Here a Click, There a Click, Everywhere a Click, Click

Our homework from our first training session at the behavior modification sessions at the Veterinary School’s Behavior Clinic is to work on getting Whisper comfortable--using behavior modification with the clicker, shaping his behavior with the muzzle--getting him ready to be more comfortable with it. Like most dogs, he is not terribly comfortable  having a muzzle shoved on his nose and strapped on his head. The purpose of a muzzle, of course, is the safety of everyone should he get anxious or afraid and strike out or nip or worse. The muzzle is a good, rubber basket style; he can open his mouth with it, it doesn’t keep him from panting, and rubber doesn’t rub his head like some metal or even mesh sometimes do.

But, even so, most dogs don’t think, “Whoopee, a muzzle! I can’t wait to wear this around!” Hence, shaping behavior with clicker training.

We started, as I described earlier, while at our first training session at the clinic. Shaping behavior begins by just waiting till the dog makes any move that sort of looks like it might be the beginning of that behavior. In this instance, the muzzle lay on the floor, and Whisper lay sort of close to it. Then, whenever he turned his head in the general direction of the muzzle, the trainer clicked and treated. Before long, she waited till he turned more toward the muzzle before rewarding the behavior.  Then she waited till he looked at the muzzle.

All of this took several minutes, of course, and was not exactly step-by-step.  But Whisper is a smart dog (border collies are known for their trainability, and I have worked with him with clicker training), and he figured out pretty quickly how to get the treat. I then worked with him for a few minutes, making him get a little more specific in his reaction to the muzzle before getting a treat.  Eventually a command is put with the click.

He prefers my instruction, of course, than that of a stranger, and he is definitely more comfortable with me.  While he took direction from the behaviorist trainer, he kept glancing at me, checking in, sort of.  He also checked on the two observers in the room, but always, those eyes came back to me for security and approval.  After we practiced for a few minutes, I gave him a “That’ll do!” and he knew we were done.

“Just practice five or ten minutes a couple of times a day,” we were told. “You want him to put his nose in the muzzle on the floor, but don’t try to put the straps on him till you come back here.  Probably you should have an appointment again in a couple of weeks.”

Okay.

So, yesterday I got on the floor, got the cheese (our treat of choice), the clicker, and the muzzle.  Whisper lay in front of me, looking at the muzzle I lay there. Jenni sat on the other side of me. She knows she gets cheese just because Whisper is working, and she is cute. I tossed her a piece, which she chased down. Whisper, watching me, pointed his nose at the muzzle, I clicked, and gave him his treat.

By which time Jenni was back, and we repeated the process.

At the end of our short time, Whisper had started physically poking the muzzle for a treat, and Jenni had a tummy full of cheese. It seemed like a good place to stop for the morning, and, it turned out, for the day.

Today we began again. No one, I believe, is happier that Whisper is getting special help than Jenni, who has started to about climb into my lap to get me to start tossing her a treat before Whisper even starts work. Before the three of us finished our short session today, Whisper was putting his nose into the muzzle for a treat—not every time, but most of the time. This is the point where we were supposed to be before returning for our second session. 

To build on the method of training, we worked on the “touch” command, me holding a yard stick (the only thing I had that would work) and Whisper touching it with his nose on the end, me clicking, saying “touch” and giving him a treat. Before long I could hold it to either side, up, down, and he was poking his nose like a chicken pecking for dinner. That skill needs refining as well, but it was a good start.

We will continue to practice on the muzzle, and maybe work on Jenni backing up a little before getting a treat of her own (can I train two border collies at one time?), and maybe refine other tricks (he is so cute saying his prayers it makes you want to say “Amen!”)  

Growth and improvement comes one step at a time; for us, a click here, a click there are steps to becoming a safe and happy dog.