How do I start?
Have your dog,
your clicker, and some tasty treats handy.
Start in a low-distraction environment:
indoors in a closed-off room with no children or other animals present.
The dog will work best right before a meal
when he is hungry.
If the dog is the
energetic type, exercise him first so he can concentrate better during
training.
Before you begin, be sure your
dog takes treats nicely.
It is usually
best if you hand-feed your dog the treats, but feel free to drop treats to him
if he’s a major food-grabber.
First, click once
and observe the dog’s reaction. Be sure to click while the dog is doing
something you like, not digging at the carpet or jumping up. Don’t click right next to the dog’s
ear, since the loud, sudden noise may startle him! Some shelter-dogs have already been exposed
to the clicker. If the dog immediately
runs over, or looks up at you eagerly, give him the treat he is expecting. If
this is your dog’s reaction, the clicker is already charged! Skip to “Step Two,” below.
If your dog is
afraid:
A very few dogs are afraid of the
clicker. If this is your dog’s reaction,
don’t give up! You have several options:
- Purchase the i-click online; this is a
newer-style clicker that makes a softer sound (also easier for people with
disabilities that limit their movements).
- Click with something like a bottle-cap or pen that
makes a softer sound. Switch to a regular clicker later, when the dog is
comfortable with the clicking sound.
- Hold the clicker in a tight fist in your pocket to
muffle the sound at first.
- Make a clicking sound with your mouth (if you can
make a consistent noise).
- Substitute a word, spoken happily, like “yes!” for
the click. Say it quickly in a
consistent tone of voice.
Step 1: “Charge” the Clicker.
Click the clicker
once and hand or toss the dog a treat. Repeat ten times at various intervals
within a 5-10 minute time frame. Do this
while the dog is doing different things:
sitting, moving about the room, sniffing, etc. Avoid clicking if the dog is doing something
you don’t want. At the end of ten repetitions, put the
clicker and treats away. Several hours
later, repeat. At the end of the second
session, click once and watch your dog’s reaction. If he pricks up his ears and looks eagerly at
you in expectation of his treat, the clicker is charged. You can now begin to
use the sound to train. If not, put
everything away and try again tomorrow.
Step 2: Reward Behaviors You
Want and ignore behaviors you don’t want.
Do you want a dog
that doesn’t jump up? Ignore the dog
when he jumps: this means no petting or attention at all; turn slightly
away from the dog and look pointedly elsewhere!
When the dog’s feet return to the floor, click, treat, and give him all
the praise and attention he’s been looking for!
Try to reward him while his feet are on the floor before he jumps. Or train a
behavior incompatible with jumping, like sit,
and reward him for greeting you with that, instead. Click and treat for responding to his name,
making eye contact, walking on a loose leash, coming when called, and so on.
Important: Use the clicker
to tell the dog what he is doing right. Never use the clicker to tell the dog
what to do. In other words, don’t use the clicker to get the dog to sit,
come, stop barking, etc.
Click and reward the
behavior, and once you are getting the behavior regularly,
associate it with a name (also called a prompt or cue; this used to be called a
command).
For example, click the dog
when he is sitting.
Try to time the
click so it occurs just as the dog’s rear-end is hitting the floor.
When he is sitting frequently (in expectation
of a reward) then say, “Sit!” before the click each time.
Raise your criteria:
only reward the dog when he is sitting in
response to this cue, not every time he sits.
Some trainers prefer to add a hand signal along with the verbal
cue.
Another good training technique is
to stop your training session after a
good
performance (a good sit) while the dog is still anxious to do more.
He will remember that eager feeling the next
time you start his training session and will work even more willingly!
Clicker-training does not require lots of
repetition.
Frequent, short sessions are
best.
Remember: Clicking
marks and ends a behavior. If you click him for staying while down,
expect him to break the stay when he hears the click, for example. Pair the click with a release-word like
“break” or “ok.”
When choosing
cues, particularly verbal ones, remember that dogs are less verbal than we
are. They are often watching us while we are talking
at them, so your body language and movements such as hand signals can be a very
helpful form of communication. Verbal
cues should be short (one-word), clear, and consistent. For example, “Sit!” to elicit a sit and
“Down!” to elicit lying down is more helpful to the dog than “Sit down!” Which do you want? A sit or a down? Every member of the household should agree to
use the same cues for the same behaviors for the sake of the dog’s peace of
mind.
