Clickers are not just for dog training!  

You can use clickers to train cats, rats and birds too.  There is even something called Chicken Camp where trainers learn to improve their timing and clicker training skills.  Zoos use clickers to train animals to lift lips and limbs, open mouths, bend down and perform other behaviors that make routine health checks less stressful for the animals and the keepers.  Over the years, I have come to love training with clickers.

Perhaps you've wondered, "Could my dog be clicker trained?"  

Any dog can be trained with a clicker.  If you decide to try clicker training you won't need to use the clicker forever, or even all the time.  Clickers and verbal praise can be used simultaneously to mark desired behaviors and/or variations in performance.  They are most often used by trainers to teach dogs new things.  Eventually the clicker is faded out, or shifted as new behaviors are taught.  

WHAT IS A CLICKER?

Clickers (shown above) are small, hand-held tools that make a CLICK-noise when pressed with the thumb.  Clickers are used when new behaviors are being learned or when known behaviors are being applied in new situations. Clickers MARK behaviors that are currently being rewarded.  Verbal Markers can also be used to teach behaviors, but the crisp, clean sound of a clicker is preferable when trying to mark precise moments of a dog's actions.  A clicker is like a high quality, professional camera that can take a photo showing drops of water falling from a glass.  Whereas my phone-camera might only show a fuzzy blur of water.  When used correctly, clickers make for crystal clear communication.

 A.  Standard, Box Clicker  (Cheap & clear, easy to hear sound)

B.  Karen Pryor's iClick  (Raised button is easy to push with a gloved hand)

C.  Triple Crown Clicker  (Contours to hand and is comfortable to hold)

DO I NEED SPECIAL TRAINING TO USE A CLICKER?

A clicker is a tool; it can be used correctly, used incorrectly and abused.  As with most tools, the product depends on the user.  For example, if I was given watercolors, a brush and instructions to paint a portrait of your dog, you would get a picture of a dog, but you might not be impressed.  Ask my mother, an artist, and you'd get a technically correct product with added style and artistic flair -a painting you could frame.  Hands-on instruction and coaching from someone who has trained with clickers will give you an advantage, but what you really need is practice.  The best thing to do is start using the clicker for simple behaviors.  

Stay tuned...  >>HOW WILL MY DOG KNOW WHAT THE CLICK MEANS?

Training Small dogs can be a challenge.  Dogs that weigh less than 10lbs move quickly.  They are also so close to the ground already that using a Food-Lure (a treat held in your hand, close to their nose) can be challenging.  For medium and large dogs Food-Lures are a convenient ways to move dogs into positions like sit or down.  However, with small dogs Food-Lures can sometimes cause more jumping-bean action than is conducive to training.

For really small, fast-flying dogs I prefer to sit back and relax when training.  For this type of training a CLICKER is really, really handy.  A clicker is a small device that makes a click-sound when the metal flap inside the small box is pressed down and released.

Clickers are used to train dogs, horses, cats, pigeonsrats and even marine mammals.  Using a clicker is simple.  In the beginning the animal in training needs only to learn that each click-sound will be quickly followed by a small reward (technically it must be a reinforcer) that the animal will enjoy and working for.  I like using small, tasty bits of food like cheeses or meats.

The rules are simple.

1.  Click what you like.

2.  Click at the EXACT moment the behavior is accomplished.

3.  Don't command the animal to DO anything, JUST WAIT for something -be patient!!!

4.  Reward the animal after every click.

5.  Train is short intervals 5-10minutes

Sometimes it is helpful to think of the clicker as a camera.  At the end of the training if each CLICK was a PHOTO, and if you placed all those photos on your kitchen table you would have only photos of the behavior (sit, down, bow) that you were hoping to train.

Here are two Kinder-CLICKER lesson for fast-flying, jumpy little-dogs.

1.  Click (and reward) the dog anytime they are NOT moving.  Click the dog for being still in any position.  Offer extra treats for clicks that marked exceptionally cute still positions (like sit or down).  After 2 or 3 sessions, raise the bar and click only certain positions.

