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Originally Posted by Dame  I really wish I could use one with Winston, but no matter how many times I try... he's just super afraid of the sound! |
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Originally Posted by Lioncross4 Clicker training was an EPIC fail here. The noise was like fingers on a chalkboard to our yorkie! She just hated it--not matter how big the treat. She regressed in all behaviors when we used it. So, it went in the drawer of shame and we renewed our reward positive behavior plan. It works great! |
In clicker training it's very important to "charge" the clicker. The way you do this is to click the clicker and give them a treat. It usually doesn't take very long for them to associate the clicker with a treat. You know it's charged when you click and they stop what they are doing to look at you. After that you use the clicker to mark the behavior you want. Then a treat follows. If the noise bothers or scares them try putting some surgical tape over the button. It softens the sound and lets them get used to it. Whatever you do, don't click it near their ear. Once they (and you) get used to the concept, it really works. If you just can't get them used to the clicker use one short word instead. For example say "yes" very quickly the same way everytime you get the behavior you want and follow it with a treat. Then the word yes said the same way can be used to mark the behavior you are looking for similar to the click of the clicker. It needs to be a short word so that you are actually saying it at the exact time of the behavior so that you can mark it.