Operant conditioning is the way any animal (including the human kind) interacts with and learns from its environment. Simply put, an animal tends to repeat an action that has a positive consequence and tends not to repeat one that has a negative consequence. Trainers can take advantage of that natural tendency by providing positive reinforcement following an action that they want the animal to repeat. In order for the animal to connect the positive reinforcement to the behavior that he is doing, the reinforcement must happen AS the behavior is occurring, not afterwards. The actual reinforcement can't always be gotten to the animal at that precise instant, however. Trainers needed to find another way of letting the animal know that he was doing the right thing, so they began using a conditioned reinforcer. A conditioned reinforcer is anything that wouldn't ordinarily be something the animal would work to get. A primary reinforcer, on the other hand, is something that the animal automatically finds reinforcing, such as food or water. When a conditioned reinforcer is paired with a primary reinforcer, they become of equal importance to the animal. Enter the clicker as a conditioned reinforcer.

The Clicker is a small plastic box with a metal strip that makes a sharp, clicking sound when pushed and released. Its value is that the unique sound doesn't get lost in the babble of words we are constantly throwing at our dogs. It is faster than saying "Good dog!" and allows the trainer to mark with great precision the behavior for which the dog is being reinforced. Paired with something the animal finds very reinforcing, the clicker becomes a powerful tool for shaping behavior.

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Click for Joy! Questions and Answers From Clicker Trainers and their Dogs By Melissa C. Alexander Foreword by Robert Bailey Everywhere dogs and their people gather, clicking - and questions about clicker training - can be heard. Now Melissa C. Alexander, moderator of the online discussion forum ClickerSolutions, has gathered clear and accurate answers for over one hundred commonly asked questions about clicker training in one essential reference.

Pax 2005

Curly-Coated Retriever Information

Showing Your Curly Coated Retriever

Pax 2007

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Some Siblings:

Winners Bitch, Best of Winners at the 2004 CCRCA National
CH SoftMaple's Pheasant Dreams CGC WC
Moxie got a BOB and Group Second at the Supported entry

SoftMaple at the 2004 CCRCA National Specialty

Soft Maple Wind on Water ADC

Pax's brother Timmy (Soft Maple Wind on Water ADC) was the top Curly Coated Retriever in Canada in the AAC for 2003.(Agility)

His brother Fenway (Soft Maple's Northern Star JH) earned his Junior Hunter Title in Canada in 2003.

His sister Jazz (CH Softmaple Paramount All That CGC CR-CA140/23F/C) finishes her AKC Championship with three majors in 2003.

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Sister Moxie

Back to SoftMaple

SoftMaple Curly Coated Retrievers
Mark and Cathy Lewandowski
8282 Soft Maple Road
Croghan New York 13327

softmaple@curlycoat.org

2006 Fall Litter Plans

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