Hi! I have always wanted to teach my dog with a clicker but didn’t start when I got him. He knows alot of tricks now but I’d like to switch him over to clicker training. Could someone really explain the concept to me, and tell me how and why it’s done? Or give me a resource to get the info! It looks like a great way to train. we are getting another puppy in a month and want to start her on it as well.
http://www.clickersolutions.com is the best place for information. I’m assuming you want to shape behaviors. It is so much fun, I swear you can actually *watch* the dog think!
The first thing you have to do is to “load” the clicker (meaning, teach your dog that a click means a treat)-once your dog knows that the click means, then you decide before you ever start what you want to train. (I would only train 1 behavior at a time.) Let’s say you want to teach your dog to touch a target. You put the target on the floor at a set spot. You stand with the clicker in one hand, and a handful of treats in the other. You will wait for the dog to make any kind of move in that direction. So, let’s say that your dog turns to look towards the target, you click and treat. As your dog knows that the turn gets the click, you up the criteria, so the dog moves closer to it, maybe getting up. The dog will quickly learn that he is controlling the click, and will start to offer more behaviors.
Visit the website for more information- it’s really a great site, and clicker training (when done right) is a BLAST!
Good Luck – AP
clicker training really lets the dog know that they have done something well, imidiatly when they do it. you can switch ur dog over to clicker training by clicking once and then giving ur dog a treat, do tht multiple times over the coarse of a few days and ur dog will connect: click = treat. then have her do a simple trick tht u have already taught her and click imidiatly when she does it. when u want to start teaching her new tricks do basicly the same thing, when she starts to make the correct movement click imediatly and give her a treat. clicker training does take a while but it works really well ’cause they know immediatly what they did right and they catch on pretty quick. good luck 🙂
Some dogs take to it well, others don’t. My dog just looks at me weird when I click it.
The basis is that, whenever your dog does the right thing, you immediately “click” then reward them. The “click” it supposed to help them take a “photograph” of what just happened and help them remember and corrolate the command with the click & reward.
I believe a decent site is : http://www.clickertraining.com
I considered bribery and didn’t like the idea, but when I adopted a puppy from the Humane Society, they had a club that offered clicker training. If you attended all 8 classes you got half your money back. It worked, despite my reluctance.
It really is just positive reinforcement. It is an audio cue that they did what you asked them to AND that they will be rewarded for it. The click comes immediately when the dog does something right, then they get the treat.
I’m not an advocate of the super stores for pets, but they usually offer clicker training classes too. Check their posted class schedule and then show up when they are having a class. They are usually in the middle of the store where anyone can watch what they are doing.