One question that I get on a regular basis is if I use clickers.
My answer is yes and no.
To me it really depends on the person I am working with. Some people love them and get great results with them. Others, like an old grizzled wrestler I’m working with and has had dogs since before I was born, would never use a clicker.
So if you’re wondering about clickers, let me break it down for you.
Clickers are a great training tool. They help you communicate and pinpoint which behavior is being rewarded. They really can speed up the training process. I was working with an out of control pitbull yesterday and got great results in a very short time.
A clicker helps you positively reinforce your dog’s dog behavior. And that is what you have to remember. Clickers are often described as the end all be all training tool that will solve EVERY training problem you’re facing – um, no.
A clicker will help you TEACH behaviors but it will NOT stop behaviors. To stop a behavior you need to apply a negative consequence which a clicker will not do.
But to teach a behavior, nothing beats a clicker so let me give a quick explanation on how it works:
Grab some treats and the clicker, find a quiet place and call your dog over. This is the technical part so please pay attention:
Click the clicker and then give your dog the treat. Repeat, repeat again and again. Keep repeating until your dog hears the click and knows a treat is coming.
Not too difficult, is it? That’s what I love about dog training. Much better than wearing a paper hat and asking if you’d like fries with that.
What you have to understand is that the first part of clicker training is what is commonly referred to as Classical Conditioning. Our old pal,Ivan Pavlov, rang a bell and delivered meat powder through a tube into a dog’s mouth and discovered that within a short time the dog would salivate at the sound of the bell.
You are classically conditioning your dog to the sound of the clicker. No commands, no asking your dog anything, you just click and treat until your dog associates the clicker with the treat.
Now, once that clicker has been Classically Conditioned you can switch to what is commonly referred to as Operant Conditioning. You are now the “operator” and you’ll click when your dog does the desired behavior.
If you are teaching sit, you’ll wait until the second your dog’s butt hits the deck, then you’ll click and reward.
There you go. That’s clicker training in a nutshell.
One more thing before I go. Earlier I said that clickers can NOT stop behavior, which is correct. There is no disputing that so please don’t argue with me on that point BUT clickers are awesome for helping with difficult behavior problems.
Housetraining is a biggie for many. The reason is confusion. The dog is still a little confused about the right location to go.
One part that many new puppy owners miss is rewarding the dog for going in the right spot.
A clicker helps you reward the behavior like nothing else. Your dog squats, starts to pee and you stand there saying nothing (you don’t want to disrupt the flow) and the second your pup is done you click and reward.
It can speed up the housetraining process and make it much easier on you and your dog.
So there you have it. I’ll leave it up to you to decide if you want to use clickers. And if you’d like to see how a clicker is used to train a dog to walk on leash, check out the Leash Walking Secrets Course.
You can check it out HERE:
Best,
Eric