Honey the Great Dane

For all those pups out there who asked me about clicker training, I thought I’d do a post to show you how to get started with using the clicker!

I know some of you are already experienced clicker pups so I hope this won’t be too boring for you – but I thought it was still good to go ‘back to basics’ for those pups who are just starting out…

So here is a special movie that my human, Hsin-Yi, and I made to show you how we do it: (I have never tried to be a teacher in a movie before so we were not sure how to do it…as you can see, my human cut off her own head! Hopefully, she will be better in Part 2! )

Also, here is an article that Hsin-Yi wrote about clicker training which will help answer some of your questions on clicker training:

Clicker training was first developed by dolphin trainers who needed a way to communicate with these powerful and intelligent marine mammals.  Traditional animal training techniques often relied on punishment and force but these failed miserably with an animal which could not be restrained or physically forced to do anything.

(c) Mike Theiss

The answer was a whistle which marked the exact moment when they performed the desired action. The dolphins soon associated the sound of the whistle with treats - and they also realised they could “make” their trainers whistle and give them treats by performing certain behaviours (such as jumping through a hoop).

This training technique was so successful that other animal trainers quickly adopted it.

In dogs, the whistle was replaced by a “clicker”.

Since then, “clicker training” has been widely used with a variety of wild and domesticated animals, from all breeds of dogs and cats, rabbits, horses and birds to zoo animals, marine mammals and even fish!

 (Thanks to Sally Jones of www.dogsrdogs.btinternet.co.uk  for use of the photo)

Seizing the moment
So how does clicker training work? The idea is all about capturing a moment in time – much like a camera taking a picture – when your dog does a behaviour you want. That moment is marked by a clear signal, so that the dog understands exactly which action was the right one. It is like saying “That’s it!”. This marker signal is produced using a clicker which makes a unique and distinct CLICK sound when pressed. 

First, though, you must make the CLICK meaningful to your dog by associating it with a reward, such as a food treat. How? Just press the clicker and feed a treat, press again, then feed…and so on, until your dog starts to anticipate treats when it hears the click. You will see its head snap around as soon as it hears the click or it will be watching you avidly, waiting for the click.

Now you’re ready to start training: choose an action you want your dog to do and click at exactly the moment the dog does it (followed by a treat); eg. for Sit, click as soon as your dog’s bum hits the ground; to get your dog to lie down, click only when your dog’s elbows touch the ground.

Some behaviours, such as Sit, are frequently offered by most dogs and you simply need to wait a bit to catch the action. Others, such as lying down, may need a bit of luring and coaxing with a treat, in order to get the dog into the position you want to mark with the click and reward.

Once a dog has worked out which behaviours produce a click, he will start to repeat those actions willingly (and often, very enthusiastically!) to try and get more clicks and rewards. (imagine if you found a button in the wall which drops cash into your pocket when you pressed it…wouldn’t you start pressing that button again and again? )

Using the same principles, you can go on to teach your dog more complex behaviours, such as performing cute tricks, retrieving items, going to its bed when visitors come, walking nicely on a loose leash, etc…as well as helping in dog sports like Agility, Obedience and Canine Freestyle (doggie dancing).

Clicker training can also be used to help with problem behaviours – instead of punishing the dog for the unwanted behaviour, it is clicked and rewarded for an alternate, desirable behaviour.

For example, a dog that jumps up on people would be ignored – and then clicked & rewarded with treats as soon as it dropped back to the ground again or if it remained on the ground. After a few repetitions, the dog will start to realise that having its four paws on the ground is the time when it hears the CLICK and gets tasty treats – and it will start to choose this more rewarding behaviour over jumping up.

* * Remember, a click must always be followed by a reward – if you don’t honour this, your dog will lose trust in you and the clicker will lose its powerful motivating effect. But don’t worry – this doesn’t this mean that you will have to walk around with a clicker and a pocketful of treats for the rest of your life! Once your dog has learnt a behaviour and will perform it on cue, you can phase out the clicker and just occasionally reward with a pat, treat or praise. In addition, many behaviours are also maintained by “real-life rewards” – for instance, a dog that sits quietly at the door is rewarded by the door opening so he can go for a walk.

Why bother?
You’re probably already training using treats and wondering why you should bother with this additional gadget. Are there really any advantages to using the clicker?

Most dogs instinctively want to please you but many fail during training because they become confused and do not understand what you want them to do. They are then often punished for being “disobedient” and become even more anxious and confused – or simply “switch off” and lose interest.