2.  Click (and reward) All Cute Behaviors.  This is my favorite.  I will click anything cute!!!  Head-tilts, play-bows, prairie-dog position, sit, down, waving.  Then I pick one behavior that gets clicked and a special bonus treat (gorgonzola).  I like to see how long it takes for the dog to offer only that behavior.

Read Kelley's blog

GO DOG TRAINING

Contact Kelley @ amigodog@mac.com

Kelley Filson, CTC, CPDT is a Certified Dog Trainer living in San Francisco, California.  Kelley has been certified by The San Francisco SPCA where she completed the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers run by dog trainer and author Jean Donaldson.  Kelley is also a Certified Member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.

Kelley owns and runs AmiGO DOG Training, LLC.  As a Personal Dog Trainer Kelley helps people and dogs better understand each other.  Private, in-home dog training and behavior modification programs are available to anyone in San Francisco needing help training their dogs.  Kelley specializes in working with fearful, aggressive, or anxious dogs.

Kelley is also very happy to be a partner and instructor for DogEvolve.  DogEvolve offers classes and workshops to dog owners at two San Francisco locations. Unlike traditional 6-8weeek obedience classes, DogEvolve offers an a-la-carte style menu of classes on topics including:  Quiet!  Come! & Leash Monsters!

AmiGO DOG Training, LLC -Your "Best-Friend" in Dog Training!
415-356-9868

DogEvolve -Survival Training for the Urban Dog!
www.dogevolve.com

This question came as a comment from the following post.

January 12, 2009

My friends dog is really "clever" as you say and keeps jumping up on the cat food table (not a small feat) to scarf away the snacks...my friend thinks this is really cute but it's becoming a little bit expensive.  Do you think her dog is being clever or naughty or both?

Dear Concerned,

Your friend's dog is just being a dog.  And your friend probably finds it amusing that her dog could/would work so hard to get onto the cat table for the occasional treat.  This doesn't make it right -especially if her dog is eating all your cats food.  For several reasons you and your friend should probably make time to discuss the problem and make a plan to re-train the dog.

For starters a small amount of cat food won't be terrible for her dog, but over time it will contribute to ill health.  Cat food is generally higher in fat and protein and will likely contribute to obesity in her dog.  

In this type of situation cooperation is needed.  You will both need to participate in changing the feeding routine.  If the cat is currently being free-fed, try switching to set feeding times.  This will give you better control over your cats diet and you will ultimately have a closer watch on her food intake, and health.  Plus the dog won't be able to continue a bad habit.  Interrupting a bad behavior is an important step in changing habits.  If a new behavior is taught, but the old behavior is simultaneously allowed to keep happening... nothing will change.

I do not recommend making the table taller or harder to reach.  A clever, motivated dog will just see this as an improved obstacle course, a better puzzle, a new challenge to be overcome.  

Once you have the cat on a regular feeding routine it will be easier to control the dog's behavior.  

Pick a spot that the dog likes and that is far enough away form the cat, that the kitty is relaxed and can eat.  

Have your friend work on training her dog to do a down-stay when you feed your cat.  

Give the dog small rewards during the meal for holding the stay.  

THEN give the dog one big HUGE reward at the end of the meal.*

*A clever trick is to REWARD THE DOG with ACCESS.  

Command the dog to jump up on the table (with kitty's permission only).  Use a food lure if the dog is shy to do this in front of you.  

Once the dog is up there, she will see that the bowl is empty (make sure this is the case).  

Then HAND-DELIVER a treat to your dog for doing this "cute" trick FOR YOU!  

Then command the dog to get OFF the table.  

If she tries again to jump up on the table, give the dog a TIME-OUT.  5-seconds on leash or in the bathroom is sufficient.  

Continue this so that the dog knows that the trick only works:

A) after doing a down-stay while kitty eats

B) when you ask her to do the trick.

