The Art of Natural Dressage

Ok, I have so been bit by the clicker bug. Done with my voice. The clicker is awesome. All Hail the little metal button

But I am having a bit of a malfunction, in that now that my animals understand *click*, one *click* brings them all upon me like a magnet. The dogs in the house hear me *click* outside with the horses and are going ballistic trying to come out and join the game. There is bickering and arueing amongst them on who is getting the *click*, all offering behaviours at once trying to get a *click*, and all following me around constantly if I have the little white box hanging off my wrist.

We've gotten a little clicker crazy. I've been doing this 2 days. After a week I'm going to have the chickens and ducks stalking the little white box too. And really, it's not for treats. I've treat-trained since the beginning of time, treats are old news. It's the new click, the sudden rapid-fire lightbulb moments and understanding. The really fun new game. My dog lets the beagle eat his treats half the time because he's already busy finding another *click*.

So is this all going horribly right? Do I need ear plugs for everyone else? I can't find a way to work with my animals one at a time, I am being stalked from all sides and species. Though I think if I could work about 10 lesson plans at one time I'd have everyone trained to do everything in about a week!

So? Suggestions? I don't have anywere to go far enough away nobody else can hear the *click*. Will they eventually chill out that I'm working with someone else?

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If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys.

I don´t have any experiences with that as I have never used a clicker (only a tongue click sometimes, but there I could vary its sound if it was necessary for my horses to know who is being clicked), so no good suggestions from my side. Just wanted to say how happy I am that you are back - I have missed your posts so much!

That is sooo funny!
I have a little of this problem with 3 horses trying to get the click. So I seperate one at a time and let the others stand on the other side of the fence (waiting patiently)! I have manged all 3 by saying the name and walking purposefully to the one I want to train. If the others approach I ignore it and turn my back on them. It took a while to figure this out and sometimes I just have to reward one of the ones waiting as they will be doing all kinds of stuff on their own hoping to draw my attention back to them. If I do break quick to treat another, I don't click.
At one point all 3 got so clicker possessed I just didn't click or treat for a few days and then started again.
It may calm down in a while when they realise they all get a turn and that it's not a new thing.

Be careful what you wish for...some horses take forever to want to play this game............

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Annette O'Sullivan

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. - John Lennon

I had a simliar problem, minus the geese and ducks , training two horses together was bad enough and then dogs would come running from miles around. I now, thanks to advise on here, have two ways of workinng. If we are all working together I treat everybody in range for every click. So, if I am standing giving my attention to one horse and ask her to do something, she gets a click and everyone gets a treat. Then i turn around and do something with the other horse, click, everyone gets a treat. It does seem to have taught them all a little patience - they're not daft, they understand that you are taking turns.

If I want to work intensely with just one horse, if I am teaching something new or just want to give more attention individualy, I make it very clear to the other horse when it invades our space that I am not working with her just now by telling her and then turning my back. If she tries to muscle in or gets snappy towards the other horse I gently but firmly back towards her and keep going until she is a distance away and then return to the other horse.

It took a few times to a very insistant horse but she understood very clearly and was only testing to see if I really meant it. That is only with two horses though, could get a little manic with three I guess. But i you think of it as something you aim to teach as a clicker lesson it wont take long before the others are backing off and waiting their turn. Just be sure that they do get their turn though or it wont be long before they're back.

Clicker trained animals are very good at training their owners it sounds like your animals have you all very well trained My old Dobie girl used a squeaky toy to train me, every time I did what she asked she would press the toy and give me my click. She used this to remind me it was time to feed her or the horses and of cause my reward was the satisfaction of seeing her eat dinner

Seriously though each time you treat the animals not involved in the training session you are reinforcing their behaviour and quite naturally they see it as their right to receive food for just standing watching and whatever else they were doing at the time. Also remember the clicker is a marker signal that reinforces the behaviour that is being presented at that exact second. If the ones that are watching get a treat when you click then you have reinforced some behaviour they exhibited at that time, this could be just about anything and might become confusing for the animal, or in some cases dangerous.

I train one horse at a time away from the others they get the majority of treats and everyone gets a treat at the end of the session. To begin with they will try it on but soon understand the rules of the game.

Eileen

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Listen! Or your tongue will make you deaf.

Cherokee Saying

A very good point Eileen and thankyou. So no more treating for waiting horses no matter how clever they get with the moves. It breaks my heart though knowing that out the corner of my eye they are doing jambette/ramaner and turning circles all on their own hoping for some kind of acknowledgement.
I find it so hard to really focus on the horse I want to work with (even though the other two are standing back and not mugging me), and find it so much easier and more productive in a closed camp where the other two don't have access and can leave or choose to stay and watch.

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Annette O'Sullivan

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. - John Lennon

Thanks for the advice. I know I can not give treats to those standing around, it starts wars!

Hopefully it 'wears off' a bit in a little while. Though I am glad everyone takes to it so well. I used a tongue click for a long time, but I honestly have much better luck with a clicker. Partially because of MY timing. And partially because the clicker is the same tone, same sound every time, and I had a habit of switching my noise, or pitch, or volume, so it never worked nearly as well as a marker. My malfunction though.

I am very glad to be back. I have been stalking constantly, I never left. Just that pesky thing on no time to actually like SIT DOWN AND THINK!!

Congratulations Romy on becoming a Mod!! (I know, Waaaaaayyyyyyyy late) But you are awesome at the job!!

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If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys.

Oh, Faith, you completely cracked me up!

I just do the old tongue click, so haven't experienced the gang of clickee's descending upon me with the supercharged magic real clicker machine, so I have nothing relevant to add.

But you had me honking (if you'll pardon the pun) with laughter -- especially at the image of the stalker chickens and ducks...


I'm sure you'll figure it out!

Leigh

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"Ours is the portal of hope. Come as you are." -- Rumi
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