Clicker Training?

I use a clicker in my training, but I'm not sure if I really do "Clicker Training" as a method (I don't believe in methods, anyway) and many clicker trainers are something like a sect I do not feel part of. I do use corrections when the dog is older enough and the exercise is learned and I use other sounds that make the reward (a "gut") beside the clicker itself. I also do not use only instrumental conditioning, I start there, but I like to go beyond.

That been said... The clicker is an invaluable tool to mark precise behaviours. It is also very helpful to wean the dog of many clues we inadvisedly give when training, postures, gestures, etc. It is also very good when you need to reward something you can't see as a second person can mark with the clicker and then you can give the reward or to mark the behaviour at distance. And is the best for novice handlers to communicate with their dogs.

Quote: Poster: Murphy-Elperroguapo
Subject: Re: Clicker Training?

I'll admit, I wasn't too keen on clicker training when I started it in November 2006. But now I'm SOLD!! I know I wouldn't be where I am now with my rescue dog had we used other methods. I plan on using clicker training from now on with all my future dogs.

Click to expand...

Good for you for being open minded enough to try something new. And then 'bite the bullet' to learn to do it well!!! Isn't amazing how the more we learn about training, and the better we get at it, the faster our dogs learn and more they enjoy it!

Hey, the term 'Old dogs can learn new tricks' isn't just about dogs! I'm telling you, 100% of the people I know who had a great instructor to explain the clicker, and then did it properly, are converts once they see how well OUR DOGS do! And the added fact that our timing for praise and correction shows up either as great or (more likely) late late late, is something the clicker helps fix.

Fact is, I also can now use my voice as a marker as well as a clicker. But it's not as good and doesn't work as well. Better than nothing, but not as well. No matter how I try, I know I sometime get tone into my voice (either happy or not) while the clicker is ALWAY just a neutral marker.

Those with open minds that want to see why the clicker really works, look at this video of an abused fearful mule learning from a session, it's amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCtrtbdXkVw

Originally, I thought the idea of clicker training was silly.. for flower-power, feel-good 'pet' people only! Not for people who had workingline GSDs with strong personalities! How wrong I was..

I showed up at a Schutzhund club, and there he was-- a smart, savvy dog trainer shaping and marking behaviors with young dogs.. making the dogs WANT to get it right. The dogs being worked were totally off lead in a big grassy area, but wow, were they MOTIVATED-- and LEARNING! Okay.. maybe there is more to this, I thought. I listened, I learned. Trying it with my dog opened up a whole new world for us. I am so relieved I tried it!

I initially just clicked and treated.. to take 'me' (and my worried, frustrated, excitable emotions) out of the picture for my dog.... then, I began pairing my praise word with the clicker, and still treating....... then, in time, I began clicking with my praise word-- and 1/2 the time using a treat, 1/2 the time using a chest-scritch-lovin' for my dog. My dog now anticipates, and grins when he hears my praise word, throwing himself sideways into my thigh, paw raised for me to scritch under his armpit.

Clicker training can also say something to a dog: We are working. Be calm. No wild, crazy praise will happen. Just work, get rewards, work, get rewards.. here is our rhythm. This calm concept helps instill calm in new situations: at the vets, at an outdoor street fair, anyplace busy that you want the dog to learn calm in.

LOVE clicker training!! But yep, I do need to use some corrections with this very strong-minded dog. Very few, but some. That's our life now.. when we wanna tighten training, we clicker train. Wanna learn something new, we clicker train. Wanna work on calm in a new busy situation... clicker train!

I ordered Karen Pryor's Clicker Training.
My puppy is not quite ready for training,
but I have been trying the clicker with a
neighbor's dog. She is responding very well
to it! I have been setting the puppy up for
future clicker training, by giving her a treat
only after a click. They love the clicker!



BD

Clicker Training is great. I have used clicker lightly in the past to teach my boys basic commands. Along with the click, I reward either with my voice or with a treat as to ensure that they aren’t dependent on the click. Just recently have I begun using the clicker in a more expanded roll. With my 11 month old Max going through his adolescence, I have began using the clicker to mark every good action that he does to show him how I expect him to act around inside the house (this stems from him not having good house manners the last few months). For example, when I am sitting on the couch watching tv and I see max lay down, I want him to know that I like that, so I click and say “good”. On the other hand, if Max and my other boy Hartwin are getting rowdy, I will command them to stop, get their focus and have them sit, and lay down, using the clicker to mark each positive action (focus, sit, and lay down). I have seen some noticeable results in just 3 days of using the clicker for these actions. For you all who have far more experience then me using the clicker, is there any reason why I shouldn’t use the clicker to mark good actions around the house, without being in a formal training session or is this an effective way of shaping boundaries around the house?

I have also begun using the clicker in my daily obedience training with my boys. Just last week, while working on the focus command using only treats and a ball for the grand reward, I would get a successful action out of Max and throw him the ball as his reward. He would burn off and fetch it and run half way back to me and drop it. It was hard to ever get him to return the ball all the way to me; this would put a damper on our training session, having to go get him, refocus him, etc. After heading the advice from fellow forum members on how I could get Max to run all the way back to me, using the 2 ball throwing method (thank you all for that advice) and a clicker to mark his successful return, I have Max fetching the ball and returning it without even commanding him to do it. He now understands what I expect from him when I throw a ball to him. This is just a small example, but in my opinion illustrates the progress that can be made in a short period of time using the clicker.

Maggierose, great video of the Mule. That session was 5 minutes long, and they got the mule to do something it otherwise wouldn’t have done without force; and it wasn’t only the one time that the Mule completed the action, he repeated it. I am definitely a beginner in training; both my boys are my first, so I am open and objective to other methods. But from what I have seen using the clicker, I am impressed and sold on its benefits…