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by Livanne

by Maid Mairain

by Nyx

by Rain Storm

EagleGirl's Clicker Club Training Column

One of the hallmarks of clicker training is the reinforcement of desired behavior.  We have talked quite a bit about this already.  But now we are going to look at the other side of the coin:  the reduction of undesirable behavior.  If your pet is alive and breathing, he is going to, at some point or another, exhibit undesirable behavior.  After all, if his behavior was perfect, and he already did everything you asked, you wouldn't need to clicker train, would you?  Undesirable behavior can run the gamut from doing nothing when given a request or command, to aggression and unsafe actions, such as biting.  It may be merely annoying, or it may be life-threatening.  It could also be anywhere in between.

Let me take a minute to point out that dangerous behavior is unacceptable in a pet.  If your animal is exhibiting threatening behavior, you need to immediately let your parents know, and they may have to enlist the help of professionals.  Please do not undertake the training of a dangerous animal on your own.

But for other animals, how do we reduce undesirable behavior?  Well, that is the subject of our column this issue.  So hone your powers of observation, and let's get ready to work on both ends of the spectrum with our clicker training.

First of all, we can make sure we do reinforce behavior we do want.  We have talked about this from our very first clicker column.  This is what people usually think of when they think of clicker training.  They think you click for what you want.  Well, you do, but that is not all you do in clicker training.

Which brings me to our second point.  Do not reinforce behavior that you do not want.  Sometimes we will goof - it happens - but we must be aware of what our pet is doing and take care that we do not reward his bad behavior.  Sometimes we do this inadvertently.  If your dog wants your attention, and he jumps up on you and barks, what do you do?  If you start talking to him and touching him, trying to get him to quit jumping, he has just achieved what he was aiming for - your complete and undivided attention.  So, for him, jumping and barking works, and he will do it again, probably with the same results.  If your pony uses his head to push or bump you, and you turn to talk to him or touch him, he has also achieved his goal - your attention.

If you ignore or discourage the undesirable behavior, and reward the desirable behavior, eventually your pet will give up on the "bad stuff" and exhibit the "good stuff".  Why?  Because he will be getting something out of the "good stuff", and reward is the motivation for most, if not all, behavior, isn't it?  So the discouragement of unwanted behavior and the reinforcing of desired behavior work in tandem.  They will be "partners" in every training session.  We must employ our powers of observation, and learn to figure out what our pet is getting out of his behavior.  Animals, and people too, for that matter, seldom if ever continue behavior that is not productive.  So our job, as owners/trainers, is to figure out what reward our pet thinks he is getting by his behavior.  And then, we must take steps to ensure that he no longer receives whatever benefit he is reaping.  In the meantime, we must not forget to reward desirable behavior, so he will be motivated to continue it.

The next point we need to address is this.  Learn to know when you need to ignore behavior, and when you need to actively counteract it.  Let's go back to the example of the pony that bumps you with his head.  If he is not bumping you hard enough to hurt you, then you can ignore this behavior.  Turn your back to him, stand quietly, and wait.  If he bumps you, ignore him.  Wait a short time (but not too long, because then he might bump you again.  If he does, though, just start over with your waiting), then click, turn to him, and treat.  Stand quietly, facing him this time, and wait.  If he doesn't bump you after a short period of time, then click and treat again.  If he does bump you, immediately turn your back to him.  Now you have progressed from simply ignoring the behavior to actively disengaging.  If he wants your attention, then your turning away from him will serve as a penalty, or an "unreward".  (No, there's no such word, but it fit, so . . .)  If you continue to disengage when he bumps you, while actively reinforcing his standing quietly, he will begin to realize that standing quietly gets him what he wants, and he will begin to exhibit that behavior more and more often.  This same technique is the one you would employ with the jumping, barking dog.

Our next point is:  learn to play "the waiting game".  Perhaps you want your pony to touch a target, but he grabs it with his lips or teeth instead.  Now, if you want him to learn to pick things up, this could well be a starting point for that activity, and you would want to reinforce it, as long as he wasn't too rough.  Many "tricks" start out just this way - an animal does something and his trainer works to put it "on cue", or to have him do it when asked.  But if you really want him to just touch the target with his muzzle or lips, then you will need to work to reduce the grabbing behavior.  And you will do that by not rewarding it.  This is what the waiting game does.  It withholds the reward, and the animal will actively work to exhibit behavior that will reap a reward.  If your pony grabs the target and hears no click, he will try again to "make you click".  When you don't, he will eventually try a different behavior.  Once he hits upon the behavior that "makes you click", he will exhibit it more and more often.  Your job is to reinforce it when he does.  Click.  Treat.

