Clicker Training!
You may have heard of a way to train dogs that is sweeping, not only the United States of America, but the entire world. This type of training is called Clicker Training.
Clicker training gives the dog (or other animal, it is used with a wide variety of animals) choices. His choices are rewarded, and the dog learns to learn. The dog will begin to offer behaviors to find out what earns the click and the treat.
A learning dog is a happy dog. All dogs can learn with clicker training, and it's all positive! There are no leash-pops or corrections. These things will only make your dog fear you, they do not teach in a way that will cause your dog to really want to learn, with a lot of enthusiasm!
What is Clicker Training?
Clicker training is, in a nutshell, a way to 'mark' exactly what a dog is doing in order to let the dog know the exact behavior he is doing is what will be rewarded.
Dogs (and other beings, including humans) learn by repeating behaviors that have been rewarded. In clicker training, we use this in order to teach dogs tricks.
In example.. if you want to teach your dog to use a dog bed, whenever the dog steps on the dog bed, you click and treat. The dog will, after a short while, realize that his action of stepping on the dog bed is the action that is being clicked, or marked, and gets him the treat. So he will continue to get onto the dog bed in order for the reinforcement to continue.
How do you start clicker training?
All you need to start clicker training is a clicker. You can purchase one at your local pet store, or online at one of the links attached to this Intel.
To begin, you just need to 'charge' the clicker. Just sit with the dog for a minute or two, click the clicker, and immediately feed the dog a soft, yummy treat after. This will let the dog know that the click means a treat is coming. A click always means a click is coming. Even for well experienced clicker trained dogs, always give a treat after the click or the dog will soon loose confidence in the mark.
Shape, Lure, or Capture?
There are three main ways to clicker train a dog.
Shape:
Shaping a behavior can take a lot of patience. When you shape, the dog needs to understand what the clicker means. If you are shaping the behavior of the dog turning to the right, you would sit with the dog and you would wait until the dog moved his head slightly to the right. When he does so, you click and treat.
The dog will start to think and wonder what is causing the click, and he will try different things. Each time his head moves to the right, you click and treat. Soon the dog will not only move his head to the right, he will start to step to the right. A step forward, you click and treat!
This is shaping a behavior from scratch. The dog has to figure out every step, and it takes a lot of patience, but when a dog learns by shaping the behavior becomes very solid and reliable!
Lure:
When you lure a dog, you are putting a treat in front of his nose and having him follow the treat. If you were to lure a nose touch (a dog touching his nose to your palm), you would put a treat in the palm of your hand and the dog would be lured to your palm. When the dog comes close with his nose, click treat!
It is said that Luring does not produce as solid a behavior as shaping, because shaping gives the dog more opportunity to think on his own and make his own decisions. Luring is more like a crutch you are giving the dog.
Capture:
When you capture a behavior, you are clicking and treating something the dog already does. Such as sneezing. If a dog sneezes on a regular basis, you click and treat when the dog sneezes, he will soon understand that sneezing, or acting as if he sneezed, will get him a click and a treat!
Advanced Clicker Training
The things you can do with clicker training are unlimited! Use your imagination. This type of training is all positives. No correction is involved. The dog will learn to trust you, and will be eager and excited about training.
Some advanced clicker training can be seen with dog dancing, also known as Canine Freestyle. These dogs are happy, motivated, and amazing!
Conclusion
If you would like to learn more about the internal workings and science about clicker training, please visit the attached links. Also, you can look up Operant Conditioning, as this the science behind clicker training.
I hope you will start to clicker train and discover a whole new way to interact with your dog, and build a great relationship!
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Contributor's Note
The information has been gathered from various websites and my own personal experience. Plus information from various books and friends over the last few years I have been training dogs.
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