| By :
Lena Carlson
Copyright (c) 2010 Lena Carlson Successfully Training Your Dog with a Clicker No matter what sort of dog you have, training your dog with a clicker is one of the most successful and impressive methods for controlling and dictating a dog's behaviour when trying to teach them basic commands. It takes very little time to grasp clicker training and with a good quality clicker, you'll be able to train your dog just about anything. Does Clicker Training and How It Work The overall concept behind clicker training is that you're teaching your dog to relate to the noise that the clicker makes - a strong, sharp sound that can be heard by the dog from 20+ yards away - with a specific command you give. The objective of the training is to mark specific desired behaviour and then reward it with the sound of the clicker. Naturally, clicker dog training does not begin with a clicker. You have to first teach your dog that the clicker is a reward for good behaviour. This can be done with a bag of treats and a simple, two dollar clicker from your local pet store. It is crucial that you utilize a clicker in this situation for quite a few reasons. To start with, a dog won't ever heed that clicker for any reason other than to tell them that they did a good job and that a treat is on the way. A word or verbal command may be given in different situations and the association in their head is not quite as strong as a result of it. The Basic Steps of Clicker Dog Training Whenever you start training your dog to respond to a clicker, there are three very basic steps. Primarily, you'll get the behaviour - persuading your dog to do something that you want. It may be sitting, dropping, speaking, staying, rolling over, or any number of other tricks you're trying to teach. As soon as you've succeeded in getting them to perform their behaviour, mark it with the clicker and a treat. It typically only takes two or three markings before a dog learns what the behaviour they did actually was, and starts repeating it every time you use the clicker. Training your dog with a clicker works very well because they will immediately respond, allowing you to reward them and instantly instil it in their minds. A vocal prompt will take time to get through. As soon as the dog has completed the behaviour and received their treat, continue doing it to strengthen the behaviour as much as possible. You you should not need to employ rewards every time. Reward and petting work just as well and can eventually substitute the behaviour. Making the Transition from Treat to Command Once the dog has learned the behaviour well, clicker dog training will have you transition to a spoken command that may be used anywhere, even when you don't have a clicker. Whenever you're going to use the clicker, utter the command and then click, followed by the treat. Your dog will promptly figure out how to associate all three. In time, with good clicker dog training, a dog will respond to a verbal cue and praise for their response and then they will simply learn it. The need for rewards or praise will vanish and the dog will simply understand how the response pleases you. As you might expect, clicker dog training has a bunch applications. It can make teaching your dog much faster and easier in many ways. With a simple, sharp prompt, you can mark and reinforce nearly any behaviour.
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