Clicker Training FAQs

[jenseits]

For reference, I've gathered some articles from my blog that answer some questions I hear about clicker training, point out common mistakes and myths about the clicker, and a review of the Clicker Training for Birds book:
Clicker Training for Birds: My Parrot Training Bible
Parrot Training Resources and FAQs
3 Common Clicker Training Mistakes
Clicker Training Myths and Misconceptions

I don't really have a single, short post where I just explain how to get started with the clicker, because I think your best bet if you're interested in learning how to clicker train your bird is to get Melinda Johnson's book or join her Yahoo group.

Hopefully these links will help folks who are interested in learning how to train their bird.

[expressmailtome]

Thank you! Clicker training is important and your links help.

Matt

[failurebydesign]

Hmm my dogs are clicker trained and I am wondering if I start with my parrot if he will learn the clicker noise and mimic it all day long,

that would not only confuse my dogs but I'm not sure if I can take "click-ick click-ick click-ick" all day.

My dogs perk up and go crazy when they hear or see a clicker.

[jenseits]

Originally Posted by failurebydesign

Hmm my dogs are clicker trained and I am wondering if I start with my parrot if he will learn the clicker noise and mimic it all day long,

that would not only confuse my dogs but I'm not sure if I can take "click-ick click-ick click-ick" all day.

My dogs perk up and go crazy when they hear or see a clicker.

LOL. It has been known to happen. The larger birds especially enjoy mimicking the sound, from what I've heard. The funniest is when they do it perfectly in context (for example, you come over and bring them a treat, and they click you for it, as if to say "good boy").

I've never heard anecdotes about how it affects dogs, but other birds learn very quickly that the click only makes treats appear in a certain context. In other words, if one bird is in a training session, then the second bird knows the click isn't meant for him. Similarly, if one bird is making a clicking sound, the other bird understands that it doesn't mean the same thing as when you're holding the clicker.

I imagine that the dogs will figure it out also. After all, people take dogs to clicker training classes where everyone is clicking all the time, and not every click means a reward for every dog. The dog understands that it should be paying attention only to one of the clickers.

In the anecdotes I've heard, the birds also won't keep making the clicking noise as long as it's not reinforced. If you ignore it, it should fade. (That's the whole point of operant conditioning... non-reinforced behaviors will extinguish over time). However, there's no guarantee that the dogs' behavior won't be reinforcing to the birds. If the dog goes beserk every time he hears the click, the bird might keep doing it just for giggles. My guess would be, though, that the dog would learn to chill out over time, resulting in perhaps an extinction burst from the bird, and then everything would settle back down to normal.

[fqtt]

thanks for the links! I'm interested in starting clicker training for my birds :) These really helped on some basic info I needed :D

Quick question, though. If I decide just to use my tongue for a clicking sound, do you think it would work any worse than an actual clicker?

[jenseits]

Originally Posted by fqtt

Quick question, though. If I decide just to use my tongue for a clicking sound, do you think it would work any worse than an actual clicker?

Nope, using your tongue is fine. Any sort of distinct noise works. The advantage is that you can make the noise anytime you see a good behavior you want reinforce, even if you don't have a clicker handy. For me, I find my timing is better with a clicker (counterintuitive as that may seem), but that might just be a matter of practice.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

[fqtt]

thanks a lot :D

hahaha I sure will :)