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Getting Ready for Clicker Training
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Clicker training is an effective, positive method of
teaching your dog basic obedience, advanced obedience, and competition
behaviors. The clicker method uses the
theory of operant conditioning, which involves positive reinforcement when your
dog performs a desired behavior.
You use
the clicker to mark the correct behavior, so your dog knows what’s
expected. Once you mark the behavior with
the clicker, you give your dog a treat right away. You use progressive steps to train your dog
using the clicker method of training.
Your Dog Offers the Desired
Behavior on His Own
The crucial element of clicker training your dog is to get
the desired behavior without physically pulling, pushing, or dragging the
dog. Your dog should offer the behavior
on his own, learning what the desired behavior involves. Physically forcing him to perform a behavior
is a negative approach to dog training.
An example of rewarding a desired behavior is attempting to
teach, “Sit”. When your dog sits, click
and treat. It doesn’t matter when he
sits or where he sits, just click and treat whenever he sits on his own.
Don’t give a cue for “Sit” yet but continue clicking and
treating whenever he sits. Soon, your
dog will be sitting just to get the treat.
When he’s comfortable with sitting and understands why he’s getting a
reward, you can add the cue, “Sit”. It
doesn’t take long for your dog to understand the cue and begin responding to
the word, “Sit”.
Click to Mark the
Desired Behavior
The key to clicker training is to click at the right
time. Clicking too soon or too late only
confuses your dog. The instant your dog
gives the desired behavior, click and treat.
If you give your dog a treat, even a few seconds after the behavior, it
won’t be effective. Your dog won’t
associate the correct behavior with the click if the treat is too late. It’s better not to give the treat at all if you
can’t deliver it to your dog immediately.
Reinforce Your Dog’s Behavior
with High-Level Treats
All dogs are different and have different likes and
dislikes. To reinforce clicker training,
choose treats that your dog loves. Most
dogs will not work just for praise or a pat on the head. Treats are considered the primary reinforcement
because almost all dogs will work for food.
Once your dog performs the correct behavior for eighty percent
of the time, you can gradually fade out the treats. If your dog has a setback or becomes
distracted by something else, add the treats back to the training.
Advancing Beyond
Basic Clicker Training for Distance and Duration
Make the desired behavior harder for your dog once he knows
the cue. Extend the time he has to sit
by a few seconds, gradually adding more time.
When teaching the command, “Stay”, for instance, stand next
to your dog while asking him to stay, and click for staying while you stand
next to him. Next, take a step away then
come back to your dog, and click and treat him.
Eventually, your dog will stay no matter how far away you get. You can apply this method for any of the
behaviors you want your dog to learn. It’s great for distance work, targeting,
and basic commands like sit, stay and down.
Add Distractions and
Continue Clicker Training
Once your dog responds to the cues and the clicker, add
distractions. Distractions are the most
difficult obstacle your dog has to overcome.
Begin clicker training with distractions outside in the yard before
bringing him to a busier spot.
When your dog gives the desired behavior when a neighbor is
in the yard or a child rides past on a bicycle, then it’s time to move on to
harder distractions. Bring your dog to
the park or a public event. When he
gives the correct behavior, click and treat in the same way as when there were
no distractions.
You should add distractions gradually, especially with
reactive dogs. If your pup has
difficulty with the distractions, go back inside and continue clicker training
the basics until he’s more comfortable.
Finally, Fade the
Clicker
The final step in clicker training your dog is to fade the
clicker. Begin slowly, using praise as
the treat after clicking. Return to
using the clicker whenever you want to teach a new behavior. You can use clicker training to train your
dog for agility, obedience competitions, therapy dogs, or service dogs.
Good luck with your clicker training!
References:
Image: Elf at the English language Wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
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