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Let's Talk About Cues
I'd like to talk about cues - what they are, how and when and what to use,.that sort of thing. Let's begin with a simple definition. A cue, whether verbal or physical, is no more than a hint or suggestion, a signal that something else will be coming soon, that some thing or things are about to change. I give the llama a cue, by stepping out, and he moves out with me without taking the slack out of the lead rope. All that was needed was for him to see me move. Experience has taught him that if he doesn't move with me he'll feel that halter "bump" his head in a moment, and he'd rather avoid that, if possible. Knowing this, I make it possible for him to avoid the "bump" by following the same procedure, the same sequence of events, each and every time. Things have become predictable to him, and he has learned to trust me to do the same thing every time; he understands that some behaviors from him bring certain consequences. Not exactly brain surgery, is it?
We are constantly giving cues, deliberately or otherwise , that the llama learns to associate with something. The goal here is to be conscious of cues that we are giving, to be clear, simple and consistent so that obvious cues become totally unnecessary!. The best -"trained" animals are those which require the least perceptible (to us) cues. In my more advanced clinics we work on progressive cues, where one thing eventually leads to another (note "inevitably"). It goes something like this- I make a sound (verbal), followed by a movement (verbal), followed by a touch (physical). As the llama learns that one inevitably follows the other, he'll respond to the first rather than wait for the last. He'll learn to be aware of what happens before before what happens happens. If you think the llama needs to be pulled around by his head, then you have some lightening up to work on. We cannot forget the animal's sensitivity and awareness. We may not be conscious of the "pre-cues" we give, but the animals certainly are, and will respond to the very subtlest of signals. Such as a slight change in our body posture or the expression on my face. This is the "lightness" you hear me talk so much about, that feeling of butterflies in the fingers rather than buffaloes in the fists. It's always a lot of fun for me to see folks train their llamas to stand still by simply making an almost inaudible "tsk" or "kiss" sound. watching llamas step out as soon as the handler does, without taking the slack out of the lead rope, or changing directions effortlessly and coming to a quiet stop as the handler stops moving.
How much is enough? How much is to much? How big or strong a cue? Give these cues as gently as vou can, while being only as strong as necessary to communicate clearly how he is to profit from making the "right" (desired) choice. It has to matter to him. Your disapproving tone of voice mean.is nothing to him,any more than emotional rantings"(You know I HATE when you do that! Why can't you be NICE!?, etc.)." In time, your voice will be all you'll need, but we have to work our way towards that, diminishing our verbal and physical cues as we go. Soon our remaining visual cues will be imperceptible to any but our trusting companion's eyes. We do more now so htat we may do less later.
Verbal cues - Say the cue word just once, then get the behavior you've asked for, and reward. By repeating the verbal cue you will only teach the llama to expect multiple cues, and he'll be left guessing as to how many times he should hear it before he responds, so the fair thing to do is to ask only once in order to help him get used to the idea that he is expected to react to the cue the first time, every time. He won't mind, I promise. If we're gonna let words come into play, let's say what we mean and mean what we say.
Use a specific tone of voice. It doesn't have to sound like a "command" or an "order", and don't think of it that way; it's a cue and should stand alone, not be used in the middle of a sentence (Jasper, I wish you would stand still and stop embarrassing me...) just "stand", in a nice, easy tone of voice.
I like to use the llama's name to preface any vocal cue which entails movement, so it's "Rex, 'back"', "Rex, 'walk"', or it's "stand", "whoa", got it? This is an old dog training trick that is very effective. Think of it as a "pre-cue", to alert your friend that you are about to ask him to do something. Give him a moment between words -"Tony.....walk". Use his name to call him, then ask for the specific movement when he has heard you and is focused on you. Ring his phone with his name, but wait until he picks it up before starting the conversation, allowing him about a second or so to acknowledge, then, if necessary, initiating the physical cue, as lightly and inoffensively as possible. He will quickly learn to perform the desired behavior when he hears the verbal (or visual) cue in order to avoid (however light) the physical cue he assumes is forthcoming. Simplicity and consistency are what he needs. Be kind, give them to him.
Mistakes will be made (and made often at first, less so later on), but never by the llama; we will be making all the mistakes. Don't worry about mistakes ñ worry if you DON'T make any mistakes because mistakes are the bridge between inexperience and wisdom. The llama is just a llama and doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing because of my poor teaching skills. not because there's something wrong with him...it's not a mistake on his part if he doesn't know what he's supposed to do - it's MY fault that things aren't working. '"Io err is human", someone once said, "but to blame someone else is even more human". In our haste to be good "trainers" we are relentless in our pursuit of trouble, just waiting for the next opportunity to "correct" "bad" behavior - instead of trying to teach "good" habits, we prefer to discipline "bad" habits.
I don't know why, but it seems that most folks have the idea that llamas have to be pulled around by their heads, pushed, shoved, and yanked around. I suspect it has something to do with the Hollywood and television cowboys of our youth (remember when Bonanza came on?..in color..for an HOUR?!) With few exceptions, the Hollywood horses were jerked to a bouncing stop, their mouth wide-open and their heads in the air trying vainly to escape the pain being inflicted by ham_handed extras with long shanked bits giving too-heavy cues (way too heavy...). Horses were constantly being spanked, slapped, whipped and otherwise abused. That's one end of the spectrum.
As long as we're talking about horses, let's stay with them for a look at the other end of the spectrum. I'd like to share one of my favorite horse stories with you, one that taught me a lot about how subtle cues can be; the story of ..Clever Hans,,: Hans astounded multitudes in nineteenth century Europe with his ability to correctly answer simple arithmetical problems, using his front feet to count out the solution. His owner claimed that he had not trained this "equine Einstein,', and truly believing that he had a genius on his hands, invited study by any and all. The Hague in Holland was the setting for the most sophisticated experiments. Scientists were justifiably intrigued when they showed that no trickery was involved - the horse would answer correctly whether the owner were present or absent! Talk about causing a ripple in the local scientific community! Hans' moment of glory Out not his place in history) was short-lived when further studies proved that he could not answer accurately if his audience was behind a curtain. Think about it...take your time...Right! He was responding to subtle, almost subliminal, cues in the form of minute changes in body posture, being inadvertently given by the audience as he reached the correct answer. so right were these cues that scientists studying scientists could not discern the cues that Hans responded to. You see where I'm headed here, don,t you? We don't have to be heavy-handed with an animal who has a pretty good idea of what happens before what happens happens, and can read these "pre-cues" in the slightest changes in my facial expression or undetectable (to humans) shifts of body posture.
As a species, we humans are not very good at these visual communications - we,re more verbal (o say the least), but let's not forget how sensitive prey animals are to visual stimulation. (They're extremely sensitive to physical stimulation, too, but we'll get into that another time).
By better understanding the "why's" of teaching, the, how'sî will take care of themselves and we will start the fascinating .journey towards becoming good at it. I hope to get there myself someday, so I keep working at keeping myself disciplined, and honest and fair in my dealings with my silent friends. A "soft", quiet relationship with our animals can only be achieved through awareness of cues, and the striving for lightness,,. I've made it my life's work to continue reading and studying everything relevant to my pursuits, and look forward to sharing with you what I've learned, and have yet to learn, whether in the future or in the pasture.
Happy
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