Clicker Training for Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, and Other Small Pets E-Book

Isabel Müller

• Herausgeber: CompanionHouse Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 117

Beschreibung

Clicker training isn't just for dogs! An interesting and informative guide to train your rabbit, guinea pig, hamster, gerbil, rat, or other small animal, learn how to teach them tricks and follow commands with a click. Also included are clicker training methods to conquer a pet's particular fears or manage certain stressors. You'll also understand which exercises are most suitable for each animal. Organized according to the level of difficulty, this training manual is the perfect resource to unlock a side of your pet you've never seen before!

Leseprobe

Clicker Training for Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, and Other Small Pets

CompanionHouse Books™ is an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc.

Clickertraining für Kaninchen, Meerschweinchen & Co. © 2018 by Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart, Germany

English edition Copyright © 2023 by Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Fox Chapel Publishing, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

Project Team

Editors: Madeline DeLuca, Amy Deputato

Copy Editor: Colleen Dorsey

Design: Mary Ann Kahn

Translator: Ian Kahn

German Project Team

Proofreaders: Kathrin Gutmann, Heike Schmidt-Röger

Production: Katharina Merz

Cover Concept: Ruska, Martín, Associates GmbH, Berlin

Cover Design: Atelier Reichert

Print ISBN 978-1-62008-387-1ISBN 978-1-62008-388-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020010090

We are always looking for talented authors. To submit an idea, please send a brief inquiry to [email protected].

Note to Professional Copy Services:

The publisher grants you permission to make up to ten copies of any training log pages in this book for any customer who purchased this book and states the copies are for personal use.

This book has been published with the intent to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter within. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the author and publisher expressly disclaim any responsibility for any errors, omissions, or adverse effects arising from the use or application of the information contained herein. The techniques and suggestions are used at the reader’s discretion and are not to be considered a substitute for veterinary care. If you suspect a medical problem, consult your veterinarian.

Contents

Clicking at a Glance

Summary of Exercises

Chapter 1

“Click” with Your Pet

Clicker Training Basics

What Does It Mean to Learn?

Learning with the Clicker

Punishment Is Taboo

Clicking Consistently

Conditioning to the Clicker

Using the Clicker Properly

Advantages of Clicker Training

Is Clicker Training the Key to Happiness?

Chapter 2

The Clicker Lifestyle

Clickers for All Animals

They’re Never Too Old

The Best Age for Training

Who Can Clicker Train?

Individual or Group Training?

The Training Location

Rewards

Chapter 3

Clicker Fun

The Principles of Conditioning

What Does Conditioning Mean?

How to Condition Your Pet

The Twelve Golden Rules

Additional Considerations

Chapter 4

Using the Target Stick

Target-Stick Basics

Stage 1: Touching the Target Stick

Stage 2: Reaching for the Target Stick

Stage 3: Walking toward the Target Stick

Introduction to Obstacle Courses

Chapter 5

The Target Stick: Your Magic Wand

Exercises with a Target Stick

Slalom

Running through a Tunnel

Hiding under a Blanket

Walking on a Seesaw

Turning in Circles

Jumping through a Hoop

Overcoming the Fear of Being Touched

Standing Up on Hind Legs

Coming on Cue

Give Me Five

Chapter 6

Tricks with Clicks

Exercises without a Target Stick

Playing Soccer

Playing Basketball

House-Training with a Click

Getting Used to Being Picked Up

Getting Used to the Pet Carrier

Good Behavior in the Cage

Stress-Free Nail Clipping

Sitting Still for Grooming

No Unwanted Chewing

Chapter 7

Click According to Plan

Twenty-Five Days of Clicks

How to Record Your Results

Training Log

Related Titles

Acknowledgments

Photo Credits

About the Author

Clicking at a Glance

>>

There are many possibilitiesonce you have clicker trainedyour pet. From performing tricksto correcting bad behavior, bothyou and your pet can benefitfrom the help of a clicker.

