Try These Dog Clicker Training Tips for Positive Behavior

With clicker training, it's all about clicking your clicker when your doggy does something that you like. Reward him with a treat right after he continues to repeat the behavior until it becomes a habit. Later you'll also want to add in command words, but take each step at a time.

Over a series of weeks, you can add int more and more commands and steps, but be patient with your doggy. Some pups may take longer to catch on than others. Happy training!

Dog clicker training employs a toy noisemaker (clicker) to mark wanted behaviors.

What Do I Need To Start Dog Clicker Training?
• Clicker
• Pouch for treats
• Tasty treats
• An animal

Dog Clicker Training Tips
The first step is developing your mechanical skills – before you even start training your dog!

Once you’ve built your mechanical skills, “charge the clicker.” Grab some small, tasty treats. Press the clicker button (avoid clicking near your dog’s ears), then give your dog a treat. Start with 15 treats, and do three separate sessions of 15 treats your first day.

If your dog is afraid of the sound, try a softer clicker or try using a retractable ball point pen or a Snapple lid.

Food is generally the easiest reinforcer to start with. Later on, you can incorporate toys and games your dog likes.

Think of the clicker like a camera with which you “take a picture” of behaviors you like, as your dog offers them. If you are clicking sits, click as your dog’s butt hits the floor, then deliver a treat.

Once he is responding to the cue reliably, start proofing for fluency so that your dog will respond to the cue reliably in a number of different environments.

Clicker Myths
Clicker trainers always carry a clicker and food. The clicker is a teaching tool for new behaviors. Once the behavior is on cue and fluent to your standards, the clicker is no longer needed.

Clicker trainers focus on what they want the dog to do instead of the unwanted behavior in question.

All clicker training is created equal. Clicker training doesn’t work for certain dogs/breeds.

Research by Lindsay Wood indicates a clicker is a faster, more efficient marker for behaviors than a verbal marker.