If you’re new to dogs, or even a seasoned pet owner you will hear about the wonders of clicker training from various sources. Your neighbors, friends, co-workers, groomer and even veterinarian may recommend it, mention it, or talk openly about it. Confusion abounds in the dog world when it comes to clicker training, so how will you know exactly what it is and how it can help you? This method of training is incredibly simple, anyone can become great at it, and it’s a scientifically proven method of communicating with and teaching your canine companion!
Based on Science
Ivan Pavlov is a popular name used commonly amongst animal trainers. He was a scientist that brought learning, teaching, and conditioning into the scientific community and made understanding animal training far easier for the everyday animal lover. Through his experiments with dogs, he was able to discover that animals can make automatic associations between one unrelated thing, such as the sound of a bell, to the positive outcome of a bite of food. These are known as Pavlov’s dogs, and he proved that a dog could become ready and expectant of a bite of food from the sound of a bell, simply through operant conditioning.
Clicker training is the same basic principal. You want to condition your dog to associate the sound of a clicker with a treat! This is done through one or two short sessions, called charging your clicker. All you do is click, then treat without ever asking your dog to do anything. You are teaching him that after the clicker makes a noise, he is getting a reward. That’s it! You only need to do this about 10 times per session, with only one or two sessions! When your dog has made the association between the click and the treat, you can begin clicker training.
Using the Clicker
You may be wondering at this point what exactly does the clicker do? Your dog understands that when he hears the click, he is about to receive a treat. This is how you bridge the behavior you are training him to do with the reward he gets for doing the correct behavior. For example, if you are training him to sit you may start with luring him into this position. Hold your lure only an inch about his nose and push your hand back towards his rump. He will naturally sit, and when he does you click your clicker. This tells him that the behavior he just gave is correct and a treat is on the way. It really is that simple.
The clicker becomes more handy in training more complicated tasks and behaviors such as heeling or loose leash walking, stay, come when called, trick training and even curbing unwanted or problem behaviors. The click is more concise than your voice, and far more clear. This makes it easier to communicate to your dog that he just did something right. When he is rewarded for doing the right thing, he is more likely to repeat this behavior again and again when asked because that behavior is more rewarding than not doing it at all. This is how reliable behaviors are trained!
Fade the Clicker
The clicker most certainly is not for all owners, trainers or dogs. However, it does help the vast majority of everyone who wants or needs to train a dog, or dolphin! The use of clicker training was used with marine mammals for the United States Navy before it hit the world of dog ownership, and has proven over and over to be effective, humane and just plain fun for all involved.
The clicker, though, is just a tool. When you achieved a reliable and trustworthy connection with your dog and his behaviors are spot on 90% of the time, you should begin fading the clicker from individual behaviors. Fading the clicker simply proofs the behaviors you have already trained and helps your dog transition to being reliable when the clicker is not around. He will be able to heel, sit, stay and more by just your verbal praise and maybe a treat without issues.
Ask help from a professional trainer or enlist in a clicker training class in your local area if you have questions about this fun and easy method of training your dog. The help from a professional can answer your questions, concerns and help you along the way of clicker training your dog into the ideal companion!
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