# Is clicker training everything it's cracked up to be?



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Pure clicker training.... I don't really care for.

If you use some concepts from clicker training (think about it as freezing the moment when your dog does something right on command or on his own and really jackpot-capitalizing on it), I do think you can be very successful with your dog.


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## olliversmom (Mar 13, 2013)

I never used a clicker, so I cant say.
My last dog Homer was excellent off lead, would leave any situation at my call.
I trained him myself with consistent praise. 
That's all it took with him. 
Olliver is just short of 7 months and I have been walking him in controlled off lead areas. He will hike a good mile with me and stop on a dime when asked to wait. But we are in well viewable woods, where I can see way ahead and be on alert for potential distractions. He is trained with food rewards.
But he and Homer are different pups. It will be a while until I will fully trust Ollie for 100% recall.

I think, whether clicker or food or praise rewards, its all about your bond with the dog.
By now, I know every look, every motion Olliver will make. I have watched him intently for 5 months and know his body language. I think the more you hike/play/train with your dog, the more you get inside his head and the greater you can predict and control his movements.


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## sdhgolden (Aug 13, 2012)

I think clicker training is great for teaching new behaviors/tricks. It helps to mark exactly what you want your dog to do so it takes some of the guess work out for your dog. They catch on faster. I don't use clicker training for everything. Just some things. Like perfecting something my dog isn't doing exactly right. 


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I use clickers and love them. They are used to mark a rewardable behavior - nothing more. It truly helps your dog learn what is rewardable but also makes you (the trainer) more alert to breaking down each exercise and building slowly.

A clicker is not magic and you still needs hundreds or thousands of repetitions in different locations before your dog truly understands any cue. But your dogs does learn what behaviour is wanted quicker.

A solid recall (your dog coming to you under any circumstance) takes a lot of work, high rewards and is never complete - my (almost) 13 year old still gets rewarded most recalls - not always but most times. Same with my 1 year old and both my 5 year olds - all clicker trained, all obedience, rally, agility & companion dogs. So yes, clickers are a valuable training tool 

I hike with the dogs off lead. This morning they recalled off some fun deer chasing while off lead. I always have treats on me while hiking and they are rewarded with play or treats whenever they check in and at certain spots to build the habit of waiting for direction ... but bottom line is you need to use tools that you believe in.


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## USAFWife74 (Jan 13, 2013)

I used clicker with Ellie. She was abused and she learned positive behavior faster than just using voice. When we started working towards CGC, I went on voice alone. Now that she's doing service work, if I'm working a new task, I use the clicker. It's just easier to shape and mark positive behaviors that you normally wouldn't ask a dog to be doing. Lol. Example, she's working on lights on, lights off. She's never been asked to jump on the wall, why now? lol it's just less confusing for her...it helps her know exactly that what's she's doing is positive.




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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

For us, the clicker is great for simple behaviors that are easy to mark and for behaviors that I want to shape. I haven't used it for things like recalls. There just doesn't seem to be a natural point to click. Instead, when the dog arrives he gets a treat. No click needed.


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## Colie CVT (Sep 15, 2013)

Sunrise I think summed it up nicely. I've never used clicker training myself. I use a verbal marker rather than the mechanical click. Just what I've always done and am used to. It's a tool like many other things that we use.

But I wanted to chime in and say, the best way for a recall I've found is constantly rewarding when they come to you, whether you call them or not! This has worked very well with any dog that my roommate and I have been working with out hiking in the foothills. Any time they check in, they're praised and get a treat. When we call them, they're praised and get a treat. Thankfully having a large group of dogs doing it helps teach the new kid too lol.

