Clicker Training Tips

Clicker training can be a very effective dog obedience training tool, but what exactly is clicker training?

Dog training clickers are usually great training tools.  You can find clickers from pet stores or  in catalogs. They are effective training tools for puppies or dogs because dog clickers make a very distinct sound, letting you control your timing, and eliminate the inflection in your voice that can impede dog training.

Dogs are usually sensitive to inflections in your voice, and training your dog with a clicker eliminates the inflections and you can reward more effectively, even if you are in a cranky mood or are getting frustrated during the training session.

Now that you've got a dog clicker it is time to train your dog to get used to the tool. First thing, get a stache of small, edible treats ready and, for easy access, get a nice clicker treat bag.   Then you can lure the dog with the treat or go to the dog with the clicker and some treats.

Click the clicker, and give the dog a nice treat. At this point, it doesn’t matter what he’s doing at the  moment, since you basically are training your dog to learn that when there's a click there's a treat.  You can continue the process of making clicks and rewarding with treats until you've trained your dog to react quickly with the turn of his head and he gives you all his attention when he hears the sound of the clicker. This process probably won't really take much time, but you've got to make him react with your clicker before you move on to the next clicker training step.

For your next training step, your dog should come to associate his name with something positive, and this is the perfect way to use the clicker training method.  Simply say your dog's name, wait til your dog looks, then press the clicker and treat. Once your dog or puppy starts getting used to hearing a click and then getting a treat whenever you say his name, he'll be very attentive when you do say his name.

At this point in your dog training, a simple click can be utilized to reward a the behavior you desire instantly, correctly, and even at quite a distance. Using clicker training in your routine is great fun for the dog owner and the dog. It’s quite constructive, generates quick results, and the learning is positive. Clicker training doesn’t really mean taht you have to spend hours and hours every day...usually a few minutes a day is all that it will take.