How Clicker Training a Puppy Works
The good news is that when a puppy or a dog you apply the same concepts to both; you mark good behavior with a click and a treat or praise (basically some form of reward for your dog).
A dog clicker is usually a small plastic device with a large button in the center when you press and depress this button the device releases an audible click, hence the name clicker. This sound is what you’ll use to mark your puppy with when they do what you command or show good behavior while you’re clicker training a puppy.
With both clicker training a puppy or a dog clicker training the dog clicker should be kept handy at all times so you can use it at any point in time. You will need to keep it handy because you never know when you’ll need it to mark your puppy’s good behavior.
When clicker training a puppy you use the sound that the clicker makes to mark your puppy’s good behavior at the very instance that they do it. You then follow this up with a “good boy” or a tasty treat. Keep doing this and over time your puppy will want you to click the clicker because he knows what he gets if you do. By this I mean that your puppy will do as he is told and not do the undesired things that puppies and dogs usually do like taking food from the kitchen side or ripping up your slippers or magazines.
Whilst clicker training a puppy to approve of their good behavior you should only use it for this reason, if you start associating the clicker with when your puppy is bad then he will never know the difference and the time and effort you’ve put into training your puppy with a clicker so far will have been wasted. When clicker training a puppy you should only ever use it to reward the good.
All in all and puppies is very simple and easy to integrate into your dogs lifestyle and it shouldn’t disrupt their environment that much. To initially introduce your dog to the clicker I would suggest that you click at the point of every single piece of the good behavior your dog performs and immediately give him a treat along with some praise. Over time the process of clicker training your dog or puppy will become instinctive but make sure that when you start you stick to it and stay consistent. If you use the clicker all the time for both good and bad behavior you may has well not have bothered to begin with.
Clicker training is a great way to reinforce your dogs good behavior positively by utilizing your dogs natural psychological tendencies to make him learn what he should be doing and what he shouldn’t. This method of dog and puppy training does work and it has been proven many times however the owner of the dog introducing the clicker, once started, should keep using at all times.
You should aim to get to a point with your clicker training a puppy efforts where the clicker will be no longer needed and if you set out to use the clicker to mark your dogs good behavior you should find that it won’t take long for your dog to not need to hear the sound of a click and just your voice will be enough to steer him in the right direction.
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Mar 28, 2010 | 0 | Clicker Training Dogs
