Hi Judy >>> Here's a little video (maybe boring to watch). The criteria is, of course, very loose for her since it's her first time.
Nice videos showing the steps. One of the most valuable, IMO, about the clicker is that it teaches people to have patience and to break down an exercise into smaller parts. Instead of escalating pressure, it does the opposite, and makes it less. I have used the clicker for the halter as well and it carried with the horses forever, even years after and with a variety of people. I also used it with my son and his girlfriend's dog who was very adverse to a harness, collar anything that was put on him. He is very small - pom-Chihuahua cross. I broke it into several lessons, taking away the pressure of having to get the harness on. At first I just used it as a target, and then on the floor and raised the criteria to having him place a foot into it. It has worked really well so he no longer runs when he sees the harness. I also had done some clicker for the halter with a rather reactive mare. When we needed to sedate her she was incredibly reactive to the needle (unusual IME for Icelandics), after trying a variety of things unsuccessfully I said I would like to try the clicker. Within less than 2 minutes the mare was quietly sedated - I hadn't done any clicker training with this mare for over a year and yet she immediately remembered the process. Robyn Icelandic Horse Farm Robyn Hood & Phil Pretty Vernon BC Canada www.icefarm.com
