Spamming
Spamming is one of the things people are most concerned about before they begin teaching, and it’s a phase that a lot of learners go through at some point. Here we’ll explain how to handle it and keep spamming phases manageable.
Before you start
Spamming typically comes from experimentation and enthusiasm, which as teachers we need to reward and direct. The buttons are exciting! They give our learners a new superpower, of course they’re excited.
Learners also spam because they have unmet needs, and while we’re not trainers or behaviourists, we’d ask you first and foremost to think if you have ways to say yes. Don’t go to all the trouble of teaching an animal to talk and then ignore what they have to say.
So your learner is spamming
Don’t Panic.
Once our learners figure out the potential of the buttons they can go a little power mad. Remember how excited you were about introducing the buttons and all the things they could tell you? They’ve just cottoned on and they’re excited too!!
A phase (or phases) of spamming buttons is totally normal and you don't need to be afraid that it will last forever. Talking animals talk, and even when it’s not convenient to you, you’re going to need to try to respond and be positive - after all, they’re trying to tell you something! It can be frustrating though, and there are some things you can do to manage this phase.
The first thing we want you to do is take a deep breath and get some perspective on this. We totally understand how annoying lots and lots of pressing one button can be, but you’re annoyed by your cat or dog talking to you too much, using a communication system you’ve taught them from scratch. Talking. Too much. With buttons. A couple of years ago nobody knew if this was even possible, and now you’ve got an animal talking too much!!
Think back to your fears that your learner would never use their buttons and how pleased you would have been then to hear this many presses - you’ve got your learner enthused and pressing buttons and that’s excellent progress. You’ve just got to tweak things to get a better balance.
Don’t worry, the tips are coming.
Spamming beginners
If your beginner is spamming, we’d recommend indulging your learner as much as you can in this phase, and let them enjoy their new superpower. Learners often spam new words to figure out their meaning and test their limits, and you have ride that phase out.
But of course you can't say "Yes" to every press every time, and sometimes spamming is A LOT.
This is when we recommend a system of diminishing returns, more on that here. Essentially though you want to create tiers of reward for whatever word they’re spamming. Perhaps it's “Walk” that they’re pressing over and over. The first time they press you take them on a nice long walk. The second time maybe it’s just a loop around the block. Third time you only go to the end of the driveway and come back. Fourth time, you step out the door and stand on the porch for 30 seconds, then go back in. The fifth time they press, now you’re “Walk All Done.” This way you’ve managed to say “Yes” to the request four times instead of just once, and you’ve made it clear that they won’t keep getting the good stuff forever so they might as well accept your “All Done.” This is super annoying and you’ll probably get sick of it sooner than your learner. But it’s effective.
Boredom spamming
Sometimes people will say “My dog is spamming the Play button!” and we ask “Well, how much do they normally get to play?” Sometimes the answer is “We play frisbee in the park twice a day for 2 hours each and do a hike every evening.” But sometimes the answer is “I’ve just been really busy lately.”
If you think your learner is spamming a word like Play because they’re bored and want more attention or activity, then we think you should examine whether or not you’re meeting that need. Regardless of the button(s) they’re spamming, think about how you can expand their world to make them more content. Can you offer more challenging activities, enrichment heavy play, give them their meals in a more challenging way? Can they see more of their animal or human friends? What toys or chews might entertain and tire them out better than their current setup? Can you mix up your walking or playing activities and see if that makes a difference?
It can be a real challenge to give any animal the mental and physical stimulation they need and there’s times when we all struggle - the great news is that, with buttons, they have clearer ways to tell you when they’re bored. Don’t see that as a problem, see it as an opportunity to use the buttons to find a better balance.
All Done and Redirection
If you don’t have one already, now is a good time to add a button with a word that signifies that something is over. Once you’ve added your All Done button you can indulge their requests for whatever button is being spammed, using diminishing returns, then eventually that activity can be “All Done”.
It’s important to respond positively most of the time, to beginners especially, as they need to see the value of buttons, and that won’t happen if they think that most of the time they don’t get what they’re asking for. Also if your learner isn’t sure what a button means and is pressing it as an experiment and you say “No, we aren’t doing that,” you’ve missed an opportunity to model. There has to be a balance though and it’s absolutely fine to say that an activity has finished for now.
When you say “All Done”, try to offer an alternative. “Play All Done, now Cuddle”, “Food All Done, Play now”. It’s extremely helpful to redirect the energy into something else. If you’re working and you can’t play right now, a chew or a puzzle is much more appealing than a flat “No.”
