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Clicking Helps to Train Pets
Aired May 12, 2003 - 15:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The dog owner who says you can never teach a cat anything has never tried "kitty clicking." But CNN's Jeanne Moos has and her report shows the clicker may be irritating, but, hey, it works.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It sure seems to click with animals. You can teach a dog to lie down. Or a stubborn mule to take a few steps. Or a hippo to get on a scale.
The technique surfaced years ago to train dolphins, though a whistle works better than a clicker underwater. Lately, the clicker has become the cat's meow.
Little cats, big cats. The trick is to click and then to treat. Click at the exact moment when the animal does what you want it to do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not a half a second later, right now so the animal says oh, that, you mean that?
MOOS: Behavioral biologist Karen Pryor (ph) is the queen of clicking, giving lectures like this one at the Wildlife Conservation Society and publishing guides.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Clicker training kits for cats....
MOOS: It comes with two clickers and treats.
We tested technique on James Kohl's (ph) unsuspecting cat Smooth (ph). The easiest behavior to start with is to getting the cat to touch a target, in this case a wooden spoon. Each touch gets a click and treat. Fifteen minutes later, Smooth graduated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, so what are we doing now? We're putting him in the closet?
MOOS (on camera): No, no, no. We're putting you in the closet.
(voice-over): James hides and yells, "Come."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come. Come.
MOOS: When Smooth finally finds him, he gets a click and a treat. What does the click do?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's sort of the same thing that keeps people playing those slot machines in Las Vegas. It's so much fun to hit it, yes got it.
MOOS: At the Dallas Zoo and at Disney's Wild Kingdom, they've clicker trained the tigers to back up and give their tails. The tail is a good place to draw blood or inject medicine.
At ClickerTraining.com, you can even watch a fuzzy cape of a goldfish being trained to go through a hoop.
The next frontier, clicker training kids. After clicker training her horse, gymnastics instructor Teresa McKeen (ph) figured why not try it on her students training near Charlotte, North Carolina.
Such techniques as clicking when form is perfect has helped the kids master their skills far faster.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, beautiful! Look at that.
MOOS: But even clicker training won't convince your cat to answer your cell phone.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: What about clicker training you and me?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I think we're beyond that, but you never know. I'm sure there's some people in the control room right now who are wondering where you can get a clicker.
PHILLIPS: Not mentioning any names, like Liz (ph), our director.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 12, 2003 - 15:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The dog owner who says you can never teach a cat anything has never tried "kitty clicking." But CNN's Jeanne Moos has and her report shows the clicker may be irritating, but, hey, it works.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It sure seems to click with animals. You can teach a dog to lie down. Or a stubborn mule to take a few steps. Or a hippo to get on a scale.
The technique surfaced years ago to train dolphins, though a whistle works better than a clicker underwater. Lately, the clicker has become the cat's meow.
Little cats, big cats. The trick is to click and then to treat. Click at the exact moment when the animal does what you want it to do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not a half a second later, right now so the animal says oh, that, you mean that?
MOOS: Behavioral biologist Karen Pryor (ph) is the queen of clicking, giving lectures like this one at the Wildlife Conservation Society and publishing guides.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Clicker training kits for cats....
MOOS: It comes with two clickers and treats.
We tested technique on James Kohl's (ph) unsuspecting cat Smooth (ph). The easiest behavior to start with is to getting the cat to touch a target, in this case a wooden spoon. Each touch gets a click and treat. Fifteen minutes later, Smooth graduated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, so what are we doing now? We're putting him in the closet?
MOOS (on camera): No, no, no. We're putting you in the closet.
(voice-over): James hides and yells, "Come."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come. Come.
MOOS: When Smooth finally finds him, he gets a click and a treat. What does the click do?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's sort of the same thing that keeps people playing those slot machines in Las Vegas. It's so much fun to hit it, yes got it.
MOOS: At the Dallas Zoo and at Disney's Wild Kingdom, they've clicker trained the tigers to back up and give their tails. The tail is a good place to draw blood or inject medicine.
At ClickerTraining.com, you can even watch a fuzzy cape of a goldfish being trained to go through a hoop.
The next frontier, clicker training kids. After clicker training her horse, gymnastics instructor Teresa McKeen (ph) figured why not try it on her students training near Charlotte, North Carolina.
Such techniques as clicking when form is perfect has helped the kids master their skills far faster.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, beautiful! Look at that.
MOOS: But even clicker training won't convince your cat to answer your cell phone.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: What about clicker training you and me?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I think we're beyond that, but you never know. I'm sure there's some people in the control room right now who are wondering where you can get a clicker.
PHILLIPS: Not mentioning any names, like Liz (ph), our director.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