If he grabs the target, don't play tug-o'-war with him.  Just stand and hold the target steady.  He will probably let go.  When he does, wait a little bit, then ask again.  You might hold it in a different place or at a different angle, to help discourage grabbing.  Continue until he touches it the way you want him to.  Then immediately click and treat.  If he doesn't let go, don't get into a tussle.  You let go, and turn away from him.  You don't have to turn all the way around.  Just turn so you are not facing him, and do not look at him directly, but out of the corner of your eye.  Ignore him until he is very quiet.  Then retrieve the target.  If he is still holding it, gently grasp it and wait until he lets go.  If you want to reinforce his giving you things, you can click and treat here.  But if you don't want to work on that, and you want to continue working on targeting, then just ignore that behavior and continue with the targeting lesson.  If he has dropped it, don't just bend over to get it.  It is not a good idea to bend down by an equine - it is better to use your foot to move the target away from your pony, then pick it up.  And don't bend with your head towards your equine; heads and hooves do not mix.  "Safety First" is a good motto to live by!

One note here:  every animal is different.  One of my mules targets with his muzzle, and is very gentle.  Sometimes he will barely touch the target.  The other mule will sometimes almost bang targets with her lips, and will sometimes even take hold of them.  It is simply the difference in their personalities.  I click for targeting, accepting the way each mule does the job.  I have noticed that my "grabber" mule has become less and less of a grabber, and targets much more gently than she did at first.  Observe your pet, and learn to know him, and let this be your guide as you work with him.

Continue to ask your pony to target, discouraging grabbing by not rewarding it.  Do immediately click and treat when your pony touches the target in an acceptable fashion.  You may remember that in a previous column we talked about "shaping" behavior, that is, clicking for each tiny step leading up to the desired behavior.  When you are shaping, you will at first click for the slightest movement of your pony's head in the direction of the target.  Then you progress little by little, until your pony is targeting when asked.  That advice still stands.  But in this column, we are talking specifically about reducing undesirable behavior, and we are discussing ways that you can do that.  Again, it all works together.

The key, as always, is observation.  The better you become at observing your pony, and learning to figure out what he needs, the better able you are to apply the various techniques at the right time.  And if you do "mess up", clicker training is very forgiving.  You just go on and do better the next time.  If you accidentally click for something you don't want, just don't treat and quickly move on.  Don't click for it again, and your pony will give up and move on to something that will generate a click and treat.

So, in working to reduce undesirable behaviors, there are several things we can do.  We can reward the behavior we want, and discourage the behavior we don't want.  We can do this by either ignoring it, or actively discouraging it.  We can continue to sharpen our powers of observation, and learn to know our pets better, so that we will know when to ignore and when to discourage.  We can learn to play the waiting game, which makes the animal think and work to exhibit behavior that will produce a reward.  And above all, we can observe, observe, observe, so that we will become better capable of determining what our pet needs.

Until then, happy clicking!
EagleGirl

Letters from Members

from Maid Mairain

from Livanne

Answer to Livanne's Letter from Jane Crandal:

Hi Livanne! Thanks for writing!
If you would like your pad for your pony in CPP, please include 3000 W-bucks and a w-mail to Admin. You can send in drawings for the Drawing Contest at anytime to contests@clubponypals.com. The winners are published in the Wiggins bi-Weekly! Thanks again!
- JC -

Bay Pony Western Pad
designed by Livanne

I Love Horses Roma Pad
designed by Livanne

Member Photo Gallery

from Anna Harley

from Keely

The Liver Chestnut is Tootsie, the Sorrel is Snickers, and the bay is called Sweetie pie, the cat is Percy.

The Eclipse was on December 20th.

Snickers and I

from RustyGirl

Hiya! RustyGirl here, sending a photo for the Wiggins Bi-Weekly. The horse in the photo is called Katie. She's not mine, but I know her owner quite well. Where have I seen that t-shirt before??

LOL Yes, it's a CPP t-shirt :)

from EagleGirl and Nat2

Here are Rosie and Little Man, eating out of their new state-of-the-art hay feeders.

• Laundry baskets from Wal-Mart - $2.75 each, plus tax
• Hay - $4.50 a bale (this summer)
• Hay string - included in the price of hay bales
• Eating without fighting - priceless

Rosie, wondering why that light is flashing

Little Man, wishing I would go away

A close up of our state-of-the-art hay feeder

You can barely see Little Man, but Rosie was not pleased with the constant flashing. Now they each have their own feeder and they aren't fighting! At least, they aren't fighting until one of them runs out of hay before the other!

by Britnie

by Nyx

For Misspippy

by Captainpony274

by Maid Mairain

Holiday Horse

 

Dear Pony Pals Send in your photos, stories and drawings for our contests. e-mail them to Contests@ClubPonyPals.com or mail it to: Club Pony Pals 16654 Soledad Canyon Road #382 Canyon Country, CA 91387 USA The first printing of collectable stickers is almost gone. Get yours now, if you want a sticker and bookmark make sure and include a mailing address where we can send it. Please include your user name and the email address you used to register in your letter, too. Webmaster

 

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This Issue's Cross Country Course Winners:

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Pony Pal Thoughts for the Day:

"there are many wonderful places in the world, but one of my favourites is on the back of my horse. "
Whiskywoo

_____________________

"A Horse is a talented piece of wind and sky"
PicassoGirl

_______________________

"No matter what happens, you can choose the peaceful way. "
Nyx