Who does clicker training?

[Imsosorryalan]

I have just started today! And am totally hooked. Within an afternoon. Alan dog can now sit, lie down, stay and come
She is either pretty clever or clicker training is just amazing!!

[ajkula]

Clicker training is amazing - I've just bred a litter of pups, and each new owner has got a clicker and an acme whistle in his/her puppy pack. I think it just makes it so much easier for the dog to understand you.

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

Clicker training saved my sanity with LittleDog.

I had never done it before but he turned into the teenage dog from hell and I tried it on the advice of the doghouse and it actually works most of the time

[Cuebill]

Clicker training is fantastic - the quickest easiest way to train any animal

[driventodrink]

Cuelbill that is so cool, right I am getting my clicker back out

[SpicyPear]

Me too. Has been great with the pup, and big dog too once we'd conditioned her not to be terrified of the click!

[GoldenOrangeWhippoorwhill]

Oh I love clicker training. The two dogs I had when I discovered it were adults but learned all sorts of things. The old dog learned to yawn on command which was hysterical. The other one had a range of tricks that she would run through when she wanted something. This proved a bit of a problem when you were cooking and she was attempting to earn a bit of sausage by begging, leaping, bowing, spinning and whacking everything in sight with her paws.

It proved to be a godsend with our rescue Goldie. He wasn't nearly as bright as the girls but learned the basics very quickly and got very good at lying on his mat 'at' you.

We've been using it with Pupiranha from the start. She can sit, lie down, come when you call her, touch your hand with her nose, walk quite nicely on her lead, let go of things she is holding, make eye contact when you say her name and we are working on 'leave it' and on sitting quietly while I hold her paws and touch the nails with the nail sander and on being in the room while the nail sander in on. This is going to take some time... the sander is the scariest thing ever! Also while working on leave it I've accidentally captured a head turn with snooty look which is priceless and I'm hoping I can isolate it.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Clicker training is magic.

It's fun. It's easy for both trainer and dog. Dogs seem to learn super fast. It's very hard to get wrong.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Spicy we had to teach Whippy not be frightened of the clicker. Even now if I am teaching her something she doesn't know she has to be taught from under the safety of the dining table. Look dog is not easy to train from under a table

She's not scared of the clicker anymore. She sits the instant she sees the clicker as soon as she realises I don't want sit, I want a new behaviour, she retires to under the table. I tried to train loose lead walking with clicker. It went fantastically with puppy and Devil Dog, Whippy just hid behind me because we were outside and there was no table to hide under whilst learning the scary new command.

[Imsosorryalan]

Cuebill, I have you to thank for introducing me today we will learn chase your tail I think.
I need a number of party tricks in time for Christmas. < as my dcs don't perform anymore>

[driventodrink]

We have dusted off the clicker and drivendog can now roll over, beg and wave after 5 mins in the kitchen with the clicker and some cheese

[Cuebill]

"as my dcs don't perform any more"

Teaching limp is a great trick to impress show your friends.

If you have a hand shake or paw, ask them to give the paw when standing up rather than sitting down, then ask when you are a bit ahead of them, they tend to limp to you. Make the distance very short to start with.

I love my dogs limping into the vets surgery - well it keeps me amused

[Cuebill]

You can get quieter clickers for those dogs that are afraid of them.

[tazzle22]

*waves ... me too

and with my horses

actually do more withe the horse than the dog.

great as its a positive motivator for doing "scary " stuff

yes clicker training is amazing stuff Im

[D0oinMeCleanin]

I started out with Whippy using the clicker in my pocket, to muffle the sound a bit, she loves to be clicked for sitting now, it's new things she is scared of.

We have a lot of boxes atm, I am going to start doing 101 things to do with a box, to build her confidence up, although knowing Whippy she will be scared of the box. We've had her since 10 weeks old. She has never been shouted at or badly treat or punished in anyway. She is scared of everything from rain to wind to new toys. She used to come everywhere with us as a pup so it's not lack of socialisation. Dd2 was still in a buggy when we first got her so she would literally be with us whenever we left the house, sitting in dd2's lap in the buggy.

