Piper recently graduated from a 5-week Obedience Training Course from Auntie Sally. All the dogs graduated, actually. She wasn't the best, wasn't the worst -- each dog did well in some areas, not so well in others. Piper proved to have a quick learning curve, undermined by her over-the-top sociability, which at least is better than being a biter, a barker, or a "scaredy dog".
The class was based on Clicker Training (CT), in the mode of Karen Pryor, best known for her work with dolphins and as one of the founders of what is now the familiar method of "click and treat" (CT). This method turned out to suit Piper much better than traditional methods, many of which use a strong dose of negative conditioning, including choke collars and frequent use of the word "No". With CT everything is positive. When the dog engages in a behavior desired by the trainer, she hears a click and gets a treat. That simple. There are a lot of web sites that talk about CT, but for an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable account of the origins and applications of operant conditioning for animals in general and dogs in particular, we suggest her book, Reaching the Animal Mind.
CT does not guarantee instant success. The dog has something to say about it, and Piper's bugaboo is her strong, playful attraction to people and other dogs. Training her to be more relaxed around others is difficult for us because we don't have a lot of people coming and going here at home, nor do we have any other dogs, only a justifiably wary cat called Pywacket. CT has helped in this regard — Piper gets rewarded for not chasing Mr. Py and not jumping on him. The training has proven to be effective here and in many other areas as well, although Piper's desire/compulsion to chase or bug her kitty friend is obviously still there, even when it is overcome by treats.
We like Clicker Training and will continue to use it with Piper. Her graduation meant mostly that we were trained in how to train her in over a dozen basic behaviors. So we have a lot of work ahead of us, and she has a lot of treats ahead of her!
