Loopy Training is a teaching strategy. If you're familiar with clicker training at all, you probably have encountered the phrase: Behaviour leads to click leads to reinforcement.
What we need to remember is this is not a single phrase but a loop:
Behaviour leads to click leads to reinforcement leads to more behaviour leads to click leads to reinforcement leads to... And so on.
So good training can be structured as a series of loops. The mantra is: when a loop is clean you get to move on, and not only do you get to move on, you should move on.
So Loopy Training teaches you how to build complex chains and how to shift criteria so your learner continues to be successful. That's just the beginning. Good clicker training is Loopy. Find out what that means in this DVD lesson.
I could have divided this single title up into three separate DVDs, but the lessons and concepts which are covered in this DVD belong together as a group, so I decided to put everything into a single three disc DVD title.
This is a long DVD. Think of it as though you were going off to a weekend conference. But instead of sitting in an uncomfortable chair in a large lecture hall, you get to watch the presentations in the comfort of your own house.
This is also a hard DVD to categorize. On the one hand the basic concept of loopy training makes a great starting point for exploring clicker training. The foundation lessons are best taught as loops. So if you are new to clicker training the Loopy Training DVD actually makes a good starting point.
But many of the concepts and some of the later exercises may feel a bit overwhelming to someone starting out. If you are a beginner, my recommendation would be to get this DVD. Watch the first part, then go back to the beginning of the series and work your way systematically through the lessons. Periodically rewatch the Loopy Training DVD. Each time you do, you'll find that the later sections make more and more sense to you and you are ready to apply the concepts to your training.
If you've already been working your way through the DVD lesson series, you'll find that this DVD does many things for you. It gives you a great review of basics. And it will show you how to make your training much more structured and systematic. You'll understand more about the power of cues and how to chain of behaviors together. It will also show you how to teach not just individual behaviors to your horse, but advanced concepts, as well. This DVD will move your understanding of clicker training to a new level.
Dog trainers will get different things from the DVDs.
The Loopy Training DVD as a whole covers some very important concepts that cross species. The organizing structure where you think of organizing your training plan around a series of loops is one that is worth exploring.
The first Disc covers the basics of loopy training. The other two discs show applications. Some of these can be translated directly to dog training. Dog handlers won't be as concerned about nuances of balances, so the details of the handling won't be as critical. They can extract out the general structure of the lesson to gain good things from it.
And much of the focus, particularly in the third disc - is looking at precision timing. I use slow motion to help people train their eye to find the optimal clickable moment. So a dog handler may be training different things, but looking at the movement of horses and determining what is the clickable moment is very relevant.
A novice trainer - horse or dog will get a lot from the first disc. If they are very new to training in general, they may feel a little overwhelmed by the second and third disc, but once they have a little experience under their belt, they will see much more in it, so it's a DVD that they can return to many times as their experience with clicker training expands.
Approx 4 hours 20 minutes. Three DVD set.
Click Here to read what Alexandra Kurland says about her series of clicker training books and DVDs, and how to get the best from the lesson sequence.
