Advice On Clicker Training

[fatwhippet]

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i have decided that i want a well behaved whippet fot the new year. (w00t)

i have found a class that runs on a sunday afternoon at cosford RAF. i need it to be a weekend class because of the kids. the bloke sounds like he knows his stuff and has trained whippets before ( so he's not expecting me to use a choke chain !!) the cost seems reasonable in comparison to others ( i have rung seven) and you get to do the bronze kennel club good citizen certificate.

he does clicker training, which i have had absolutely no experience of at all. has anyone here done it? what were your experiences of it ? the few poeple that i have spoken to, some are firm believers and others think that it is a waste of time.

i would greatly appreciate any advice before i pay my deposit.

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

 

[hellybobs]

Is the trainer a RAF dog handler or just a trainer using the RAF facilities??

I've had experience of RAF handlers before and also though they are very experienced and know dogs, they can be quite harsh and somewhat of "old school" when it comes to training.

Good luck with whatever you do and let us know how you both get on.

 

[fatwhippet]

i believe that he is a RAF trainer and has also trained dogs for the police, but one of the first things that he said to me was that he no longer trains as the police do because it doesnt work. if he was to start being to harsh i would have no problem in telling him.

i can go to the first session and if i dont like it get my money back, however if i do this i will have probably missed out on a place on another course until easter.

it was just the clicker bit i was unsure of really.

thanks though. :thumbsup:

 

[Evie]

I haven't clicker trained myself, but this website is really useful:

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/index.htm

There is also some good information here;

http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=11324

Hope they are of help.

 

[FeeFee]

I've done a bit of clicker training, and I'd like to do more - I'm really impressed with how fast the dogs seem to 'get it' once they understand the idea that action = click = reward. :thumbsup:

As with any training, timing is crucial and with a clicker it has to be absolutely spot on, so it takes a bit of practice. I still often feel I haven't enough hands to hold lead, reward, retrieve item or whatever and still work the clicker!

So far I've only used it to reinforce basic commands, rather than 'shaping' more complicated series of actions, but the dogs love it and get really excited when they see the clicker coming out. It's my New Year's resolution that I'm going do more with them. :cheers:

This is Karen Pryor's site (she was the person who first popularised clicker training for dogs) http://www.clickertraining.com/ - lots of useful stuff on there.

 

[fatwhippet]

thats great, thanks. alot of friends that i have spoken to since posting this have been really positive about it too. the good citizen bronze thingy looks good as well. it will give me purpose to be working towards something with Lucy.

 

[chelynnah]

Clicker training WORKS. AND you can teach an old dog new tricks with it LOL.

Seriously - it really does work if done properly and makes training and marking the exact behaviour you want soooo much easier!

Wendy

 

[imperative]

clicker traing worked for my whippies and naughty viszla

 

[Tesa]

( so he's not expecting me to use a choke chain !!)
Am not sure what you mean.... are you still using a correction collar, if so I wouldn't recommed turning up to training with your dog wearing one.  I would expect you instructor will only tell you not to have your dog in it the following week.

he does clicker training, which i have had absolutely no experience of at all. has anyone here done it? what were your experiences of it ?  the few poeple that i have spoken to, some are firm believers and others think that it is a waste of time.

i would greatly appreciate any advice before i pay my deposit.

:cheers:   :cheers:   :cheers:

My local club encourages clicker training :thumbsup: , so we have been taught the correct method, and am a firm believer in the clicker. 

 

Three quick pointers:

 

1. Most importantly the clicker is not a toy.  Click once, and once only.  Most beginners click, click, click all over the place.  The click will come to symbolize a link to a reward, so one click = one reward is on it's way. 

 

2. Correct timing of the click is imperitive.  What you are trying to achieve, is to pin point the exact moment that your dog has done ask you have asked.  Our instructor use to throw keys up in the air, and we would have to click at the exact moment the key's hit the ground.  This was to give us an idea on how presice that timing was.

 

3.  Get yourself a little piece of hat elastic.  Loop it through the clicker and tie it off, so that you can wear the clicker (inside the palm of your hand), instead of always having to hold it.  As feeFee mentioned earlier, you just about need to be an octopus to handle dogs, and leads,  and a clicker... so the elastic trick helps.

 

:luck:   :cheers:   :luck:

 

Karen

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[~Sarah~]

I have done some clicker training with Bobby (Collie X aged eight) and Dolly (Whippet aged nearly three), although not as much as I would have liked.

They are both really keen when the clicker comes out and they definately learn quickly using this method, so I would recommend it. I don't use it at the moment at dog training where I take Dolly, but hope to when I feel able to cope with clicker, treats, the lead etc. :- "

So far I haven't taught many new things, but reinforced the basics (sit, down, on your bed etc). When Bobby was younger we taught him to roll over, and also 'play dead' and he now seems much quicker and more consistent using the clicker.

 

[fatwhippet]

( so he's not expecting me to use a choke chain !!)
Am not sure what you mean.... are you still using a correction collar, if so I wouldn't recommed turning up to training with your dog wearing one.  I would expect you instructor will only tell you not to have your dog in it the following week.

what i meant by ' not expecting me to use a choke chain' is that several classes that i visited a few years ago with a my dads lurcher wanted me to use a choke chain. i have not and never will use a choke chain on any of my dogs, whilst they have their place as a training aid i believe that they should only be used by very experienced trainers and NEVER on whippets or similar.

thanks for all the advice, :thumbsup: i am really looking forward to starting the course now, i am sure that i will make some mistakes but that is the point of going to an experienced trainers class, to learn. having talked to people on k9 and LL they have all been really positive about it. so wish us luck....... :luck:

by the way i have never heard of them being called 'correction collars' it sounds like a p.c way of making them sound generally more acceptable.

 

[Tesa]

by the way i have never heard of them being called 'correction collars' it sounds like a p.c way of making them sound generally more acceptable.

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Correction collar is quite a common name for them downunder. I don't know that it is meant to be pc. Think it is more a case of when used correctly they should correct the dog. When used incorrectly they will choke the dog. What ever the name is, I hate them, they make my skin crawl everytime I see one being used.

BTW Thanks for clarifying what you meant before about using a choke chain. Good luck with the clicker training, hope you get what you need out of it :thumbsup: :cheers:

Karen

 

[fatwhippet]

i know what you mean by making your skin crawl, too many people think that it is the only thing out there to make their dog behave, but that is so old school now.

i think that i am going to keep a blog of how we get on, should give everyone a good laugh if nothing else (w00t) Lucy, my whippet , really has no manners or training at all. at least re-tests ( for the kennel club good citizen bronze) are included in the course price, i've got a feeling that im going to get my moneys worth :b :b