About Clicker Training
Photo by Terri Tepper
One of the challenges in training an animal is communicating exactly when the animal has done the behavior we want. As a simple example, consider teaching a dog to back up. At the instant that the dog moves backwards, the trainer must let the dog know that it has done the correct thing. By clicking at that point, the dog knows it was the right thing, and there’ll be a reward forthcoming.
Photo by Terri Tepper
Rules of Clicker Training
Dogs are very quick to accept the rules of clicker training but people are a little slower! Breaking the rules results in dogs learning that the clicker is confusing and best ignored. The rules are:- Never use the clicker to get your dog’s attention.
- A reward always follows a click. Even if you click by accident or at the wrong moment you must reward your dog.
- Only click once. If you want to give your dog a big reward, follow the click with a jackpot(several really good treats). The click tells the dog what it has done right, the reward tells the dog that it was worth doing right.
- Only train for very short periods of time (3 to 5 minutes)- clicker training is mentally tiring (sometimes for people as well as dogs) and it is easy to push your dog too far when you are enjoying seeing your dog really using his brain. Let him rest after each session to absorb the new exercise.
- Never get angry when things go wrong.