Important Rules: Be
consistent in your expectations. It is
unfair to the dog to allow him to jump all over you one day, and then to expect
him not to the next just because you are wearing your best suit! Also, one
click means at least one treat every time. If you accidentally click when the dog is
doing something you don’t want, reward anyway, so the clicker remains
charged. Work on improving your timing,
since an occasional mistake won’t hurt your dog’s training! What can
hurt is combining clicker training with other unnecessary methods that are
based on punishment (corrections, scolding, rolling, scruff-shakes, ear
pinches, tossing things, spraying liquids, hard stares, etc.). If you punish, the dog will lose faith in the
training process. Keeping clicking and
training positive and fun!
Step 3: Proof the Behavior.
Just because your
dog knows “sit” right in front of you, for example, does not mean he knows it at your heel, or when your back is turned, or
while he is facing away from you. If he
knows “sit” on-leash, he might not know it off-leash. If he sits in front of the kitchen
refrigerator, he might not know it in front of the stove or in the den. If he
knows it in a quiet area, he might not know it when there are heavy
distractions, like when company (human or dog) visits. If he knows it in the
house, he might not know it in the back yard, in the street, or at the
park. Once he knows it well in one
location, try changing the situation slightly by changing locations or adding
distractions. Do so gradually and set
your dog up for success. Expect him to
have some initial difficulties in a new situation. Reduce the difficulty-level of what you
expect of him, and improve the rewards for good performance.
Even children make
excellent clicker-trainers once an adult has learned the basics and shown them
how. For young children, try clicking
while the child treats or vice-versa.
Always supervise children under the age of six years with any dog,
including your own. Supervise carefully at
older ages if you have any reason not to trust the child or the dog.
How do I get a
desired behavior?
There are three basic ways:
- “Capture” the
behavior. Catch the dog doing
the finished behavior, such as “sit” in the example above. You can also capture the absence of a behavior. You don’t want Fido to bark or jump
up? Click and reward him when he is
doing anything and everything else!
- “Shape” the
behavior. Let’s say that you
want to teach the dog to wave hello.
Watch for the dog to lift its front paw, even the slightest bit.
Click and treat each time. When the dog is lifting the paw regularly, only
click/treat the higher paw-lifts, until the dog is lifting the paw several
inches off the ground. Begin to
click and treat only when the dog waves.
Say “wave” once the dog reaches the finished behavior you have in
mind. Put the behavior on cue (only
reward when you say “wave” and the dog complies).
- “Lure” the
behavior. For example, when the
dog is sitting, you can use treats lowered slowly and close to the dog’s
body to lure the dog down toward the floor. When the dog reaches the correct
position, click and treat. Some
dogs need a combination of shaping and luring to learn “down.” Fade the lure by gradually removing the
treats and introducing a hand signal.
An example is given below.
Fading the prompt
You can capture a
down, shape a down, or lure a down, or use some combination of the last
two. If you lure, try not to lure with
actual treats in your hand more than the first two to three times. Afterwards, see if you can’t get the dog to
follow your hands or fingers (continue to click and reward). Eventually and with practice you can “fade”
the hand signal until you are barely wiggling your fingers to get the desired
behavior. By always saying “down” before the hand signal, you can eventually get the
dog to lie down on the verbal cue alone.
What to avoid: Clicker-trainers
avoid punishment and “forcing” the
behavior. Do not press on the
dog’s hindquarters to force a sit or push on his shoulders to teach him
down. Dogs have a natural instinct to
push back, so using these methods slows down training and can confuse (or
sometimes even injure) the dog. Dogs are
also more physical than verbal. They
quickly get dependent on pressure (from a hand or leash) to cue a desired
behavior, and will fail to perform on a verbal signal alone. If your dog becomes dependent on you pushing
him or pulling on his leash to sit, how will you use “sit!” to stop him if he
gets loose and runs toward a moving car?
Must I carry food and
the clicker forever?
No. Save the clicker for training new behaviors
or for an occasional quick review of what he already knows. Use praise and treats at other times. Once the behavior is well-established in a
variety of settings with distractions, phase out the use of treats and vary the
rewards. Use “life rewards:” make the
dog sit for his supper, for example, or for permission to go through a gate or
door. Put him in a “down”, snap on the
leash, and take him for a walk, assuming he likes walks. “Life-rewards” are sometimes called “nothing
in life is free;” in other words, make the dog work, even if it’s just a quick
sit or a cute trick, for everything he wants. Substitute petting and praise for the food
sometimes in low-distraction environments.
Save the clicker and your best treats for teaching something new.