One big thing to avoid is never to discipline your dog when you call them to you. It will make them wary of coming. A friend of mine was really bad with it, so her dog is less willing to come to her compared with us. She's working with him, but the damage has been pretty well done sadly. :/


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## Glassbuttercup (Jan 22, 2012)

Colie CVT said:


> But I wanted to chime in and say, the best way for a recall I've found is constantly rewarding when they come to you, whether you call them or not! This has worked very well with any dog that my roommate and I have been working with out hiking in the foothills. Any time they check in, they're praised and get a treat. When we call them, they're praised and get a treat. Thankfully having a large group of dogs doing it helps teach the new kid too lol.
> 
> I agree, when I start letting my dogs off leash in the desert I reward them every time they come back to me regardless of if I call them back or not. I've never had a dog so far (knock on wood) that has not had a solid recall


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## spruce (Mar 13, 2008)

We r going to a basic obedience class we took 4 years ago (same facility). No more clickers!! Just a consistent verbal (yes, good) paired with treat


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## Lucylulu (Aug 4, 2013)

So great to hear all this!! Thanks everyone!! How do the dogs know that the click is a positive sound? That's really interesting to me and I should read up on it.


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## Colie CVT (Sep 15, 2013)

That's what I have been seeing too, Stephanie! My roommate is a dog trainer and we offer boarding out of our house (such a zoo!), and we can take certain long term client dogs places with them off leash reliably with this method! Also having our core pack used to this and very responsive helps too.  If you are always associated with something awesome, why wouldn't they want to come to you?


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## JBJ Goldens (Dec 16, 2012)

Yep use them and love them and yes I believe it teaches the dog what you want quicker since its an instant thing and they learn quicker due to that. I have used it for obedience and also for hunt training and love it for both. I forgot to add I actually teach everything with it including conformation training also. 

Jana


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## USAFWife74 (Jan 13, 2013)

Lucylulu said:


> So great to hear all this!! Thanks everyone!! How do the dogs know that the click is a positive sound? That's really interesting to me and I should read up on it.


They learn it's positive by rewarding at each click initially. Click, reward, Click, reward. You'll see them begin to look for it when the click is heard. The light bulb goes on.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Clicker training is superlative for people with good timing. It marks a correct behavior so quickly, and gives time to deliver a reward. Dogs become operant, and begin to offer behaviors in order to get to click, and are such joyful learners. It is easy to transition away from the clicker for a known behavior, and makes teaching new ones a snap. We have tremendous success with the clicker. I spent an hour this morning working on show skills with puppy Mystic, and we both had a blast and made solid progress. I do not believe in using pain or fear to train a dog.


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## codemonkey19 (Sep 10, 2013)

I only have Polly for about a week now and started to teach her some basic commands such as sit, wait and down. So far, I've use clicker training to do this and so far I've seen fast results. If you're going to use the clicker just make sure you always associate it with a reward so it does not lose its value to the dog


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I thought I would give a clicker example from a few minutes ago. My Brady turned a year old last month and while he has many basics, I start a new online class in a few weeks and one of the pre-assignments is to have your dog paw touch a door or cabinet drawer with enough force to shut it. 

So I used a dresser with a swinging door to the left of the drawers; behind the door there are shelves. I opened the door and in probably less than 5 minutes he was slamming that door shut after exploring the options of getting on the rocking ottoman (pretty funny really since it rocks very easily), touching & then pawing the video tripod, poking to see the shelves, then nose bopping the door, then paw touching the door, then closing the door. All this in a short period of time, a clicker and less than 1 stick of string cheese. 

Does he know it? No, and then I have to generalize it (he does already know teeter bang but Silvia Trkman wants a door bang so .. ) but he went through a lot of choices and narrowed down the correct choices pretty quickly without needing any luring or prompting. Behaviors that the dog volunteers and figures out on his own are thought to be more readily retained and less prone to extinction - and can be shaped to amazing precision by rewarding higher effort and more precision.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

I have an experience with clickers that's similar to Sunrise's and LJilly's. They are extraordinary for teaching because your dog learns to offer behaviors and really learns how to learn.

A clicker works because it's a unique, precise sound that you pair with a real reward (like a treat). You click at right at the moment the dog executes what you want, and then you follow up with the reward. For example, when you're teaching sit, you click and treat when the dog's butt touches the ground. The click helps the dog grasp exactly what part of the behavior led to the treat.

