To late to start clicker training?

PurpleBerry

Sorry, I meant "Too late to start clicker training?"

"I've already started to teach my pup some commands (sit, lie and rollover) and I'm finding You Tube invaluable for tips. I've just found out about "Clicker Training" and it really seems like a good idea but have I left it too late as I've already started training without it?

Does anyone have any advice about Clicker Training? Would it be too confusing to start now or would it be worth the effort in the long run? The puppy is 6 months old. I'm sure his age isn't really a factor, it's more that I've already started teaching him without a clicker. All advice appreciated.

Beth

Its never too late to change to clicker training. You can still use the same commands, you're just marking them with a click rather than a "yes" or "woohoo" when they get it right The clicker gives the same sound, no matter how excited you are, so the dog knows its doing right instantly. You could say "Good boy" in 10 different tones of voice throughout the day, depending on what your humour is like, how tired you are etc but the clicker always stays the same.

Even dogs that are a few years old do well with it when there are some that need to be rehabilitated to be rehomed (for things like marking the correct greeting, etc), or when the dog has had no training at all and spent their life in a garden. Clicker training can be applied to any dog at any age. While there's no one single way that will train all dogs to do the same thing, the clicker is the one that will help train the majority of dogs.

Dogs like to be paid, and the click+treat makes it worth their while. When they get the idea of it, they will do anything for the click. Sometimes they wont take the treat, and its just the click they're after It also gives you the time to get the treat - if you carry the clicker, and you capture a behaviour you would like him to continue, while ye are relaxing in the evening you can click - he will know theres a treat on the way, even if you have to walk to get it.

Remember though, the click ends the behaviour so if you're training a stay, and you click, the dog is ok to get up and move. So for things like that, hold off on the click. You'll find more detailed instructions on the net, but just never forget that it ends the behaviour - you've marked the right one when it was performed.

Make sure and start by charging the clicker. Have small treats that wont take a lot of time to eat - like cut up hot dogs, pieces of cheese, a jar of baby food, broken up schmackos - anything that they like but wont take them a while to crunch through.

Start off with really high value treats, you can phase the higher value ones out to lower value ones after a while and then use their normal food when they have the idea of the behaviour you want, but always go back to the higher value ones when you're trying to teach a new behaviour. So start by clicking, immediately followed by the treat (no behaviour, you're just "charging the clicker"). Sometimes they will sit automatically for this, especially if they have already been taught that sit=treat

Do this for ten times. Then click and see does he look for the treat. Is he expecting the treat after the clicker? If he's not, do the click+treat for another round, and try again. When he looks for the treat after the click, you have charged the clicker, and now are free to start the training steps because he knows the rules of this new game ... click = treat on the way.

If you have a small dog, and are using something like kong paste, jar of baby food etc, get a wooden spoon - trust me, dipping the end of the spoon into the jar and putting the spoon down to the dog helps your back or you'll be up and down like a Jack-in-the-box.

What is clicker training:- http://www.wagntrain.com/clicker_training.htm

There's loads of reading material here:- http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/index.htm

Other clicker training reading:-
http://www.clickerlessons.com/

There's hundreds of articles out there on the internet, and videos on youtube about how to train different behaviours using the clicker.

Good luck

PurpleBerry

Wow, thanks Beth, that's really helpful

I'm even more convinced now that clicker training is the way to go. I hadn't even considered its usefulness when it comes to the "stay" and "leave it" commands.

Beth

Glad it helped. I found it very useful for many things, including "targetting". We taught him to touch a bell when he needed to go out to the garden. We moved a lot so the door was never in the same place :rolleyes: and teaching him to target the bell was the easiest way to reinforce the toilet training after each move. We also did silly things like "find", where he'd find the object, and touch it with his nose. We also did the important things like "look", "watch me", "stay" and his name (when his name is called and he's off lead, he is to find us and check in even if its just with a glance), as well as the basics.

There's loads of things you can use it for, not just basic training. We did it with our rescue dog as well when she joined us and she loved it.

I also find it faster than just treating - especially for things like grooming if they like to argue with the brush. Its faster to click when they're not eating it than it was to root in a pocket and shove a treat in their mouth, which by then, the brush would be between those teeth But the click told them that 1: they did right, and 2: there was a treat definitely coming.

Good luck! As long as its fun for you and fun for the dog, ye'll be great.

Do it in short 15-20 minute sessions 3-4 times a day, and they'll pick up a lot in no time.

Git101

Check out Karen Pryor http://www.clickertraining.com/ if you get a chance.
I found one of her books "Don't shoot the dog" especially interesting.
Clicker training is fantastic for animals but don't forget it's also extremely useful for children & spouses

luckat

I've recently acquired a lovely tortoiseshell cat, maybe four or five years old. She is absolutely crazy about those fish sticks from Aldi's pet section, and used to claw wildly for one when I took it out of the packet.

It took about five minutes (literally) to train her to 'sit', and now I can give her treats without having the hand clawed off me.