CHAPTER 1

“Click” with Your Pet

>>

Hiding in a blanket isjust one of many tricksyou can teach yourpet through clicker training.

Clicker Training Basics

Clicker training really started gaining popularity with pet owners around the early 1990s, but its origins go back further in the twentieth century. In 1938, behavioral scientist B.F. Skinner and his students first attempted using a reward immediately following a sound in training animals. In the years that followed, new knowledge about animals’ learning behavior was applied in a variety of ways. Animals were trained for tasks like performing in commercials and on TV shows, but they were also used as tools for questionable military purposes—for example, animals were taught to trigger ignition mechanisms in weapons or to bring mines to hostile areas.

The first publications on clicker training were published in the United States in the mid-twentieth century. In the 1960s, Karen Pryor, a student of Skinner’s who would become an authority on clicker training, started using clickers to train dolphins for aquarium shows. She quickly realized that this form of training helped the animals learn more effectively and with less stress than previous training methods, which used punishment for incorrect behaviors.

This guinea pig is focused on a target stick, another useful tool for clicker training (see here).

Thanks to this research, the relationship between humans and animals improved enormously. Animals were no longer simply trained as tools for humans, and trainers began to consider the animals’ needs more and more during training. People realized that clicker training could be used as a playful pursuit to help improve animals’ lives and the humans’ bond with animals.

Gradually, in the early 1990s, dog trainers throughout the United States and Europe began adopting this new method, especially for search and rescue dogs, police dogs, guide dogs, and therapy dogs. Dog owners also started using the clicker method to train their pets at home. Readers were intrigued by the mentions of clicker training in dog magazines. Since that time, clicker training has become a well-known and recognized training method for all types of pets, and it is used by professional animal trainers and enthusiastic pet owners alike.

What Does It Mean to Learn?

Each animal species has an innate pattern of behavior—movements, actions, and reactions, including noises, postures, and visually recognizable changes in attitude—that the animal displays in certain situations. In addition to genetically predisposed behaviors, learned behaviors are part of this pattern. Most living creatures are able to add new behavioral elements to their innate behavioral patterns by learning. Through learned behavior, an animal can adapt to new situations just like humans can, which increases his chances of survival.

The requirement for any type of learning is memory, which enables the storage and recall of information. We assume that nerves make new connections with each step in the learning process, which then become stored in memory. Behavioral biologists, psychologists, and other scientists have described different types of learning that have been derived from various research approaches.

You can use clicker training to introduce your pet to his carrier.

DID YOU KNOW?

Learning Disposition

The ease with which a creature is able to learn something is its learning disposition and is determined by genetics. This is why it is easier to teach a human to run away from a snake than from a dandelion. If a rat feels sick after eating something, he can connect this feeling to the taste of the food. He cannot, however, link this feeling to the sound of a bell that rings at feeding time.

Learning with the Clicker

The basic principle of clicker training is linking or associative learning. Various external stimuli (e.g., noises) are linked to the animal’s behaviors to form connections. A connection between a stimulus and the animal’s reaction becomes stronger if the reaction has a positive aftereffect, e.g., it is followed by a reward.

For animals to learn quickly, this reward needs to take place as soon as possible after the reaction—almost at the same time. That is why the click sound and the reward that immediately follow the desired behavior during clicker training are so well suited to successful learning.

Animals learn behavior through trial, error, and accidental success. You can best understand this type of learning with the help of the Skinner Box, named after the famous behavioral researcher B.F. Skinner. The Skinner Box works like this: An animal (e.g., a rat) is put in a cage with an automatic feeder. The hungry animal will receive food from the feeder every time he pulls a certain lever correctly. At first, the animal’s movements are random, but if he accidentally pulls the lever correctly, he is rewarded with food.

Food rewards, clickers, and target sticks are all the materials you need for clicker training.

After a while, the animal will recognize the connection between the lever and the food. With repeated success, the animal creates a link between his actions and the reward: the learning process is fostered by the reward. The same is true with clicker training.