And then you can shape from there, for example, only giving a click and treat after the butt has hit the ground and the dog holds the sit for a second, then two seconds, then three, etc. That's one way you can use it to teach more complex or difficult behaviors: by breaking down the elements.

There are many methods that incorporate the clicker. We tend to use it for shaping complex behaviors or teaching dogs to be less afraid of something, but I don't typically use it for proofing (i.e., making learned behaviors more reliable).

You can do something very similar to clicking, btw, by saying "yes!" where you would click. The clicker has the advantage of being a unique sound that's very precise and identical each time, which is clearer for the dog, while "yes" has the advantage of being hands-free.


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## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

I agree with what everyone has said. Clickers are great training tools that allow precise timing and clear communication. 

I just wanted to add another reason I LOVE clicker training (because I don't think it was mentioned yet). I have a very insecure golden who's afraid of most objects and reactive. With the use of the clicker we've been able to slowly create a more confident dog. Because he relates the sound of the clicker to something positive, when he moves toward a "scary" object and we click, he starts to develop a more positive association with the object. We can shape this, slowly getting him closer and closer to the object. 

My favorite thing about the clicker is the clarity that it provides. As handlers there are so many ways for us to have a miss-communication with our dogs - whether its timing, not having a clear marker, etc. My current trainer is actually going to introduce me and my dog to another clicker type of tool that works in the opposite way of a clicker. It's used to mark bad behaviors that we want to eliminate. Its supposed to provide the dog with a clear message that this behavior is not acceptable, but does so without using punishment. I hope that having these two very clear modes of communication will really help my dog understand exactly what I want him to do.


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## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

Love love love clicker training. My first time using it was 8 years ago and there were no classes here that used it. So I went to an obedience class with it and never really got the true benefits. I wasn't very skilled at it and the trainer disliked it. 7 years ago we had clicker class, but still early on in the collective skill of our area. Now we have a great training facility where she uses nothing but clickers and there are tons of books and youtube videos. Training Pearl as a pup, really shaping her behavior has been awesome. It also has helped a lot to train her for rafting by shaping her behavior to have fun with unstable and slippery surfaces. It helps build a bond with the dog that is amazing too, talk about a relationship. There is no "training", it is all just fun and games! I recommend "control unleashed-puppy"

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## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

A big difference with clicker type training and shaping is that you are teaching your dog to seek out the correct behavior and figure it out themselves. Then you name it. What a great brain molding experience! As opposed to a dog waiting for a command, or more simply responding to you. There is so much more to it than teaching obedience, it's like a brain jungle-gym.

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## Lucylulu (Aug 4, 2013)

All of this is great... I might just try it...


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Let us know how it goes!


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## Lucylulu (Aug 4, 2013)

I bought a clicker yesterday, tried teaching my dog a new behavior like shake. Not sure how well that went! My dog just stared at me with a funny face. Maybe tonight we'll try again. I just wonder if she'll think that "click" means shake instead of knowing it's a general good sound for the good behavior. Hahaha. Tonight we try again.


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## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

Make sure to read up first you,'be got to train her to know it is a positive mark. 
Shake is a tough one, I'd think you achieve it by shaping after she's good with the clicker and other shaping exercises. Go by through commands she knows to get her familiar with it. And read about shaping. If you jump ahead too fast you are most likely to fail. 

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## Lucylulu (Aug 4, 2013)

lhowemt said:


> Make sure to read up first you,'be got to train her to know it is a positive mark.
> Shake is a tough one, I'd think you achieve it by shaping after she's good with the clicker and other shaping exercises. Go by through commands she knows to get her familiar with it. And read about shaping. If you jump ahead too fast you are most likely to fail.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


This is an excellent idea. Getting her to do what she already knows with several other commands so she knows it's a "good sound" for "good behavior" and not a command specific sound  I'm really excited about this


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## USAFWife74 (Jan 13, 2013)

Definitely keep reading up on it. It took a bit of just clicking and rewarding before Ellie associated it. Building blocks of foundation. Skipping steps can cause confusion. Good luck!


