Thoughts on clicker training please

[Maggie Mul]

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So I see to be on here quite a lot at the moment.

So brief background. 4 month old puppy - had her since 7 weeks. Probably left Mum too early but situation meant we needed to take her then and offer a better environment. She has a few issues going on which we are trying to deal with. We have trained basic commands and when there is some yummy chicken around she is great during training. When there isn't, she pretty much does her own thing and listening skills are inconsistent! Is it too late for me to introduce a clicker to her? I have read a lot about them and watched many kiko-up videos and she uses on. I feel that if our pup could associate the noise of the clicker with something positive then it would help her a lot. I try to make a noise or say yes, but don't feel it is as effective....N0t sure if it is too late to try and introduce this to her now?? Or with everything else she is dealing with, whether this would be one more thing for her to deal with. Any thoughts?

 

[JoanneF]

I started using a clicker when my dog was 7. We had been attending scentwork training with an amazing trainer and decided, for fun, to do a trick training day with them. With tricks rather than scentwork, the marker of the good behaviour has to be timed much more accurately so she suggested we try it. And it has been very useful. So no, it definitely isn't too late.

To practise your timing, try watching tv and when anyone uses a certain word, click it. It's a great exercise to fine tune your timing!

 

[Kayak]

Clicker training is just teaching the dog that the click means "good dog", that's all. It's a quicker way to let the dog know what they've done is what you wanted, and there's going to be a reward.

It's never too late

 

[Violet Turner]

You can use clicker training with any age dog all dogs in the end get the gist of it after a while, especially when they know a treats coming.

 

[arealhuman]

Yep, we used a clicker with ours who's around 7 years old. Due to the amount of things I have in my hands, I now resort to saying "good boy" and treating him or making a click noise. It seems to work most of the time.

@Maggie Mul - we have the some fun and games with selective hearing wanting higher value treats!

 

[Violet Turner]

I do not use clicker training with Olive because i find she is more of a foodie than a clicker dog, but i used clicker training for our cockapoo and she was great on it!

 

[Kayak]

Clickers are usually used in conjunction with food rewards

 

[Violet Turner]

Clickers are usually used in conjunction with food rewards

Olive wont listen to the clicker only the fact i have food, i tried both, clicker by its self and the treats by itself and she learns more from the treats, in my opinion.

 

[JoanneF]

Olive wont listen to the clicker only the fact i have food, i tried both, clicker by its self and the treats by itself and she learns more from the treats, in my opinion.

It isn't "either/or" though. The clicker marks the instant the behaviour is done, then the treat is the reward.

 

[Violet Turner]

It isn't "either/or" though. The clicker marks the instant the behaviour is done, then the treat is the reward.

i don't see how it works though. i just think treats are a quicker option in my mind.

 

[JoanneF]

Then sorry, but you are not doing it correctly then. If I ask for a 'down' for example, the nanosecond that the dog's chest touches the floor is when you click. You then reward. You couldn't physically put a treat in his mouth quicker. That is what the whole principle is based on - marking the instant the behaviour occurs, so the dog finds it easier to understand exactly what behaviour you want.

 

[Violet Turner]

Then sorry, but you are not doing it correctly then. If I ask for a 'down' for example, the nanosecond that the dog's chest touches the floor is when you click. You then reward. You couldn't physically put a treat in his mouth quicker. That is what the whole principle is based on - marking the instant the behaviour occurs, so the dog finds it easier to understand exactly what behaviour you want.

yeah, but when olives tummy touches the floor i say 'down' then 'good girl' then i give her the treat. i don't see how *I'm doing it incorrectly** ?

 

[JoanneF]

Well you are using a marker word (good girl) instead of a click so the word is instantaneous rather than the treat. So your post where you said

treats are a quicker option

is not actually reflective of the behaviour marking.

 

[Violet Turner]

Well you are using a marker word (good girl) instead of a click so the word is instantaneous rather than the treat. So your post where you said
is not actually reflective of the behaviour marking.

how isn't it reflective of the behaviour?

 

[JoanneF]

You said you reward on the behaviour which is different from marking the behaviour. But you then said in your next post that you do in fact mark the behaviour with a word. So i think you are carrying out marking and rewarding, you just were unclear how you put it.

 

[Violet Turner]

You said you reward on the behaviour which is different from marking the behaviour. But you then said in your next post that you do in fact mark the behaviour with a word. So i think you are carrying out marking and rewarding, you just were unclear how you put it.

okay i should word it better?

 

[JoanneF]

No it's fine.

 

[Violet Turner]

No it's fine.

Okay!

 

[JudyN]

I suggest you go and read up on clicker training, @Violet Turner because it's never going to work without treats. It's very powerful if done correctly. Try here for starters: https://clickertraining.com/get-started?source=hpsb

 

[Violet Turner]

I suggest you go and read up on clicker training, @Violet Turner because it's never going to work without treats. It's very powerful if done correctly. Try here for starters: https://clickertraining.com/get-started?source=hpsb

okay thanks i have read through and i still don't think its for us, my other half said he will have a go, but I'm not sure Olive would understands it. I think i just need advice and help on how to start off. can i use a pen click to start off with?