its paw, say "Wave!".
Match this cue with this behavior many times.
TIPS
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Dog's don’t know what "commands" are. But your dog will learn that if it does this trick when it hears this cue, it will get a reward.
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If you get in the habit of repeating the cues, your dog will think the cue is "Sit-sit-sit", and will always wait for you to say it three times before responding!
4. Test the Cue
Try saying the cue word. If your dog does the trick, click and give her a "jackpot" — a whole bunch of really good treats!
TIPS
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Whenever you really like something your dog does, identify it with one click and reward it with more or better treats.
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If your dog doesn’t do the trick when you say the cue word, you were a little early. Work on Step 2 (Getting the behavior) for a while longer.
5. Ignore Un-Cued Behaviors
When you dog is reliably doing the trick when you say the cue, stop clicking-and-treating it for doing it at other times. Just ignore these "spontaneous" behaviors. Continue to click-and-treat when the dog does it when you cue.
Note 1: You might find that your dog starts doing this trick a lot right after you stop rewarding it. This is normal. It’s called an "extinction burst". (You probably do the same thing when a button stops working. Instead of trying something else, you just push the button several times, harder, before you give up!).
Note 2: Capturing is a good way to control unwanted behaviors, like barking or jumping up on you. But be ready for the "Extinction Burst" (see Note 1). To keep unwanted behaviors under control, it’s good to give the cue and reward the behavior every once in a while — have a little barking or jumping session!
6. Become a Variable Reward Give
Now try to get your dog to do 2 or 3 repetitions of the trick before you click and treat it
Hint: it’s still a good idea to say "Good dog!" each time, just to let the dog know she's getting it right.
This is called "putting the behavior on a variable reinforcement schedule". The dog doesn’t know when it will get the big reward, so it keeps trying — just like people playing at slot machines or the lottery.
Important: Since you’re rewarding less often, you can also get picky — only reward the straightest sits or the highest paw-lifts. This is where behaviors get perfected. Note: Some people prefer to perfect the behavior before they add the cue.
7. Generalize It
Now teach your dog that this cue will work everywhere. Move to different locations in your house and try it. Go outside and try it. Try it with the leash on, and with it off. Try it in the car, in the park, and at the vet’s.
TIPS
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You may need to go back a few steps, maybe even back to Step 2, if the distraction levels are too high.
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You’ll want to make the rewards big for each new accomplishment.
Your dog will "generalize" the behavior, and in that way learn that it’s the cue word that’s important, not the fact that it is in the kitchen or it’s just before dinner or the leash is on.