Improving and Troubleshooting
Once you get into the routine of regular training sessions, you should see a steady improvement in your puppy’s response. Keep at it, but watch out for early signs of problem behavior patterns and tackle them now, before they become too firmly entrenched.
Make sure that you practice all the training on a regular basis. Don’t be tempted to think that because your puppy has “mastered” one form of activity, you only need to use it when necessary. Regular reinforcement of all the instructions you are teaching is the only way to ensure progress. Avoid making specific times of the day “training times” or always training him in the same place, or your puppy may think that your instructions only apply at those times and that location.
Now that the initial novelty of owning a puppy may be wearing off, you may be finding that other members of the household, especially children, may be showing less inclination to help with puppy training. Nonetheless, you should continue to encourage all members of the family to spend time teaching the pup, both to enhance the understanding and to maintain control.
The “yo-yo” principal
As your puppy gets better at following your instructions, aim to vary the reinforcement by getting two, three, or even four responses for one reward, using the “yo-yo” principal. For example, first click-and-treat several “sits”, but then only reward the second or third “sit”. Then click-and-treat several more responses, and so on, so that gradually you are getting more and more “sits” without having to reward each one. When you want to increase the time the puppy remains in the “sit” position, do several that you click-and-treat straight away, then without the click for a few seconds. Then click-and-treat a few straightaway again and so on, gradually building up the time in seconds. This helps to reinforce the puppy’s training. However, do not reward him if he moves before you have clicked. Gradually, you can raise your standards by rewarding only the best responses (for example, the fastest “sit”, the best “watch me”, the longest “stay), but remember to praise them all!
When you integrate a new behavior into your puppy’s repertoire, make sure that you continue to repeat the commands he has already learned. Puppies are usually eager to respond to the most recent lessons, so it is important to get the puppy to repeat what he has previously learned. Clicker training encourages your puppy to think for himself, so, while he is learning, he is likely to experiment by offering your previous responses that have been rewarded. This is one of the things that makes clicker training so fascinating. Don’t worry about this experimenting. Relax and enjoy it! Just don’t reward what you haven’t asked for.
You may find that your puppy seems more responsive on some days than on others and may even seem to have forgotten an instruction that he had previously been following perfectly. This can be extremely frustrating, but it is vitally important that you do no lose your temper. Your puppy won’t understand why you are angry and may appear even more uncooperative. Patience with your puppy is as important now as when you first started training him. Just like humans, puppies can have their “off days,” and their lack of response should not be interpreted as stubbornness or disobedience. It may be that your puppy is tired or slightly unwell, for example, he could be struggling with a teething discomfort. In this type of situation, rather reduce your standards or give him an “off day” and just play with him. Perhaps he could be bored, in which case you could try introducing more movement-based activities into your training sessions — for example, sometimes throw the treat for him to go after, or reward him with a game or toy. Be very careful in dealing with your puppy at times like these because showing disapproval when he could be off-color, or simply tired or bored, could send a very confusing message to your pup, when all he wants is your approval.
Back to "Basic Training"Regular practice with your puppy in different places and different times during the day is the best way to reinforce training instructions.