Pets Information
 
Web World-SuperSite

Dog Clicker Training


Dog clicker training is so much fun for both dogs and people that the training part just slips in! Dog clicker training gets the dog to figure out what you want, making it an enjoyable game.

This wonderful, cruelty-free method is revolutionizing dog training!

Have you tried it yet? It's quite easy to learn at a basic level, and once you and your dog get the habit, it can be used for many enjoyable tricks as well as for all the essentials of training. Clickers are inexpensive and widely available at pet stores and on the internet.

Here's how you might do a short dog clicker training session (and short sessions work best for the dogs' learning):

1. You have a clicker in your hand, and some small treats in a pocket or nearby. The treats can be small pieces of dry dog food, commercial dog treats, tiny pieces of cheese, or anything you know your dog likes to eat. You have chosen what you are going to train for this session... let's say it's "sit."

2. Your dog wanders over, for whatever reason. He happens to lift his head up, and you click the clicker and give him a treat.

3. Now you've got his attention. Let's say he happens to sit. You immediately click and give him a large "jackpot" treat because he's done exactly what you want -- even though he didn't know you wanted it.

4. After some more rewards when he happens to do something that is either the behavior you want or part of it, he gets the idea that yummy treats come when he does certain things. He may offer you a variety of behaviors. Just reward the ones that you want in this context.

5. If he doesn't sit because he is too excited by the treats, you could hold a treat over his head, so far back that he would sit (or even make a motion toward sitting) and then you could click that. Try to click at the very moment that he does what you want.

Once he definitely has the idea that sitting brings a treat (which might be more than one session), you can begin to use the word "sit" -- timing it so you say it just before you think he is about to sit. He still does the sitting because in his mind, sitting and treats are connected, but after he has heard the word 'sit" in that context enough times, he'll get the idea.

This is exactly how I trained my Basenji to sit in the first week we had her as a puppy. It was the first time I had trained a dog to sit without endlessly shoving on its rear -- and it got me hooked on dog clicker training!

Clicker training is a relatively new method for working with dogs. Dolphin trainer Karen Pryor began using the process with dogs. It has rapidly spread in popularity as its effectiveness has been proven -- with young puppies, with "problem dogs," with countless dogs in a great variety of situations. It's based solidly on scientific principles of how animals learn.

Rosana Hart is a longtime dog owner who has clickers and little bags of treats in several rooms of her house and in a bunch of her jackets. Her dogs think that they have trained her! You can find out more about clicker training and about other pain-free, positive dog training methods at her website http://www.training-dogs.com.


MORE RESOURCES:

Mortgage meltdown results in pets going to pound
CNN - 12 hours ago
With foreclosures disrupting life, from the family house down to the dog house, and as Americans toil through a tough economic landscape, some of their pets ...
Pet of the Week: Calie Tampa Bay's 10
Humane Society of St Lucie County established fund to save special ... Fort Pierce Tribune
all 4 news articles


Homeless Pets Finding Families at Petland Stores Nationwide
MarketWatch - 7 hours ago
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio, Nov 21, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The results of Petland's Adopt-A-PetSM survey mean good news for homeless pets at Petland stores ...


San Francisco Chronicle

Would you choose your pet over your partner?
San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - 9 hours ago
In a study of 900 pet parents by BizRate Research, women said they had a deeper emotional connection with their pets than men did. ...


Ask Vet: Holidays can be stressful for pets
Knoxville News Sentinel, TN - 1 hour ago
However, our time of celebration can sometimes be stressful for our pets. Thanksgiving is the holiday with the highest travel rate; the highways and airways ...
A Recommended Sales and Use Tax Proposed by Governor ... MarketWatch
all 6 news articles


Soldier's home burns; pets saved (8:28 am)
Las Cruces Sun-News, NM - 3 hours ago
Collazo said his son was at school when the fire broke out, and the family's 20 pets -- including two ferrets, two dogs and several turtles, mice and fish ...


Times Online

Presidential Pets
The Santa Barbara Independent, CA - 15 hours ago
Of those pets, 3 million-4 million are euthanized. If the Obamas decide to choose a shelter dog, it will send the right message to the country. ...
Video: Raw Video: Obama Girls in Washington AssociatedPress
The FABULOUS First PETS! Deccan Herald
Presidential Pooch Pick Offers Peek Into Policy Bloomberg
Tampa Bay Newspapers - Norwich Bulletin
all 409 news articles


ABC News

Store Accused Of Selling 'Puppy Mill' Pets
WYFF, SC - Nov 20, 2008
GREENVILLE, SC -- A national pet store chain is under fire tonight accused of selling puppies that come from "puppy mills." The Humane Society of the United ...
Video: AP Top Stories AssociatedPress
Investigation reveals Petland Inc. is biggest retailer of puppy ... Examiner.com
Petland Pet Stores Linked to Inhumane Puppy Mills Associated Content
Consumer Affairs - Los Angeles Times
all 247 news articles


Newseum to Host Inaugural Special Opening
MarketWatch - Nov 20, 2008
"First Dogs: American Presidents and Their Pets" features photographs and anecdotes about more than two dozen dogs and their owners, including George ...


Pets in peace: Burial options when we lose our furry friends
Vital VOICE, MO - 12 hours ago
In St. Louis there is not an abundance of pet cemeteries, but there are a few. There are also a few crematoriums should a pet owner choose cremation. ...


Family Time: Save pets from holiday stress
Norwich Bulletin, CT - 8 hours ago
If possible, try to exercise your pet, especially dogs, before guests come over to help decrease any hyperactivity and stress. - Consider leashing your dog ...

Pets - Google News

home | site map
© 2006