Doggy Mentor

Clicker training for dogs is one of the more systematic methods in dog training. It’s based on research done in behavioral psychology and the method is referred to by psychologists as operant conditioning. But you don’t need to know scientific terms in order to benefit from the method.

This method was first used with dolphins. In this case, a whistle was used rather than a clicker. You can visualise how difficult it is to train a dolphin compared to a dog. The whole method uses the idea of positive reinforcement. It was very difficult to give a treat to a dolphin at the moment the dolphin did the behaviour you wanted. However, you could blow a whistle immediately. Then you could follow that with a tasty treat soon afterwards.

In order to reinforce a wanted behavior, you must reward it at the moment it occurs or very soon afterwards or the animal will not associate the reinforcement with the action. Marking the action or behavior with the clicker or whistle sound makes the message much clearer to the animal.

The first step is to positively connect the sound of the clicker with getting a tasty treat. You do this by repeating the process of clicking and following the sound with a treat. Once this connection is made, the clicker sound itself becomes a reward in itself since it’s so closely related to treats in the dog’s perception. This repetitive process is called charging the clicker by trainers who use the clicker.

When the clicker has been charged, you use the clicker when the dog does a behavior you want and you always follow the behavior with a reward. In true clicker training, you allow the behavior you want to occur naturally and click and treat. In order to do this behaviors which are more complex need to be broken down into smaller chunks. A tool which assists in this process is the target stick.

One of the first tasks in clicker training is to get your dog to touch the target stick with his nose. Once your dog accomplishes this, the stick can be used to direct your dog to a particular place. This is really useful in training other behaviors.

Getting your dog to touch the target stick is easy. If you put it in front of his face, he will almost certainly touch it. Then you click and treat. Make sure you allow your dog to touch the stickof his own free will! Repeat this for a few of minutes. Then have a break.

It can take some time when a dog is introduced to clicker training, especially if he is an older dog. So you need to be patient. It may take a couple of training sessions before your dog gets it. But once he’s got it, the learning will stick.

Another tool which is very useful in clicker training is a computer mouse pad or something similar that you train your dog to stand on with a front foot. You can train this easily by just placing it down on the ground near him and waiting for him to stand on it. When he does it, click and treat. As before, repeat this until your dog gets it. As with the target stick, this tool can then be used to guide your dog to a particular place in subsequent training.

Once a behavior has been trained, the next step is to add a cue. A cue means that you assign a verbal request like “sit” or “stay” to the behavior. You do this by saying the cue word just as you think the dog is about to do the desired action. As always you click and reward the behavior. Then, by repeating this, the word becomes associated with the treat, just like the clicker sound is. Please note that when you start training with the cue, you only click and reward when the behavior follows the cue. You don’t click or reward when the dog offers the behavior without you having given the cue.

I hope this has given you some idea of how the clicker is used as an effective tool in dog training. Obviously there is a lot more to learn. What I love about it is that it’s very systematic and all it requires is consistency and a lot of patience. Read more about clicker training with dogs, a review of the clearest clicker training book, and also reviews of other dog training books.

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