Clicker Training With Your Puppy
Most dog owners consider clicker training as a highly effective means of teaching a young pup to obey commands. While this is definitely true, many of them don’t realize that clicker training is also an opportunity for them to start establishing a happy relationship with their puppy.
According to Kevin Alexander, a well-known expert in clicker training from Kansas City, it is very easy for young dogs to grasp the idea that each click means they did something good.
To illustrate his point, Alexander cites the time when he managed to train a whole group of young Golden Retrievers, all of which were barely 3 weeks old, to obediently lift their paws upon hearing a command. He did this within a few minutes and with the use of a clicker. Evidently, the dogs quickly figured out that if they follow the command, they get a click and a treat, which is certainly a good thing.
Although most dog owners use clicker training to teach dogs basic commands, it can also be used to teach multi-step moves for good behavior. In fact, Alexander has used the clicker method to successfully teach dogs a various number of complicated tricks.
For instance, the simple act of lifting a paw can be the foundation for very complex tricks like ringing a bell if the dog needs something or even flushing the toilet after doing his business in the bathroom.
These tricks may sound impossible but with the help of a clicker, your dog can actually learn them quite easily. Once your puppy realizes the connection between the commands and the clicks, they will be quite eager to learn new things both to please you and to expand their small world at the same time.
There are some breeds of dogs that are very easy to train even without the use of a clicker. But for other breeds, such as terriers and hounds, investing in a clicker is really worthwhile if you want your dog to successfully learn many different kinds of commands.
Ideally, clicker training should be started as early as two or three weeks into a dog’s life. The earlier you start, the easier it is to train the dog. Of course, some dogs will be more stubborn than others but with the use of a clicker, you can easily train even the most uncooperative dogs in no time at all.
Clicker Training Is All About Positive Reinforcement
Clicker training is a great way to train your dog and there are many programs advocating success for new and old dog trainers. You can train your dog to do so many things just by using a clicker.
You can use a clicker to train your dog as an “occasion setter” or “with association”. For example, you know how excited your dog gets whenever it hears the bag of treats rustling? Or when you pick up the leash? Your dog has made an association with these activities and knows something good is about to happen. The rustling of the treat bag signals a meal occasion and the leash is associated with going for a walk.
As a result, your dog really focuses on you in anticipation of what’s about to happen. It will offer behaviors like sitting or lying down, or spinning in circles, as if to say, “What do you want me to do? Sit? Beg? Jump? Get you a drink?” In other words, your dog is really excited about what you expect of it, because you have something it really wants!
With this in mind, whenever you show your dog a clicker, you flip that same switch in its head that says something good is about to happen. Your dog really looks forward to the occasion of training sessions and becomes intent on paying attention.
The Dog Clicker As A Connection
The other nice thing about using a dog clicker is that it allows you time to get the treat to your dog. Good dog training is all about the speed of rewarding. The quicker you get the treat to your dog, the more effective your training.
So let’s say you’ve asked your dog to lie down from twenty feet away. As soon as it does, you can immediately click, signaling it did a good job, but then you have several seconds to actually get the food treat to your dog. The clicker acts as a “connection”, signaling the food is coming, but because you marked the behavior with the click, it’s as if you gave the food the instant its behind hit the floor.
Clickers are used to teach your dog a new behavior. When it knows what to do and does it when asked, the clicker is no longer necessary. You can maintain the behavior by using affection like petting and praising your dog, but you can also keep the behavior sharp by using “life rewards”.
A life reward is anything your dog wants that isn’t food related. For example, if you ask your dog to lie down, the reward is going for a walk. If you ask your dog to sit, the reward is chasing a ball. Clicker training is all about positive reinforcement, so it’s a terrific way to train your dog and have fun at the same time!
