Clicker Training with Dogs is Effective and Fun

Clicker training are these days an established form of pet training, and has, despite the critique its been getting, become common among many trainers. The negatives about it has basically been about the myth that it requires big amounts of foods to work, but that is not at all the fact. It can, just as with any other form of reward training, be combined with affection or whatever your dog enjoys. And, by the way, not any training should be used with only one single treat. It won't keep your dog concentrated and eager to obey with all sorts of distractions, you have to change them every now and then, or combine them. A clicker devise costs a about two dollars, so it's not a big investment if you are curious to try it.

Clicker training has been used effectively since the fifties, that you can communicate with your dog exactly when a good thing is done. You can't possible be that fast with verbal rewards even if you try. So that means that the dog will get your intentions faster, and that will make the exercises more effective. When you have clicked a good behaviour, the dog gets a treat, affection, toys, or food, depending on the level of the training. That's the basics of it.
Another advantage is that it differs from your voice, and will be easy for your dog to recognise as a training device. The dogs hear yours and other humans voices all the time. If you don't learn to use your voice very effective when you work with your dog, it might be easier to get the dog to clearly recognize the click sound instead of a voice. Besides, if you are using your voice, you have to remember to use a word only in that situation, and not in other every day situations. If you for example use "well done" as the word to recognise good behaviour, you shouldn't use it in other situations, or it will loose effectiveness and will be very confusing for your companion. The click is only there for the dog, clearly meaning a treat or reward, and can't be mixed up with anything else. And, as I talked about earlier, you can't deliver a "good boy" as fast as a click.

As you start to use the clicker, you will probably think it's a quite fun way of training yourself. The results can be very good in a short amount of time if you learn it correctly. You have to start with some basics, so that your dog will fully understand the clicker. A good way to start is to just learn how to get you dogs attention by saying its name. Say your dog's name in a clear voice. When the dog turns his head to look at you, you click once. And then give it a reward. At first keep the reward in the palm of your hand, but as you develop the exercise, keep the reward visible. Teach the dog that it has to look at you, not the food or the toy on the table. He will know it soon enough. This is a simple way to start, and you can develop that to other obedience exercises, like coming when calling, lye down, tracking, etc. You can also train your puppy for unwanted behaviour with the clicker as soon as it understands the pattern of the device. You add a "no" to the exercises when he is doing something unwanted, and use the clicker the same instant he is following the "no".

Learn more about clicker dog training, get free tips and learn about different dog training methods at www.dogtraining.efven.com

Beatrice Stephenson is a freelance writer on pets, recreation and health.