The clicker is a marker for positive re-enforcement. When a dog does something correct, you click the clicker(a treat usually follow after the clicker). What it teaches the dog is that whenever it does something correct, he/she will hear the click and get a treat. It does like a little conditioning before the dog associate the clicker with an award. I use the clicker on my dogs all the time and I like it a lot.
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The earliest I've taught my puppies to sit and down is about 4-5 weeks old. A lot of treats were involved and the training session only last 5 minutes at most.
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Best trick I ever taught my dogs was to pick up their toys and put it back in their toy box. I figure if they can get it out, they can put it back in the box when they are finished with it. (This trick was taught with a clicker.) |