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## dgmama (Nov 29, 2012)

I clicker trained my highly reactive male golden. He's completely changed, we have zero issues now. I do think people tend to use them too long instead of fading out the clicker and moving on. It's like they get stuck.

I don't use it anymore, unless I'm teaching a new behaviour. If I like what Diego is doing, and he already knows it, I just praise him, pat him on the back, or occasionally give him the best reward of all, a treat or tennis ball.

But yeah, clickers are great!!


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## swhome247 (Oct 22, 2013)

I'm thinking of reading up on this as well and trying it out instead of just "yes" and treats (which work well for my 9 week old). But, I'd like to try this!


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

I use clicker training, and I really like it. As some already said before once your dog gets how it works you can be very precise in capturing new behaviors you want to train for, giving you a little more time to deliver a reward. We don't continue to click once he already is fluent in the particular command, instead we just make sure to deliver a reward that we can then start phasing out over time. Having said that, you can achieve the same result without a clicker if you're very consistent and alert to give another signal of approval at the right time. Example, some people use a nice cheerful YES! instead of a click and it works for them.


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## Wenderwoman (Jan 7, 2013)

I used the clicker a lot when she was a really young puppy (first 6 months) and I do think it helped, particularly with her leash training because it would keep her focused on listening for a click (and me) and I could also catch the good moments easier using the clicker. I've gotten away from the clicker now that's she's older though and has a good sense of when she's being praised and scolded.

I actually really like the clicker and I keep thinking that I should go back to carrying it around. She's very attentive when she knows there's a clicker around because she knows treats are around and she is VERY food motivated.


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## Hyzerdad (Jan 15, 2014)

I just started with Clicker training for Hyzer (12 weeks) and I've used it some in the past but I found through recent research a few things that has really improved it.

Dogs have the hardest time with verbal commands. They seem to learn much easier with hand signals. I started Hyzer with no commands at all. I just lure him with the treat into a sit (click), down (click), eye contact (Click). I praise after I click but I was amazed how how fast he figured it out. I had a 30 second down and was able to walk around him in a circle in our kitchen without him moving. 

I think it's the easiest way to communicate something new to your dog.

I only used the lure at his nose 4-5 times. Then I just used my hand and pretended the lure was there. After a click I'd take a treat from my other hand or off a bowl on the counter.

After he starts to get it I start putting the hand motion that I want. For instance. Down was my hand palm down swing in a down motion. I started the whole thing luring him all the way to the ground with a tread, then without, then with my hand palm down, then palm down halfway to the floor, then higher and higher until I was standing and did the palm down motion for a down. 

After that I start saying the word "Down", then doing the hand motions. Before long he should be able to realize that the word down means the same thing as the hand signal. It's all a chain. And if something isn't working you just go back down the chain a link or two and work back up.


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## Burd (Aug 11, 2011)

I use a clicker when working with Dixie. She responds very well to it, and seems to catch on a lot faster as well when we're working on teaching a specific trick or behavior. 

I don't use a clicker for recall (because I don't know when exactly to click XD When she's coming? When she arrives?). For recall, it's very high praise and either treats or a quick game of tug as a reward. She's rewarded everytime she comes when called. 
I don't call her to me for bathtime or anything that's not enjoyable to her. If I did, she would think that my calling her to come might mean something 'bad' and she may not come. "Come" always means something super awesome once she reaches me.

Condensed, I LOVE CLICKER TRAINING.  I use it when working with her around other dogs (she's DA but getting better!!), when we encounter an object she may show fear of, etc. She's more focused, overcomes her fears quickly, and it's just really fun to use.


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## ARBaumann (Dec 22, 2013)

I cant at all think up one situation where clickers DON'T help!