Target Stick Training

As you will read in chapters 4 and 5, another great tool for clicker training is the target stick. A target stick is a stick with a ball on one end that you can use to guide your pet toward a specific goal. You will soon learn how to guide your pet with both the clicker and the target stick in order to achieve a goal or perform a trick. Your animal will soon associate both the clicker and the target stick with a reward, thus making clicker training all the more fun and easy.

Punishment Is Taboo

It should go without saying that you should never punish your pet, be it in the form of scolding, shouting, or physical punishment. Animals never act out of malice. If your pet makes a mistake during training, it is certainly not to annoy you; he probably just did not understand what you asked him to do.

Using punishment in such a situation can frighten your pet to the point that he completely refuses to work with you. If training with you becomes a scary situation for the animal, he will try to avoid it.

The effect of positive reinforcement also lasts much longer than that of negative reinforcement and is the only way for animals to learn complex tasks—this is because the connection between stimulus and reaction becomes stronger if the reaction is followed by a positive reinforcer, and the connection becomes weaker if a negative aftereffect is the result.

Therefore, if you notice that your pet is not focused or is making too many mistakes, do not punish him! This is a clear sign that your little friend does not properly understand what you expect of him and therefore cannot execute the behavior correctly. Take a step back in your training plan and practice the previous step of the exercise until it is perfect—only then should you move on to the next step.

Food rewards are the most effective rewards to use in clicker training.

Tip

End on a High Note

Lack of concentration is sometimes a sign of lack of interest. If your pet is losing focus, end the training with an exercise that the animal particularly enjoys and try again at a later time. This way, you end the training session with a positive experience.

Clicking Consistently

You may be familiar with the frog clicker, a classic small tin toy that makes a characteristic clicking sound when you press on a metal spring. A clicker for training animals works in a similar way, except the spring is inside a small handheld box, and you press on a metal plate to hear the distinctive click.

Of course, you can use a different source of noise for clicker training, e.g., your tongue or a ballpoint pen. Both of these methods, however, have disadvantages. When you click your tongue, the sound it makes is a little different each time. This can make training confusing for the animal, at which point he may refuse to cooperate. The ballpoint pen poses a similar problem because the click of the pen is not distinct enough for the animal to consistently recognize. Also, if you are using a ballpoint pen at times other than your training sessions, and your pet hears the click but does not get a reward, it can be very frustrating for him because he will assume that you were clicking the pen for him.

So, it certainly makes sense to buy a clicker, especially since clickers are relatively inexpensive and are available in almost every pet-supply store as well as online. Generally, these clickers are meant for training dogs, but they are just as suitable for clicker training with guinea pigs, rabbits, and other small pets.

Conditioning to the Clicker

In animal training, the animal must receive the reward as soon as possible after the desired behavior—almost simultaneously—because this is the only way to increase learning success. It is faster to make a quick click immediately after the desired behavior than to give a treat a few seconds later. Also, because the clicking sound is always the same, your rodent or rabbit will learn after just a few exercises that he will be rewarded immediately after the click.

There are many different types of clickers available in pet-supply stores.

A click means “Well done! A reward is coming.” The clicker is therefore a bridge between the desired behavior and the reward for this behavior. The clicking sound makes it easier for the animal to understand that he has done what you want or that he has behaved correctly. Your pet will quickly learn to associate the familiar click with something positive: the reward. In other words, your pet will become “conditioned” to the clicker.

Tristan the rabbit knows that the reward comes right after the click.

Tip

Adjust the Volume

For a noise-sensitive animal, use a clicker that allows you to adjust the volume of the click.

Using the Clicker Properly

The following steps give you an overview of how to use the clicker to accomplish a behavior:

1 Condition the animal to the clicker (see chapter 3).

2 Create a training plan for the exercise. First, identify the goal behavior and then think about how the behavior can be broken down into a series of individual movements or steps. Make note of the sequence of steps.

3