If you are punishing the dog, stop doing so.  It isn't working (probably because the timing of the punishment -post yummy snacks consumed, is late). And, you are just teaching the dog to be more covert in his food scavenging (ie:  it's OK as long as you don't get caught).

In general, I find the term "Positive Reinforcement Trainer" too specific and misleading. 

The term is commonly used to describe trainers who won't use aversive methods such as choke, prong, or shock collars.  Because of this I think that many dog owners/guardians have been given the impression that trainers who focus on rewards never punish dogs.  This is untrue.

Reward-Based Trainers (I consider myself one) choose to not scare, hurt or intimidate dogs.  This does not mean that naughty behaviors will go without consequences.  Nor does it mean, that I am arguing: aversive methods won't work.  I am aware that aversive methods can effectively punish out bad behaviors.  However, using aversives to punish/doling out yucky stuff (aka: Positive Punishment) will have side effects.  In addition to the side effects there are moral and ethical considerations that prevent me from even considering Positive Punishment: Giving (+) an aversive for a bad behavior.

My concerns regarding Positive Punishment:

1) Given the many other options available for teaching a dog what to do or how to respond, Positive Punishments are unnecessary. 

2) To reduce harm, Positive Punishments demand absolute accuracy; perfect timing is hard for trainers and almost impossible for new dog owners/guardians. 

3) Even when used correctly, aversive methods can have damaging and dangerous side effects including increased fear, unintended associations, avoidance and learned helplessness. 

4) Aversive methods are a poor choice for fear-based behaviors (barking, lunging, growling, biting) because Classical Conditioning, not punishment, is what will condition new responses to threatening stimuli or items perceived to be scary. 

This is usually where someone tries to argue:  

________ piece of equipment "doesn't really" hurt the dog. 

IF this were true, then the equipment or method being used would be an ineffective punisher.   Because ineffective punishers don't work they need to be used over and over again. If what the trainer wants is to teach the dog NOT to do something and they are adding/giving a punishment then you must assume that the intention is for that punishment to be aversive.  Aversives are by definition unpleasant.  If they are not truly aversive then they won't eliminate the behavior and the trainer/handler is merely startling or nagging the dog over and over again (choke/prong collars used for pulling).  This could be considered abusive.

It needs to be recognized that many Reward-Based Trainers (myself included) DO punish dogs when they fail to respond or behave rudely.  But, let me be clear.  This does not mean that we use aversive methods or GIVE punishments.  

Reward-Based Trainers stick to focusing on rewards by using 1) Positive Reinforcement (giving rewards -adding good stuff into the situation) and 2) Negative Punishment (taking away rewards, or removing access to fun stuff).  ***Remember the words: positive & negative refer to whether the trainer is adding or taking away a reinforcer or aversive, not to whether the dog will perceive them as good or bad.

This leads to the question: How does one punish a dog by using rewards?

It's simple.  If rewards can be given/earned, then they can be taken away/denied.  Taking away something your dog wants is a type of punishment.  By definition a punisher reduces or eliminates a behavior.  This is the principle behind detention.  In school detention a student loses their "free time," This translates as a loss of access to people, places and things that are fun.  This loss is a consequence for bad behavior.  This is calledReward-Removal or Negative Punishment.  ***Again, negative refers to something being taken away or removed (-) from a situation.

The expectation in dog training is that naughty behaviors like chewing, jumping and barking will decrease until they are extinguished completely.  As with all learning, the principles of Reward-Removal must be used in conjunction with other learning tools.

Removing Rewards is an effective and humane way to eliminate unwanted behaviors in dogs, cats, children, and many other living beings. As a humane dog trainer I use Positive Reinforcement (giving rewards) & Negative Punishment (removing rewards). I call myself, and others who train by similar principles Reward-Based Trainers.

One practical application of REWARD REMOVALS is removing access to fun stuff.  This can be accomplished by putting your dog in a Time-Out.  Because dogs are unable to comprehend a long time-out at the end of the week (no Saturday morning romp at the beach) you will need to be prepared to give your dog many, short time-outs immediately after each offense.