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

I've used the clicker a bit with Mr. Darcy and he has caught on to concepts of behavior much faster. We have an attention exercise...hold the treat out to the side and when they make eye contact with you, reward. He would glance at me, then back at the treat. By the time I said good, he was looking at the treat again. When I started clicking the glance at me...marking that behavior...and then giving the treat, he caught on in a matter of minutes.

I use it for everything. We have clickers laying all over the house and bowls of Cheerios. Sometimes he gets a click for laying on the floor, doing nothing. We reinforce that behavior. ;-)

He starts a trainer-led clicker class tonight. So far, I've just been doing a little on my own.

Penny didn't care about the clicker but then she caught on to the concepts really fast so for her a click was a distraction. I gave up after just a few times. 

Try it and see how it goes.


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

Ljilly28;3427850[B said:


> ]Clicker training is superlative for people with good timing.[/B] It marks a correct behavior so quickly, and gives time to deliver a reward. Dogs become operant, and begin to offer behaviors in order to get to click, and are such joyful learners. It is easy to transition away from the clicker for a known behavior, and makes teaching new ones a snap. We have tremendous success with the clicker. I spent an hour this morning working on show skills with puppy Mystic, and we both had a blast and made solid progress. I do not believe in using pain or fear to train a dog.


I haven't read the whole thread so forgive me if this has already been mentioned. I think the key is timing. I am so not fast enough with the clicker that I was constantly clicking at the wrong time and Max was looking at me like "why did you do that?" If you aren't good with the timing, I think you end up confusing your dog.


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## shepherdpal (Oct 8, 2013)

I used a clicker with my 5 year old GSD as a pup and it worked great, but it is a matter of timing, capturing the exact moment the pup does the right thing and then they know the reward is coming.

I am using the same concept with Pippin who is now 14 weeks, but using my voice, (a very happy YES) at the time I would click and the results are the same as if I used a clicker. He has easily learned "sit, down, stay, shake hands, and speak" this way.


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## Anon-2130948gsoni (Apr 12, 2014)

Another clicker advocate here--I first used it in a class with my hound mix 12 years ago, then got distracted by life and sort of forgot about it. Five years later I was in another clicker class with my reactive Aussie puppy. The first time I clicked it in the house, my hound boy, who hadn't heard a clicker in five years and was asleep on another floor of the house, sprinted to find me. That's when I got the clicker religion, so to speak!

I use hand signals and a marker word ("yessss!!!") for just reinforcement during the daily stuff (waiting for meals, going to their place, etc. etc.) but I take the clicker on every walk now because I'm working with my Border Collie on not stalking/wanting to chase cars. He had gotten really bad about it and trying to convince a BC to ignore rapidly moving objects once they're fixated is HARD. But with the clicker, the second I see him spot the car, I click, which turns his attention to me, and then I click again. At this point, about a month in, he's 80% reliable on staying in a down and keeping his attention on me as a car goes by, which is a huge improvement.

Every dog is different (my niece's 90 pound bulldog was terrified of the clicker, so we went to a marker word immediately!) and everyone has to figure out what works best for them, I think.


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## Nanoguy (Aug 2, 2013)

I found some great videos on youtube on clicker training.....definitely worth watching for those who are interested.


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

I am not a fan of clicker training. I took our newest pup to a series of classes for obedience that was a clicker based class. Having already been through 5 puppies in the past with obedience classes where we learned how to use pinch collars for obedience training. I found clicker training to be way to slow and I feel like it was a waste of time. 

I would not ever recommend clicker training without taking a class with your dog to teach obedience using this method! And then don't expect to have the dog through basic obedience at the end of the training program. Most still had a ways to go in our class.

When you get frustrated find a class that uses a pinch collar and get on with it!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Another viewpoint 

I used to be a traditional based trainer and indeed still have a micro prong and a few gold show choke collars - I have transitioned over the years to clicker and R+ based training.

