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Pick of the Litter
Dog Training |
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TESTIMONIAL Jennifer, Bryan
and Kari (Langley's owner) |
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| CLICKER TRAINING | ||
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| WHAT
IS CLICKER TRAINING?
Clicker training simply teaches an association between the noise of a device called a "clicker" and a food treat reward. The clicker is a training tool that is meant to assist with other forms of reward based training, and allows you to have better timing with your rewards. The clicker is meant to predict that a food treat is coming, thus marking the behavior and telling the dog that their performance was correct and that food reward will follow.
Undoubtedly, the most difficult aspect of dog training is having great timing. If you would like your dog to learn a new behavior quickly and well, you must have great timing. Your reward for correct behavior must be provided within 2-3 seconds of the behavior! This means that your dog must take a treat at almost the exact moment they do the correct behavior. This is tricky without the clicker. Take "sit" for example... When you ask your dog to "sit" (or even allow your dog to offer a sit) you have 2-3 seconds to reward a correct response. If you were to wait five seconds before rewarding your dog, he would likely have stood up, lied down, barked for attention, or even jumped up on you. Additionally, a dog’s memory is very short, so if you wait too long, they lose their memory of the previous behavior anyway. This is where clicker training comes in. The purpose of the clicker is to give your dog feedback about the correct behavior right at the exact moment they do the behavior. The clicker becomes a easy way to communicate with your dog that they did the right behavior and that a reward will soon follow. |
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| HOW
TO INTRODUCE THE CLICKER
To introduce the clicker, you will first need to show your dog that you are holding a favorite food treat. Then, wait until your dog offers a behavior that you like – focus on an offered sit or down to begin with. The reason we do not add commands right away is to allow our dogs to learn the motion first and then add a word to it later. It's like someone chanting "tap dance" over and over again when you are just learning how to move your feet. It's very distracting! Immediately click and provide the food treat for every sit and down your dog offers. Repeat this process for five minutes at least once per day for one week. Also, try practicing while sitting on the couch, outside in your yard, while on a walk, to greet your dog, and any other place you can think of. |
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| HOW
TO USE THE CLICKER TO TRAIN YOUR DOG
After one week introducing the clicker, you can begin using the clicker anytime that you plan on rewarding your dog with a food treat for a correct behavior (using the restroom outside, paying attention in distracting situations, greeting people politely, walking at your side, the possibilities are endless...). The clicker can assist you in training any new behavior in which training requires that your dog receive feedback about the correct behavior immediately. Remember, the clicker not a forever tool -- Once you are positive that your dog knows a particular command, you can gradually fade away the clicker and food reward and switch to non-food rewards as motivation. Clicker training can be incorporated into any reward based training program and will greatly influence the results and make training more effective and fun. For more
information about these techniques, remember that all of |
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HOME | ||
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Copyright 2008, Jennifer Schneider. All rights reserved. | ||
GOOD
BEHAVIOR --> CLICK --> FOOD TREAT