Clicker Training your dog is as easy as 1-2-3-click!! All you need is a clicker, some very yummy treats and 10 minutes a day to get you started.
What is a Clicker?
A clicker is a small instrument that has a button that 'clicks' when it is pressed. It gives a loud sharp click that tells your dog (or any other animal) that it has completed the task/s you wanted it to.
Getting Started
Motivate your dog to want to learn by using some very tasty treats: cheese, dried liver or kabana are very good. I suggest about 50 very small pieces (about 5mm cubed).
Click the clicker, and give your dog a treat. At this point, don't speak or praise your dog. Do this ten times and then begin to watch how your dog reacts. Does he or she look for the treat? If so, go ahead and give it to him or her. Then click and treat again to reinforce. Finish giving the rest of the treats but pay careful attention to your dog's reaction to the click and make sure that he or she is responding to the noise it makes.
How it Works
Your dog doesn't need to know any commands at this stage but even if she or he does, it will help you reinforce the importance of the 'click'. Simply ask your dog to sit; when his or her bottom touches the ground immediately give the click - your dog will know that a treat is coming so you don't have to have too much in your hand.
Successful clicker training is in the timing. As soon as your dog does what you have asked - click - he can wait for his treat - but he has to understand why he is getting one.
The clicker is used to "mark" a behaviour that you have asked your dog to do. Instead of saying "Good dog!" or some other positive word, you press the clicker. The clicker is a much faster reinforcement and can be done from a distance. Once the behaviour has been "marked" by a click, following up with a treat is quicker and your dog will soon learn that 'click' means 'treat' and happily work for you.
Be Careful
Once your dog has been clicker trained you can't allow anyone to just use the clicker near him or her as it may confuse the dog. Don't allow children to just click repeatedly near your dog, for example.
What can you train your dog to do with a Clicker?
The answer to this is just about anything. Clicker training is great at obedience classes, agility classes and to teach general manners. You can use a clicker to toilet train your dog, stop jumping up and much more.
You can also train small behaviours and link them up. Rocky is clicker trained to pick up rubbish and drop it in a rubbish bin. This was done by teaching him to first pick up the rubbish, take it to the bin and then drop it in. It took several months but he does it very well. He can also be 'sent away' to touch a plastic cone at a distance. As soon as his paw touches the cone, I click and he knows he has done the right thing and he will come back for his reward or wait for the next command. I don't have to be standing next to him to give him the reward or treat.
You can also use a clicker to build confidence in your dog. Once he or she understands that the click means treat you can introduce unfamiliar things that might normally scare your dog or make him or her anxious. When the dog begins to investigate on its own (not with you pushing or pulling him or her) then you can click / treat. Your dog already knows that the clicker means he or she is doing the right thing so you can use that to your advantage.
If you have any questions, please contact Sue on 0421 582 067 or email messy_pawz1@bigpond.com
Have Fun!!
Introduction to Clicker Training
Join Our Newsletter
Messy Pawz Dog Training