And have been fairly successful in guiding my dogs through obedience (my oldest has 1 UD leg and will be competing more this summer), agility (running in Master level), Rally and my oldest has a JH. With multiple dogs, working full time and owning a home with all that entails, I simply had to drop something and hunt test training lost  so I will not be going further in field.

It is the trainer more than the method - fair, consistent and building in progressive stages will get you the degree of training you want with your dog.

Good luck, have fun and enjoy the training process - it builds an incredible bond regardless of which tools you end up using - or which combination of tools.

I personally love watching my dogs figure out what earns then reward (even if only the opportunity to continue) .


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## Anon-2130948gsoni (Apr 12, 2014)

Again, every dog is different. My shy, very soft herding breed rescue dogs would have shut down or worse with a pinch collar, let alone corrections.

There is no right way for every dog or every owner, so what ever works for you and your dog.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I guess the very interesting thing that I experienced while starting up with a private trainer in my area... she started the first class very tentatively while explaining her methodology. She is a very positive trainer. I know she uses corrections (I've seen her in action all these years) and she even described resorting to using ear pinching on a sheltie who otherwise could not be convinced to take a dumbbell in its mouth. But she will overwhelmingly use treats, toys, games, and clicker training methods to work with her dogs and teach her students. She's a very happy trainer. Her dogs always look happy. 

I basically found myself in a very comfortable happy place while taking classes with her, because pretty much many of the training methods she uses and described - I already KNEW and used all of them. She even used the same term for the pop corrections which I use - "chain rattling". 

There's a couple people in my area who are fairly harsh with the training methods they use. She referred vaguely to them, and I know EXACTLY who they are. I described people ear-pinching dogs until they screamed in class. 

The private trainer wanted to make sure that while she wanted me to attend group classes in our area and maintain the level of training with distractions, she did not want me going to class to those specific people. 

She knows both of my regular instructors and has "shared" students with them for a long time. And at least for the one instructor (Adele), she's picked up ideas and learned from her as well. 

And that kinda describes for you the split between the types of trainers out there, even on the "balanced" side. 

That split isn't based on clicker training. Everyone seems to use some kind of form of clicker training even those instructors which I was warned to stay away from. 

And if done right, it speeds up the way the dogs learn. I use verbal markers - which a lot of people do.


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## Stay_Golden (Jun 10, 2014)

Clicker training is negotiable with dogs as there are so many other methods. I think the thing that proves it's effectiveness is it's success with other animals. There is no other way to train whales or dolphins. You can't beat or pinch collar a rabbit or bird. If clicker training can make animals that can simply swim, fly or scurry away from you eager and receptive, I think that is proof of it's value.

It's operant conditioning. You can use a light instead of a "click" with fish. You can use removing yourself as the reward with people-shy llamas. The book "Don't Shoot the Dog" made me realize you can clicker train your kids. I clicked my little boy into holding my hand consistently so I could take him to Disney when he was way too young. It worked, he did it but, Disney is pretty awful so--- meh. Also, everyone thought I was nuts so, I rarely mention it, lol.

I clicker trained my GSD to run on a treadmill and to "perimeter" the interior of our house (walk through each room and then sit at the front door as soon as we got home from a walk.) I clicker trained him to accept new dogs when I lived w/ roomies by clicking and treating him when we came a bit closer, bit by bit, every day. 

My husband's rescued conure (who was cage-bound and we thought possibly hopeless) was clicked to fly on command, do pirouettes and retrieve colored rings into a yogurt container. He was also clicked to hold a straw in one talon and "conduct the orchestra." He gives high-fives and does other stuff but, I'm getting redundant.

I think it's invaluable. I think you have to be good with timing though, and know how to shape. Want the bird/dog/rabbit/ostrich/walrus to pick up the ball? Click it/treat for just looking at the ball at first. Then click it/treat for moving it's head towards the ball. 

I could go on, as I'm extremely passionate about this subject. However, my husband will be home soon, and he may have wine so--- I have to find the clicker.  

It works brilliantly on people!


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