Related Blog: WHAT IS A CLICKER?
Modified Version: CLICKER TRAINING YOUR CAT.
A Clicker must be "Charged Up" before you can use it.
Teaching your dog what a clicker means is EASY!
Do it from the couch, your favorite chair, while cooking dinner, or working on your laptop.
The big trick is to remember that in the beginning there is only equation.
CLICK --------------> Dog Is Give A Treat.
HERE IS WHAT YOU DO.
1. Prepare 30-50 small pieces of TASTY Treats. Tasty is very, very important. I use tiny pieces of chicken or cheese.
2. Set the treats in a bowl or tupperware container. Be sure your dog can't reach them. Fiddle with them for a moment, but don't give any to your dog. In a way you are teasing your dog with the scent, sound and presence of the treats.
3. Get your clicker out. Show it to your dog & then pick up the treat container, but don't give your dog a treat... yet.
4. Make a plan for keeping your dog within earshot of the clicker: Close doors, or leash your dog. In my house sitting on the couch or standing in the kitchen seems to keep all the dogs nearby.
5. Look at the clock and plan on training for 20-30 minutes (This is a perfect TV show activity).
6. With your clicker in hand, start doing something. Watch TV, type, dishes -whatever!
7. Without warning press down on the clicker "CLICK!"
8. Now reach for the container and give your dog 2-3 treats. Do NOT call your dog to get the treats. This is room-service. You deliver the treat!!!! Toss it, hand it, whatever!
9. Continue doing what you were doing & ignore your dog. Ignore begging too! When your dog spontaneously stops begging, you will know they are almost "Clicker-Charged." A clicker charged dog doesn't need to beg, they just wait for the click.
10. Randomly reach for the treats or the container. Fake-toss your dog a treat. Pick up the container, etc... Each time you do this you will NOT give your dog a treat. This is an important step. You must un-teach your dog that treats = treats. You are "ruling this out" (nerdy trainer talk :).
11. In between DOING NOTHING & DOING RULE-OUTS, "CLICK" (just once) and THEN give your dog a treat (room-service, remember).
12. While Charging-the-Clicker" 40-50% of what you will be doing is: Nothing. 30-40% of the time you will be doing Rule-outs (taunting your dog with the container, fake-tosses, picking up treats and putting them back in the container. During this time, your dog is free to do what s/he wants to do, including sleep, ignore you, lick, stare, beg -whatever!
13. Only 10-15% of your time will be spent on CLICKING. Each click must happen randomly and be followed by a treat.
14. When your dog completely ignores everything (including fake-tosses & reaching into the treat container, AND ONLY looks excited when they hear CLICK, your dog is clicker charged.
15. Over the next 2-3 days, randomly CLICK and then immediately get your dog a tasty treat.
You are now ready to CLICKER TRAIN YOUR DOG!
>>>>>>STAY TUNED for TEACHING NEW BEHAVIORS WITH THE CLICKER!
Is leash aggression the owners fault?
When dogs fight with other dogs on leash is the owners lack of confidence the problem?
Hardly! Owners can and should NOT be blamed for being nervous when handling their leash-reactive dogs.
It goes without saying that if you have seen your dog bark, lunge, or snap at another dog when on leash that you will anticipate more bad behavior. The anticipated unpleasantness makes most people nervous.
Still, my clients are often astonished that the dogs behave better when I am handling the leash.
When I am called to consult with a client whose dog routinely behaves badly on leash towards other dogs, a common question is: Have they (the owners) been transmitting their fears down the leash to their dogs? From this my clients often surmise that it must be my calm, confident demeanor that gives me the edge when handling feisty dogs. I would argue otherwise for several reasons.
Reason #1 When meeting new clients and handling a new dog for the first time I am absolutely NOT CALM.
I am always nervous when meeting new clients and handling new dogs. I might hide my fears and doubts well from my clients, but I am sure that if you were to put me to the test you would find that my heart rate is elevated, my mouth is dry and I my hands are sweaty.
Reason #2 It is more scientific to rule out other, simpler explanations first.
The answer to how well a dog can detect and to what degree they react to fear has not been sufficiently studied. however, the mechanism responsible for self-preservation called Fight or Flight is very well understood and is the key to helping many of my clients navigate on-leash encounters between their dogs and other dogs.
Reason #3 I have a very good success rate with teaching my clients new skills that improve the situation despite their nervousness at trying something new and their fears that they won't do well and/or that their dog is beyond help.
Imagine if you were taking tennis lessons and your instructor simply coached you by saying, "You need to swing with more power and accuracy." While this may be true, it won't help you KNOW HOW TO DO THESE THINGS!
A good instructor/coach/teacher is always able to break things down into specific tasks that a student can practice in order to obtain better results in overall performance. Telling someone that they are doing poorly or that they need to be, or do things better is NOT an educational technique.
My personal results with the aforementioned bad-coaching technique was a frustration-induced, "more powerful" but drastically, LESS accurate swing.
So what is the CONNECTION between the LEASH & AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR?
All animals have an innate protective response. When you are afraid (really, really afraid) your The is commonly referred to as the Fight or Flight Response.
Reactions include:
FREEZE -victims that we would describe as shocked, stunned, catatonic (this may precede other actions).
FLIGHT -a way of creating distance between you and a real or perceived threat.
FIGHT -another way of creating distance (turn the tables and get the scary thing to back off or run away).
The trick is to KEEP THE LEASH REALLY LOOSE & to KEEP MOVING FORWARD at a quickened pace so that your dog does not feel stuck or trapped. This is hard to do when you own body is anticipating a bad encounter, so my clients with badly behaved dogs all tend to slow down and hold their dogs back. This is a recipe for disaster. The slow pace and tension causes the dog to lunge forward aggressively.
Keeping the leash loose is easier said then done when there is a history of things going badly, so here are some hints. Carry your dogs favorite toy or better yet, walk your dog when she is hungry and hold some cheese or some yummy meat in front of her nose as you pass by dogs. Using your best goofy voice and moving quickly helps too. Also, be sure not to punish or correct (jerk the leash) your dog for relapses.
Remember you can't punish away fear!
So fix the fear, and the barking and lunging will disappear.
