How Does This Method Work?

When starting out, clicking the clicker is not going to mean anything to your dog. You have to "charge" it, or give it meaning, first.  If someone walks up to you, and snaps their fingers in front of your face, chances are, you'll just be irritated.  But, if they snap their fingers and then give you $5, and snap their fingers and give you $5, and snap their fingers and give you $5 -- you're going to start getting pretty excited about their snapping their fingers!   This is the same principle by which you "charge" the clicker -- you simply teach the dog that the "click" means "I'm getting a treat!"

To charge the clicker, sit with your dog when he's really hungry (right before a meal), for 10 or 15 minutes, and a bunch of sliced hotdog, cheese, or liverwurst.  Just sit there, and click/treat, click/treat, click/treat, click/treat and after several minutes, click -- pause. Watch for your dog's reaction. If he looks to the treat hand, waiting for a treat -- the clicker is "charged". What that means, is that he understands that that "click" noise means that he's getting a treat.  If he doesn't look to the treat hand, keep going for a couple more minutes, then pause after another "click".

When you see that he's starting to expect the treat, it's time to begin the second stage, where you make the dog understand that he is the operant -- not you. When it happens, you'll know it!! This is when he comes to understand that his actions are causing you to "click", and the click means he did it right!! At that point, most dogs will start to "offer behaviors" -- if you click him for walking in heel position, he'll do everything in his power to maintain heel position (within reason -- approaching other dogs will take more work with the clicker -- and very **special** treats ). If you click/treat him for the "sit", he'll sit here, walk a couple of steps, sit there, walk a couple of steps, sit there....

Teaching this step can be done in several different ways: you can simply wait for him to do something, and "click" it, then wait for him to repeat the behavior and click again, etc. (each offered behavior will come faster, as he begins to understand that the click actually means 2 things:   1) he's earned a treat, because 2) he did it right!  This is where the true power of this method lies -- it becomes a method of communication!   Another way of teaching the dog that he is the operant, is to have him perform already-known behaviors, and C/T them.  See below "Methods of Getting the Behavior" for more.

Once your dog is "clicker savvy" -- once he understands that the click means he did it right -- you can't confuse him by clicking different behaviors, and you can click already known behaviors that already have "cues" or hand signals/commands linked to them, or unknown behaviors that you just think are cute, and when they become more "solid", then you "pair them" with a cue. It sounds complicated, but it's incredibly easy -- and the dogs LOVE this stuff -- training becomes a GAME!!

**Remember this simple rule:  never click without treating, and never treat without clicking!** Doing either of these will lessen the power of the clicker as the secondary reinforcer -- if you hand out treats sometimes without clicking, then why would the dog pay attention to the click?  By the same token, if you click without treating, you're breaking the bargain -- the click means he's earned the treat.

What Motivates Your Dog?

That depends entirely on your dog -- every dog is individual, just as every human is.  You aren't motivated by the same things that motivate me -- by the same token, your dog isn't motivated by those things that motivate my dogs.  For instance, Zoey is incredibly food-oriented -- I haven't found anything yet, that she won't eat.  She's the only dog I've ever seen that will eat grapefruit -- she'll perform for it!  Cis, on the other hand, has a list of likes/dislikes -- loves watermelon, won't touch banana.  Turns her nose up at yogurt, loves cottage cheese.  She tends to be more motivated by the sight of her leash, than by food.  Find out what your dog loves, then use it!

I Use Rewards -- Why Should I Use a Clicker?

Instead of using praise ("good boy") which takes about 2 seconds to say, can be said in about 4,000 different tones of voice (can't be readily made into a secondary reinforcer for this reason), and maybe allows 2 seconds of movement for the dog (confusing for the dog -- which part was right??), you're using a sound that is unmistakable at long distances, extremely short in duration, and very precise. It is the reward marker -- and your dog will mark in his head the exact instant he heard it -- he'll understand exactly what it was that you liked. Also, with this method, the click tells the dog that he has earned the treat, so it is much, much more reliable for teaching things like flyball and agility -- you're not going to be anywhere near him, during most of his training for this -- how else will you tell him that he's done what you wanted?

How Can I Get Rid of Unwanted Behavior?