Are you being confusing?
This happens more often than you might think.
Don’t guess at what your learner is asking for. If they press “Outside” at meal times and you feed them, and later they press it again and you play with them because you know they like to play after dinner and you don’t think they really mean outside, then they’ve just learned that “Outside” is the Swiss Army Knife of buttons! It does it all! No wonder they just keep pressing that one over and over.
Also consider if there’s something about your response that makes a button particularly appealing. Maybe you ignored an earlier request, but when your learner hits “Poop” you jump out of your chair and pay immediate attention every time. Now Poop just means “pay attention to me.” It’s critical that you be consistent in how you’re modeling the buttons and how you respond to presses.
Food spamming
If your learner is spamming a food button consider long lasting chews, puzzles, games and interactive feeders (whether that's something diy, treating him to a something new from the pet shop, or offering them more frequently if you already use those kinds of enrichment) to direct some of that interest and energy into something that will allow some paw-based play and get a food reward.
Puzzles and enrichment make treats last longer, and using normal kibble (keeping an eye on quantities across your learner’s daily intake) or a new variety as a treat is a great scam if you can get away with it!
Lots of learners have buttons for words like Puzzle, Game, Lick Mat, Kongs, Snuffle Mat, Chew, Bone, Catnip, or specific enrichment like puzzle mice, box shredding or named treat dispensers. Consider adding a word for a form of longer-lasting food based enrichment that you can offer your learner instead when they ask repeatedly for food or treats - “Food, All Done, Puzzle Now”.
If you don't have a spare button available or aren't sure what work works for you just yet, you can also offer treats or food within enrichment activities when your learner spams the button.
If they have some food or treats available but still spam, you can simply point them to the food and say “yes, Treats in Puzzle”.
Consider buttons for other motivating concepts
Another reason learners spam is because they have limited buttons, so might not have the words to ask for what they want, or enough options to keep them occupied.
Think about the words that are motivating to your learner, and add a word or two for something else that you think they might like to do or have. Try to think of things that don’t involve interaction with you that you can’t manage if they’re in a spamming phase - adding a Car Ride button right now might mean you spend an awful lot of time going to and from the car, but Cuddles or Brush might be much more manageable.
Introduce some specific time words
Something we’ve observed consistently is that animals seem very concerned that things won’t happen again. Even things that have happened regularly for years like mealtimes or walks still seem to have question marks over them for our learners. Time words like Later, Soon, Now and Tomorrow can be a great tool to give learners confidence that the things they want to do will happen again in the future.
Think carefully about the time words that make sense to you and your household. Don’t use ones you’ve seen on social media, or the ones we use as default here at TTB - they have to work for you as it’s really important you’re consistent in their use.
Define each concept:
Now probably means immediately, but if you’re using Soon that’s probably “not immediately but within X minutes”
Later will then usually mean “after X minutes but within Y minutes/hours”.
You need to model consistently, as these are abstract and complex concepts. If you keep saying “Play now” and then don’t play for half an hour, or say “Play later” then play after five minutes, your learner is going to have no idea what these words mean. It’s not helpful to your concept building, and it’s definitely not going to help your spamming problem.
If you don’t have many words on the soundboard yet, model these concepts verbally for now.
If they are new concepts and words to your learner, we’d recommend verbally modelling them until you see indications that your learner understands the terms, as it’s difficult to respond to presses of words like Now, Soon, Later or Tomorrow in a way that helps your learner understand their meaning. They can be learned on the board, but we think this way is easier for everyone.
If you are ready to add those buttons to your soundboard, make sure to model them as much as you can and with every other word on the board. With more buttons you'll be able to say things like "Treats All Done, Play Now" or “Play All Done Now, more Treats Later”. Instead of you saying "X All Done" and your learner wondering if they’ll ever get another X ever again, you can let him know they can have X again later that day.
A word of caution with Later. Only use Later if you mean it. You can't use time words to put off your learner and hope they’ll forget. Doing that will undermine their trust in both you and the buttons, and also confuse their understanding of what the word means.
Takeaway points
Spamming can be frustrating, but it’s a good thing that your learner is excited by their buttons - and great to know you have a good feel for the words that they’ll be excited by!
Remember:
This too shall pass
Use the diminishing returns technique
Respond to the button press as if it is deliberate - spamming will be worse if you offer different things and seem to change the meaning of the button
Use All Done, time words, and redirection to manage requests