[Cuebill]

Thats a good idea using the clicker in your pocket. Bless her, start with a little box.

She sounds like a "what if" dog I had. But what if the box does something scary, what if I get stuck inside it, what if........... obviously a sign of very high intelligence.

Have you had your practical weeks yet Dooin at Bishop Burton?

Stealth boasting, Donkeys also love clicker training, mine eeyore for their dinner and will stand on a bucket (front legs only obviously) and do the dogs agility jumps. Our geese with twist and spin.......I just luuuuuuuurve clicker training.

My Dc's, bugger, doesn't seem to work on them

[SpicyPear]

D0oin sounds just like SpicyDog. I've trained (well, almost!) puppy to press a buzzer to be let out for the loo and thought I'd teach her too. In a week we have got as far as eating a lump of cheese off the floor near the scary buzzer. She still won't touch chicken, ham, cheese or sausage on the buzzer [sigh]

[D0oinMeCleanin]

The first one is next week Poor dd1 is devastated and has been crying in school today

[driventodrink]

Cuebill the only thing clicker training has taught my 4 DCs is that if you hear the clicker mummy is with the dog so distracted, therefore you can raid the cupboard, fridge, garage for tools and create general havoc

[Cuebill]

D0oin you will love it... poor DD1 still she will be very proud of her Mum when she qualifies. If any of the sessions clash with halfterm we know of a great cheap holiday home you could all stay in, on a farm maybe she could be bribed told of that option.

Driventodrink yep think mine have learnt that too

[RedwingWinter]

That's a great video Cuebill. My favourite bit is the birds on the nose.

I love the cats v dogs one too, especially since so many people think you can't train cats:

My husky can limp. He's very keen on shake paw and you have to watch it when he offers it unexpectedly as it can seem like he is trying to thwack you.

Dooin I hope you have a great time at Bishop Burton.

[Whippoorwhill]

Urgh, Dooin and Spicy, I think my Pupiranha is going to be like that too.

We got her at 8 1/2 weeks, she was really well socialised by the breeder, she has been gently exposed to all sorts of things and lots and lots of people. She loves people but strange places, things and sounds she just freezes or hides and shakes.

I did try 101 Things to do with a Box but so far all we've managed is hide under a chair from the nasty box and hide behind Mum from the nasty box. She did pluck up the courage to approach the box earlier in the week but Old Dog came past it and it made a noise and that was too scary.

Even going for a walk is problematic. Poo bins in the park are terrifying, trees are apparently scary, strange dogs that are bigger than her are worrying, dogs running in the distance are also bad. Car rides are the scariest thing ever.

I've never had a nervous dog before, the others have been pretty outgoing and confident in most situations. It is quite strange. She's a Curly Coated Retriever so is going to be quite a big dog and she shakes like a chiuaua when she's scared.

Is there any hope for her or do I have a big baby?

[rusmum]

ok whats clicker training?

[RedwingWinter]

You use a clicker to make a 'click' sound when the dog does the right thing, and follow it up with a treat. The advantage of the clicker is that it enables you to mark the behaviour very quickly, so the dog gets good feedback when it does the right thing. So basically it's training based on positive reinforcement.

Kikopup has a good video that explains it:

[QuietTiger]

We clicker with the dogs, horses and cats. Clicker with cats is not quite as effective as a food motivated dog, as the cats look at you with a "WTF? The expect me to do WHAT?" and then walk away!

Our sheep dog puppy learned to sit in 5 minutes flat. Cheese as a reward will do that!

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Dd2 is clicker training our cat. She's taught him to jump onto her bed on command and lay down on a pillow up to now.

I've been encouraging her to do it at meal times and use his actual meal, so he is hungry enough to perform for her.