Just remember that the basis for positive reinforcement is that if a behavior is rewarded, the chances for that behavior being offered again are increased. If you want to extinguish, or get rid of a behavior, you teach a replacement behavior for it, or just don't reward it. It's very simple, and it works!!   **Be aware that when using extinction to get rid of undesirable behaviors, the dog will go through a process called an "extinction burst" -- the behavior will be offered repetitiously, until the dog finally just gives up.  There is also a technique used in clicker training called a No Reward Marker that is used to get rid of undesirable behaviors.  Once the dog understands that the click means that he did it right (doesn't take long!), then you start to teach him that when you say "uh-uh", he needs to try something else.

That's all the No Reward Marker is -- a cue that tells your dog "that's not what I'm looking for -- try something else" -- or, in human terms, "you don't get a treat for that behavior."

Chaining & Linking

Once you start working with the clicker, and get good, solid behaviors, you "link" them, just as you do with conventional training, so that your dog will perform more and more behaviors for that single click (which means she has earned a food treat, or a game of frisbee, or a run through the woods....) One thing you need to understand, in order for this to work:  the dog is always going to expect to be rewarded. There is nothing wrong with that. You will always offer reinforcement in some form or other. (You work for a paycheck, right?) Also bear in mind that praise is a very weak form of reinforcement, in comparison with other things that you can use.

When the clicker is charged, the dog associates it with the treat. Every time you click, you treat. The click is constantly being charged, in this manner. In the beginning, or when reinforcing a new behavior, you will click/treat more often.  As time goes on, though, you'll only click/treat those that you consider to be perfect (asking more from the dog in return for the click/treat), or you'll "link" behaviors together, and click/treat when those are all performed, putting more and more "distance" between the click/treats. When a behavior is "lost", it's called "extinction" -- if a behavior is not reinforced, it's extinguished. You use this method, or replacement, to get rid of undesirable behaviors. Simply don't reward a behavior that you don't like, or replace it with something else.

Phasing Out the Reward

Like any other method, the clicker and rewards are TOOLS, used for teaching. Once the desired behavior is learned, you don't need them -- except for brush-up work, or teaching something new.

If your dog is always looking to your treat hand, there are techniques that will help to stop this:  use a variable system of reward, now that he's more reliable.   That means clicking and treating on a variable schedule -- every 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time that he sits -- that way, he's not always "expecting" the treat. Then, when he's got that down, start only treating the fastest or straightest sits. You can also use a system of variable delivery, to keep him from expecting the treat, in conjunction with the variable system of frequency. What this means, is that you vary how you give him the treat. Sometimes you carry the treats in your pocket, sometimes they're over on the counter, sometimes you have him take them from your hand, sometimes toss them in the air for him to catch, sometimes toss them away from him onto the floor...   This will teach him that the treats will come, he just has to trust in it (and you).

Why Correction Isn't Effective as a Training Tool

In traditional correction-type training, the dog is taught to perform a behavior to escape the punishment (such as jerking the choke-chain). This is a long, slow process, because the punishment has to be precisely paired with the behavior you wish to get rid of -- this isn't the same as extinguishing a behavior.  By doing this, you're teaching the dog NOT to offer behaviors. It also leads to less correct responses from the dog -- the chances of the dog behaving the way you want it to when you're not around to inflict the punishment are very low.  In traditional positive reinforcement-type training, the responses are not as sharp, because the method of "marking" the behavior is not as sharp -- it takes too long to say "good girl!", it's not said in the exact same tone of voice each time (so it's not a conditioned reinforcer, like the "click" is), it's just not precise -- leaving the dog confused as to what it was that you liked. These types of training methods are called classical conditioning (passive participation) techniques. The dog never really figures out that he has anything to do with it. The next step up is operant conditioning (active participation) -- clicker training is a type of operant conditioning. Through clicker training, your dog learns that he is the most important part of the cause/effect relationship -- he learns, very quickly, that by performing a behavior, he causes the click, and thereby earns the treat.

Why NOT to Use Correction in Training!

Why Clicker Training is Preferred By Those Who Try It

The most wonderful aspect of using the clicker, is that you're teaching the dog to offer behaviors... try something different... learn to have fun during training sessions. This concept can be very confusing for a "crossover" dog -- think about it: you're now asking him to do the very things that you've been correcting him for!! For this very reason, it can be detrimental to your dog's learning, to combine the 2 methods. Be patient. Once you see the "light go on" in his head, you'll never look back. Sometimes this can mean having the patience of a Saint, though, depending on how harshly he's been corrected.

