Clicker puppy training:
Clicker puppy training is one of the simplest and most effective ways to train a dog. Clicker dog training is used by professional trainers across the world - but it's perfectly easy for you to learn to do it at home! With only a little practice, you can teach your puppy all the basic cues such as sit, drop or down, stay and come with just a click. Become a super trainer and click your way to a well-behave, super-obedient puppy! On this page: Why use a clicker? Let your puppy know when he's done something right - quickly and simply! Clicker puppy training How to use a clicker to get your puppy to do the right thing - every time Putting it all together! Put together all you've learned so far about clicker puppy training and get on to training your puppy! Why use a clicker?
This simply means that you let the dog know when it has done something right. Sounds pretty obvious, doesn't it! But it's amazing how often we humans expect our dogs to instinctively know what we want them to do. And when they do it, we often forget to let them know that they've done the right thing. How do you feel if someone gives you a little praise if you do something right? Proud and happy! And it makes you more likely to do the right thing again. So when your puppy does something right, mark the behaviour by using clicker puppy training techniques or by using a marker word. Immediately reward the dog. Very soon your dog will associate the word or click with a reward. Gradually, as the dog becomes used to the cue and performs the behaviour reliably, you can use the clicker on its own and only reward at a later stage. The dog learns that the right behaviour produces a sound and that sound is, sooner or later, followed by a reward. Clicker puppy trainingClicker puppy training is a simple yet sophisticated way of marking the right behaviour. Clicker training is used to train a variety of animals, including dolphins, horses, bears and, of course, dogs. It seems that the precise, clear sound of the click triggers something in an animal's brain that makes them pay attention and look for the reward. Clicker dog training can produce great results very quickly. Clickers are used when you are first teaching your puppy something new. Once your puppy has the idea and is responding reliably to the cue word (eg 'sit'), you stop clicking and simply praise and reward. What is a clicker? A selection of clickers used in dog training A clicker is a small handheld device with a large button. When you press the button, the clicker makes a loud 'click' noise that is very distinctive and easy for the dog to hear. It's a very precise and clear sound. You can buy clickers at most pet shops and they are quite inexpensive. The advantage of a clicker over using your voice to mark the right behaviour is that the click is an impersonal sound. It will always sound the same, whether you're happy or sad, or have a heavy cold! The disadvantage of clicker puppy training is that you must carry the clicker with you at all times when training. But once the dog is correctly performing the desired behaviour, you will no longer need to click so you won't need the clicker outside your formal training sessions. Our page on Puppy Names has a great little video that shows a dog being taught its name with a clicker. But for a real treat, take a look at this video, showing a 10 week old labrador performing tricks it has learned with a clicker. This is a real inspiration for any new puppy owner! The bottom line? Clicker dog training is a simple yet powerful way of training your puppy. So why not learn the secrets of clicker training? It's fast, simple and produces great results. Become a Super Trainer today! Don't have your clicker handy when training? Don't want
to use a clicker?
You can still mark your dog's behaviour quickly and easily - by using marker words instead. Simply choose a short and simple word to say when your pup obeys you and see the quick results! Find out how at Dog Training Methods: Marker Words on this website. Click/mark and rewardWhen you teach your dog something new, always remember these puppy training tips: click/mark and reward. That is, use your clicker and immediately reward your dog. It takes a little practice to get the timing right but once you've worked through some of the lessons on this website, you'll be using these dog training tips to train your puppy like a professional! The first step is to 'charge' the clicker - that is, teach the puppy that the marker means he has done the right thing and that a reward is on its way. You'll learn how to do this in Puppy Names: how to choose dog names and teach your puppy to know his name. More training at PuppyPrimer.comPutting it all together!So we've learned about rewards and clicker puppy training. How do we put all this together to train a puppy? One of the simplest ways to start is by teaching your puppy his name. Yes, it sounds obvious and even too easy but even if you have an older dog, or you think your puppy already knows his name, it's a handy way to start teaching the dog to recognise rewards and markers. And there's a great little video on that page that shows you how to start clicker puppy training too. Return to the top of Clicker Puppy Training Go back to How to Train a Puppy |
One of the most important things to learn in puppy
training is marking the right behaviour.
