Clicker training

Clicker training is one form of positive reinforcement training and one of my favourite things to do with my dogs, especially in winter. It gets them skipping around, tails wagging and eyes like saucers as soon as I pick up the clicker. Clicker training is also good for dogs on bed rest who may be recovering from surgery or injury as they can be trained to do small movements - great for mental stimulation without any need for running around.

Think of it a bit like playing the ‘hot and cold hide and seek game’ that many of us played as children.

We use the clicker simply to tell the dog when their behaviour or action is getting closer to that which we desire.

This little clip below shows the first stages of clicker training a dog to pull on a rope attached to a door handle. The final behaviour will be pulling the rope to open the door, but initially the dog is rewarded for making contact with the rope. Slowly the behaviour is moulded into pulling on the rope and opening the door. So without ever speaking to the dog, just marking and rewarding the desired behaviours we can get our pups super excited and learning new tricks.

Dogs love clicker training. Done correctly, treats arrive thick and fast which makes positive reinforcement training more efficient and there is absolutely no negative reinforcement, not even so much as a verbal ‘no’ or ‘uh oh’.