Clicker training
 

How has clicker training help you train your furbabies?......experiences:)

Had good experience clicker training with both of mine. They loved it and now we don't need the clicker. There is a good website ClickerSolutions Training Articles Contents
Are you thinking of trying it?

I don't understand it at all! Might have to do some reading up on it, lol! I tried it one time but the clicker was so loud, Tink attacked me!

Yes
 

Yes julie i am trying it :) how many time a day can i train amd how long should each session be?

Clicker training is great when used correctly. I think people have this misunderstanding that you're always supposed to have a clicker on you, or the dog won't listen. A clicker is simply a way of teaching tricks, commands or complex behaviors, and once the dog knows and understands, is no longer necessary. It's only used in the initial shaping of a trick or behavior.

I mostly taught Jackson without a clicker very successfully when he was younger. I didn't use a clicker until I wanted to train more complex behaviors and I find it helps him know EXACTLY what I want because the clicker is more precise than human voice and will always sound the same, and if your timing is right, they will know what they did at the exact split second is what you want of them. I have definitely found him to learn much faster with clicker training.

Check out Zakgeorge21 on youtube. I love his method of training and it's how I've always trained Jackson. He calls it "relationship-based training" but I also prefer not to label everything. Sometimes I use a clicker, sometimes I don't, our training is mostly based on mutual trust and communication.

You can see me using the clicker here to train a handstand. It's probably not the best example because this trick has been being practiced for over a month now, and I'm a little inconsistent with my clicks. Some also say you shouldn't be saying 'YES' and clicking at the same time, but honestly, it works for us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPcYdqFJZzE

'Clicker training' really should be called something else -- like 'marker training'. Using your voice, saying 'yes', etc, is still essentially 'clicker training'. People have this misconception about a 'clicker' and that you have to have it on you at all times or the dog won't listen, but that's completely not the point.

Also, here, learning to cross paws (ignore my little sis singing, LOL):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK25foQBN1k

Intro to clicker training:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3Ix6G6T56Q

Thanks for your explanation, Brit. I guess like everything else, practice makes perfect, or better at least, lol. I felt like a total klutz... couldn't get my hand to click on time and was off timing with my voice (trying to do both). Plus the clicker hurt my ears... do they make quieter ones?

Length
 

Brit how many times a day do u train jackson when learning a new trick and how long are the sessions?

Yep! I find the 'box clickers' to be the loudest.
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I personally like these the best, it's just personal preference. But Jax reacts better to the louder ones.

I have one of these-
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It's a Starmark clicker. I'd say these are softer for sure.


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I found this type to be the quietest.

I've heard this one was softer too:
Amazon.com: Premier Clicker Dog Trainer - Purple:...
I believe you can also make the noise softer by placing some tape over it?

Well, it really depends. Some days he will spend 30+ min sessions doing things. Sometimes I'll just do a quick 5-10 minute session with him just to get his brain moving. There will be weeks where we don't really do any trick training and then there's weeks we do it almost daily.

When learning a new behavior, I like to keep it shorter on that particular trick. And I typically always end the 'session' with tricks he already knows and is good at, to end on a really positive note.

But he's never really gotten bored or shown me he's not ready to continue learning and training. I personally just like to end it with him still wanting more.

Ok ill keep that in mind i started today and bentley already knows sit and down but im perfecting it :-)

Woohoo!! Go Bentley!! That's SO awesome! I love to see pups headed to a good start.

Thanks Brit. I may give it another try... WTG Bentley!

I did about 5 mins training 2 or three times a day , they had so much fun with it that it did not feel like training . Have fun.

Bubba was afraid of the clicker noise and would hide and shake. He is not a fan of noise. He is scared of the razzberry noise, thunder and plastic garbage bag noise.:p