Re: [PyrNet-L] If Pyrs were easy to train...

["C. Julag-ay" <pyrfectpup@earthlink.net>]

David Wong wrote:

> While that would appear to be true, I've looked into it as many people are
> obedience enthusiasts do.  There are fewer people participating in
> obedience overall and that includes those owners who train what we refer
> to as non-traditional obedience breeds.  Many (not all) people who do use
> food exclusively and clickers have a tendency to overrely on those items
> and when it counts in the ring, things start to slide downhill.  Not that
> everyone doesn't have a bad day, but once you're past novice, total
> operant conditioning and clicker training falls short of other techniques.
> When several people on an obedience list looked into those who use
> clickers exclusively and have advanced obedience titles, few people
> emerged.

Clicker training is nothing other than operant conditioning.  Operant
conditioning suggests 4 primary ways of manipulating behavior: positive
reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment and negative
punishment.  Additionally, shaping and extinction are operant
conditioning tools.  For most uses positive reinforcement is
sufficient.  Therefore many individuals who are using clicker training
are actually applying only the positive reinforcement and shaping
aspects of operant conditioning.  There are individuals, however, who
apply all aspects of operant conditioning, with the greatest emphasis on
positive reinforcement and shaping.

Cecilia