Pomp and Circumstance
After six weeks of perfect attendance, countless homework hours and heeling (uphill, both ways), Strummer graduated yesterday from the Adult Beginners Class at Canine University in Malden.
Actually, Strummer really enjoyed going to school. Though Canine University is not a place where dogs get a lot of doggy time with one another, it is a place where a dog's relationship with her owner is strengthened. The foundation of any relationship is communication. How does a verbal species communicate with a non-verbal species? With a clicker! According to most clicker training websites and books, a clicker is a child's toy that makes a cricket noise. (I don't know about you, but when I was a child, we played with things like barbies, matchbox and matches.)
Anyway, a clicker certainly puts the fun in dog-training. First, the dog learns that whenever she hears the click, she gets a treat. Then, the human uses the clicker to "mark" a desired behavior when the dog offers it. The dog sits, the dog gets a click and a treat. When the dog does not offer a desired behavior, nothing happens. Dogs like treats better than nothing. And this is why clicker training is both fun and produces results. When the dog hears the click, it knows exactly what it is doing that wins it a treat. Communication.
Training methods that rely upon correction when the dog offers undesirable behavior tell the dog when it is offering undesirable behavior. Think about it: the desired behavior is a sit. The dog looks at you; the dog gets a tug on the leash; the dog learns that looking at you is undesirable behavior. The dog looks to the left; the dog gets a tug on the leash; the dog learns that looking to the left is undesirable behavior. The dog backs away; the dog gets a tug on the leash; the dog learns that backing away is undesirable behavior. This could go on for hours before the dog actually offers a sit. What's worse, what happens when the dog finally does sit? Nothing! With a clicker, on the other hand, from the first sit, the dog gets a piece of critical information: sitting produces treats. This is fun in two ways. Treats are good, and, from the dog's perspective, she is training you: Sitting makes you click and treat. By the last day of school, Strummer and her classmates were not only sitting, they were wagging their tails while they were sitting!
In addition to sitting, in the Adult Beginner's Class at Canine University, I learned how to teach Strummer to lie quietly (no small feat in a room full of dogs), to stay, to "leave it," to come, and to walk on a loose leash.
The commencement speech was inspirational, albeit brief: "Good dog."