Clicker training can be a very powerful training method because the clicker communicates clearly to your dog exactly what he needs to do:  the CLICK sound is consistent, clear and unambiguous – unlike our voices which can sound different with different emotions, even if we don’t mean to (eg. the “Yes!” which sounds like “Yes, but…”)

Clicker training also creates a dog that is focused on you and keen to ”work” to earn rewards. Dogs that are clicker-trained work happily and voluntarily – they are active partners with you in the training game – rather than just robotically (or sulkily!) obeying your commands. They develop confidence in you and in themselves. As a completely positive, reward-based method, clicker training is always a fun and happy activity. Because it does not rely on physical manipulation or force, it can be used by anyone – even children – with very successful results.

Finally, it also encourages you to pay more attention to the positive behaviours that your dog does and to encourage them, by rewarding them. We tend to ignore our dogs when they’re being good (eg. lying quietly) and only pay attention when they’re being naughty (eg. chewing our shoes) – it’s no wonder that they resort to doing naughty things to get our attention!

Is it for me and my dog?
All dogs are suitable for and can benefit from clicker training. It can be wonderful for building the confidence of shy, timid dogs and is ideal for training puppies, as it encourages and rewards good behaviour rather than waits until bad habits have developed and then tries to correct them through punishment.

Clicker training works best if your dog is food-motivated. Remember, many owners who believe their dogs are “not food-motivated” often have over-fed pets or are simply not using interesting enough treats! Especially when trying to teach new behaviours or when working in a place with distractions (eg. other dogs), make sure you use tasty, strongly scented, high-value treats such as ham, sausage, cheese and liver.

If your dog is genuinely not motivated by food, you can still use clicker training – you simply have to find something else to use as a reward. All dogs will have something that they adore – if not food treats, then it may be a game of tug with a favourite toy, chasing their tennis ball or even just a tummy rub from their favourite person. The key is to find out what your dog finds rewarding and then to associate that with the CLICK sound, just as you would with a food reward.

Like all training methods, clicker training does have its drawbacks – mainly to do with the skill of clicking at the right moment. Timing is crucial since your dog will repeat the action it was performing when it heard the click. Therefore, there is a danger of reinforcing the wrong thing: if you do not time the click correctly, you could unintentionally reward an undesirable behaviour (eg. clicking when your dog is still barking rather than when it stops).

However, like all things, practice makes perfect and there is no real danger to your dog if you click the wrong behaviour a few times – once you stop rewarding it, your dog will gradually forget about it and move on to the new behaviour which you are marking and rewarding.

In addition, clicker training also requires some patience – particularly for those who are used to traditional training and used to ordering and trying to “force” or manipulate a dog into doing things…it can be hard to adjust to this “hands-off” approach where the dog is encouraged to think for himself and choose the correct action that earns the reward.

Not all behaviours may be easily modified through clicker training alone. While dogs with serious behavioural issues, such as severe aggression, may be helped with clicker training, it can take a long time and require a lot of skill, effort and patience. In such cases, it may be more useful to combine this with other training techniques – but this needs to be discussed with an experienced, qualified canine behaviourist or dog trainer. 

* For noise-phobic dogs that are frightened by the sound of the clicker, you can muffle the CLICK by putting the clicker in your pocket or covering it with a cloth. You can also use a verbal marker signal instead (eg. “Yes!”) but as mentioned above, this is not as effective because it can often carry ambiguity and emotional baggage that you are not aware of.

Want to find out more?
The internet is a haven of information on clicker training – a good place to start is Karen Pryor’s site (www.clickertraining.com)  - Karen is a marine biologist and international expert in behavioural psychology, who pioneered clicker training. Amazon also sells a range of books & DVD’s on clicker training. It can also be good to get the guidance of an experienced clicker trainer – (for example, if you’re in Auckland, see Flip Calkoen of Flip’s Top Dog). You can also ask around dog obedience clubs in your area as some may have trainers with experience in clicker training.

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(c) Wikipedia

There are now a variety of ‘fancy’ clickers available on the market but a simple box clicker  (either with a metal groove or a raised button) is really all you need. You can buy these from pet stores, d0g trainers who specialise in clicker training or order them online

(© 2009 Hsin-Yi Cohen – please do not reproduce any part of this article without permission)

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Look out for Part 2 (Teaching Tricks) and Part 3 (More Obedience & useful daily commands, eg. ‘bed’) – coming soon!