What is clicker training?

Question

A co-worker mentioned clicker training to me in passing and said that it worked wonders with his dog. What is it? How does it work?

Answer 1

Clicker training is used to shape a dogs behavior, positively. Basically, you reward for the desired behavior.

One example is to teach your dog the click means a treat. Click, give a treat and repeat about 10 times. This is how you get the dog to associate the click with a reward. Then as you work with your dog, let's say a "sit", you lure your dog into the sit (by raising the treat high above his nose, he will "sit" to reach it) and when the dog sits, you click, then treat immediately. Do this a few times and the dog will begin to "sit" without the lure. Each time, you click and reward. Then after about 10 times of clicking for a sit, you add the cue word "sit" and a hand signal if you wish at the same time. Give the command and click the moment your dogs behind hits the sit position.

It is a method our trainer teaches and uses in my obedience competition class. It is VERY effective at getting your point across and I am very pleased with the results.

Here's a link to a site that gives more good details on it:

http://www.clickertrain.com/whatis.html

There's a book that is a really good beginner book for clicker training called "Clicking with your Dog" by Peggy Tillman. It has good instructions on getting started and illustrations as well.

I personally highly recommend clicker training, but not everyone is keen to it.

Answer 2

It has been awhile since I have read anything on clickers. I *think* the idea is that you have done so many repetitions of down, followed by a reward (ideally, I believe the food reward is phased out, so that the "click" is the reward), that when the command is given, the dog performs. Similarly to the fact that when you use corrections, once the behavior is learned, you don't need to always give corrections. It is also the same idea as when you use treats for postive reinforcement, even with corrections. The click just tells the dog what they did was correct, helping the dog to learn what is asked. Training involves repeatedly performing the behavior to instill that behavior in them. You should get to a point where when the "down" command is given, the dog does it, with or without reward so the click is not always needed. You shouldn't need the clicker all the time to have the dog listen to you. And I do believe that there is an element of ignoring the bad behavior. I want to stress, I am not a clicker user (I have seen demos in agility). I was just trying to answer the question based on what I know, but I certainly am no expert and defer to those with much more experience.

Answer 3

Clicker Training uses a small metal clicker to "mark" a dog's behavior. It is a positive reward based training method. The clicker itself has no meaning - the first step is to help the dog build an association between the Click and something good - FOOD!

It is based on the same training methods used with Killer Whales and Grizzly Bears. It can be used in advanced behavior modification as well. I've seen it used to counter-condition dogs that are fearful and it's amazing to see the quick results.

Karen Pryor has been "clicking dogs" for years. Her website is http://www.clickertraining.com/ I'm actually going to the Clicker Expo next Spring to learn more about clicker training.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

One thing that's great about using a clicker is that the 'click' always means the same thing and sounds pretty much the same. Dogs learn very quickly with a marker signal that is always the same.
Just before I got my 1st dog, I got a copy of Karen Pryor's _Lads Before the Wind_ and it really changed the way I thought about training. How great to use a system of teaching that doesn't punish the animal, but is reward based. My dog loves it and I use the clicker for Agility stuff all the time.

Answer 5

When your dog does the right thing click so the dog knows that it is being rewarded. Eventually you will be able to tell your dog to do something and it will because it has gotten rewarded in the past for doing it. Have plenty of treats with you so you can lure the dog into the position you want and then reward it. This is a very positive method of training. I hope this helps you understand clicker training.

Answer 6

Clicker training is when your dog does what you ask him or her, such as sit, you click the clicker wait a few seconds them give them a treat. This teaches them that the clicking sound means they did something good. After awhile they recognize the command and connect two and two and say to themselves, 'Hey, they asked me to do something, so I'll do it then if I hear a click I get a treat!'
This is good so then they are not just focused on the food in your hand, they are focused on the click . . . . and the command.

Answer 7

Clicker training is the process of using a clicker to mark a desired behavior in animal training. It was originally used in training animals for which traditional methods of obedience training weren't useful, such as dolphins in wild-animal shows or carrier pigeons used for specific military purposes.

Answer 8

it is when you train your dog with a clicker. example: 1 click means sit, 2 clicks means lay

Answer 9

http://www.google.com/search?q=clicker+training&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Answer 10

still ballin'