How do you add a cue to a behavior?
Get the behavior, then add a cue. First, we get the animal consistently offering the behavior. With Read More
When teaching a new behavior, when should you add the cue?
Wellington Prohaska
2025-07-31 13:56:05
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: 17
You can add a verbal cue or change a cue by fading the lure or hand signal in small increments first and then adding your new cue before your old cue to teach the dog to respond to the new cue. To add or change a cue by playing “What did you do last?” game, repeat the behavior 10 times using the old hand signal or the old verbal cue, then stop and see if the dog offers the behavior again for no cue. Once your dog has started to offer the behavior reliably on his own when you stop and say nothing, and does so 2-3 times in a row, you can say your new cue just before your dog offers the behavior. Four steps to adding a verbal cue by raising criteria in small increments: Step 1: Fade your lure or visual cue to the smallest gesture possible so that your dog will not be dependent on your extreme body movements. Step 3: Say your new verbal cue BEFORE you move a muscle to do the visual cue. Put time between your new verbal cue and your old visual cue. Wait the dog out and see if he will offer the behavior you want after you say the first cue while he is waiting for you to do the old signal.
Arne Shanahan
2025-07-27 15:21:58
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: 24
When teaching a new behavior, we have control over when we introduce the cue. Many clicker trainers advocate getting the behavior before ever introducing the cue. Get the behavior, then add a cue. First, we get the animal consistently offering the behavior. With behaviors that occur frequently, we can capture and reward whenever the behavior occurs. For less frequent or novel behaviors, we can lure or shape the animal until we get the behavior. Then, there’s several ways to add on a cue. A trainer with a good eye can give the cue right when the behavior is starting or right before the behavior starts. Or, if the behavior is occurring frequently, a trainer could alternate between cue and no cue. Give the cue, see the behavior, reinforce. Then let the animal do the behavior and don’t reinforce. Repeat until the animal gets the hang of it. In any case, next we have to extinguish the behavior from occurring off cue and begin to put the behavior under stimulus control. One advantage of this method is that the meaning of the cue is totally clear. The dog already understands we want it to sit, so by the time we introduce the cue, sit means sit.
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Raven Nienow
2025-07-15 04:35:56
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: 12
We do not add a cue to a behavior until the dog knows how to perform it without lures or prompts from you. To start, make sure the dog is offering the behavior consistently. When you are willing to bet $10 that your dog is going to offer that behavior, it is time to add the cue. Just before your dog offers the behavior, quietly say the word or make a subtle hand signal. If you give the cue and the dog doesn’t offer the behavior, wait several seconds before cueing again. I usually count to 10 in my head before re-cueing the dog.