[BarryMcD]

DogLover quoted me in his last post:

> The dog does what IT feels like doing, and when
> that coincides with what you want it to do, you
> click and treat (C&T).

Then DogLover replied:

> First of all, I don't want my dog to do what I
> ask when he feels like it, I want it done when
> I ask.

The dog does not do what you ask "when he feels like it" in the field or in real life. He does what he feels like during a controlled training session. Once he is trained, he will of course do what you ask when you ask it.

If you look at a majority of research done in MODERN TIMES instead of following by rote the traditional methods of how to train a dog that were thought up fifty years ago when smacking a dog and rubbing its snout in urine was just one of the supposedly effective methods of housetraining--you will find that dogs trained in the way I describe-- where I as trainer wait for the dog to initiate the action on its own--have shown to respond to the command and remember the command better than traditional leash-trained dogs. This is probably because instead of imposing your will on the dog by "making it do what you want," you end up working with a dog who learns that what you want is what it prefers and want, too.

Also, realize that this waiting for the dog to show a certain behavior is only done for the first few training sessions. As soon as the dog makes the connection between the behavior and the CLICK & TREAT reward, it begins offering the behavior more and more often until within as little as three five-minute training sessions the dog is Sitting or whatever it was you wanted it to do by its choice and without the trainer having to wait at all.

As Mattweiser said in a previous post, you use this "waiting game" approach only in training, not in real life when commands are learned and obeyed. You are mixing up training with giving commands, but you are also misuderstanding the time frame and use of the "waiting" which is only used to start training a new behavior. Once you use the waiting technique the first few sessions, the dog will be executing the behavior routinely, so you will no longer be waiting.

Your criticism is analogous to saying to a leash trainer, "What good is pulling up on the leash to train the dog to sit if you have to do that every time you want the dog to sit?" Obviously, pulling up on the leash, or using a food lure or whatever to get an untrained dog to start learning what a behavior is has nothing to do with commanding that dog to execute the behavior once it has been learned. You don't pull a leash up every time you want a dog to sit for the rest of your life!

DogLover also quoted me as saying:

> Pretty soon you have a dog that is saying to
> itself, "Hey, I have control of this guy. I
> can make him reward me whenever I want."

PRECISELY! And that is why it works BETTER and FASTER and MORE HUMANELY than most other methods of training!!! That is what the DOG is thinking from its point of view, but in reality, from the trainer's point of view, what you see is a dog that is ANXIOUS and HAPPY to please you and obey your commands because it has never been forced, yanked, prodded, pulled, or pressured into doing the behavior. The only association the dog has with the finally established command (Sit, Come, Heel, or whatever) is a positive one. It wants to please!

DogLover end by saying: > Maybe it's just me, but isn't this like
> giving the dog your alpha position?

Absolutely not. YOU are the source of all good things, of treats, privileges, play, rewards, love, affection, and the dog learns that all comes from you and from pleasing you. The dog also learns--because clicker trainers refrain from giving ANY negative feedback or punishment--that you are not to be feared and nothing bad comes from you.

Did you know in "pack theory," that Alpha dogs are usually NOT the ones who go around harrassing the other dogs, growling and trying to make their position known and accepted. (Only exception is when new dogs meet for the first time, possibly.) The true characteristic of an Alpha is aloofness and calmness and confidence. So before you object and say that making the dog like you and view you positively without any punishment is bound to make the dog think it is the Alpha and not you because you are not demanding or assertive, here's the story called The King of the Castle, in shortened form.

1. Sally buys a dog which she loves and fawns over, but her husband Nick could care less about dogs and ignores it most of the time. Their son, Brad, is a monster and secretly whacks the dog around and forces it to do what he wants.

2. While Sally is constantly fussing over the dog, pampering it, petting it, attending to its every need, old lazy Nick sits in the reclining chair reading the newspaper and not paying the least attention.

3. If the dog approaches Nick, he just brushes it off or continues to ignore it so it will go away. Ocassionally, he might give the dog a quick petting to get rid of it.

4. If the dog gets near that devil-kid Brad, he dominates it by fighting with it, pulling its ears, and making it clear that no dog is going to take the attention away from him.

5. Now let's see who understands Pack Theory correctly. Who is the Alpha in this family?

The answer is clearly Nick! The dog is scared to death of rotten little Brad, it knows it can get anything it wants from its doting owner, Sally, but Nick is aloof and calm and doesn't ever let the dog dictate what he must do. Believe it or not, if Nick should call the dog and pet it twice, the dog would be in dog heaven because the obviously confident Alpha has condescended to give it a little attention. The dog knows from Nick's aloofness that Nick is clearly its superior.

The dogs that are aggressive or show dominating behavior the most in a pack are the dogs in the middle of the hierarchy because it is their position that is shuffled when a new member is introduced. The Alpha at one end is confident and does not need to take a lot of time to show it is boss. The Omega at the bottom end is happy in its polace and will hardly ever try to climb to a higher social cast. But the ones in the middle fuss over who is 2nd, 3rd, and so on.

The only flaw in the analogy is that in the story, aloofness is the quality that Nick exhibits the most, but for me and my relationship with my dogs, it's not so much aloofness (though the popular NILIF method would recommend aloofness and ignoring the dog at certain times, and clicker trainers do use ignoring a lot), but the calm, pleasant, confident behavior that I exhibit which makes me stand out as Alpha.

Back to who is the Alpha in clicker training: I obviously am because I shown no aggression, no force, nothing but confidence, and I take care of the dogs below me through the subtle relationship established through humane treatment and clicker training, just as a true Alpha dog will subtley control its inferiors with the raising of its ears, a quiet growl, or by simply standing tall.


BarryMcD