The Concept of Generalizing

Dogs don't generalize behaviors.   This is a very simple concept, yet so many people fail to grasp it.  When a human learns the word "sit", that human very quickly comes to understand that "sit" means the same thing in every situation -- that is generalizing.  Dogs incorporate their environment into their learning -- spend a week teaching Fido to "sit" in the kitchen, then take him to obedience class outdoors.  Unless you've also included "sit" outside, he's going to look fairly confused (and you'll look pretty ridiculous, because of course, you've announced "Look what Fido can do!!" {grin})  When you teach a dog anything -- a new command, housetraining, a simple parlor trick -- learning is not complete until the skill is generalized.  In every concievable situation.  With different people giving the commands.   Without, and then with distractions.  On-lead, and then off-lead.  Every new variable that is added or taken away, changes the learning environment for the dog.

When Can I Add the "Cue"?

There are alot of answers to this question.  Most clicker people go with the idea that "if you can faithfully bet $5 that this is the behavior he's going to offer, then cue it." This is the way that I do it, too -- especially when working on the little "parlor tricks".   When working with Rescued dogs, this process is more dependent on what I'm teaching -- I tend to cue "sit" alot more quickly than other commands, because most of the dogs that I work with have never been taught anything -- these are BIG dogs -- I need them to SIT!

Is is Okay to Work on More Than 1 Behavior at a time?

Once your dog understands what the click means, you can train as many behaviors as you can capture -- it's all dependent upon your imagination, and your dog's. You'll know that he truly understands what that click means, when you pick up the clicker, and he just starts throwing behaviors at you -- anything -- just to see if he can make you click! (It's alot more likely that he'll confuse you -- by offering too much at once -- you'll have to learn to be pretty quick, to catch what you want to reinforce!)

Problems With Cross-over Dogs & Trainers

One of the hardest aspects of teaching with this method with a "traditionally-trained", or cross-over dog, is the teaching of the concept of offering behaviors. Think about it: previously, the dog has been corrected -- sometimes pretty harshly -- for "offering".

Cross-over trainers can sometimes have real problems understanding that clicker training and correction training do not go together. Here is why:

Traditional trainers are used to correcting for any behavior that is not the behavior they're looking for. They depend on that leash, as a crutch.  They want immediate results. They have a tendency toward believing that the dog will perform out of a desire to please them, rather than out of self-preservation. They also tend to have real hang-ups about using a system of rewards -- thinking that there will never be a time when you don't have the clicker or treats in your hand. It can be quite difficult to convince them that, like the choke collar, the clicker and treats are TOOLS, used for teaching. Once the desired behavior is learned, you don't need them -- except for brush-up work, or teaching something new.

Your biggest obstacle with the dog, is in teaching that there is no correction for offering behaviors. It can be confusing to the dog, initially (remember that some dogs have spent most of their lives being corrected for this!), but if the dog has never been corrected by you (such as when working with Rescued dogs), and you can work with him in another, neutral area, you'll have an easier time of it. It will help tremendously, to work off-leash, too.

4 Methods for "Getting the Behavior"

There are benefits and problems associated with each of these methods:

Luring -- using the reward to get the dog to follow a movement.  This is probably the most-used of the methods -- it's fairly easy to teach a dog the "sit" or "down" using luring.  If your dog doesn't "sit" or "down" on the verbal cue only, it may be because you started out using a combination of verbal cues and hand signals. Dogs tend to assimilate the hand signals much more quickly, so if you're luring, they're dependent on the hand signal. There's nothing wrong with that -- just some people prefer the verbal cue. My dogs work from hand signals (which I think is pretty cool, actually!) because I depend pretty heavily on luring.

Capturing -- waiting for a particular movement.   This is the "purest method", totally reliant on the dog.  The problem is that you may spend huge amounts of time, waiting for a particular movement.

Shaping -- setting the dog up to perform a particular movement.  This is mainly used to "add-on" to behaviors -- you can either wait to see what the dog will do on its own, or use some highly creative and imaginative ways to cause him to do what you want.

Modeling -- placing the dog in position.   This is the least desirable method of "getting the behavior", as dogs tend to rely heavily on handling -- once the behavior is in place, it can be difficult to "phase out" the placement.

Morgan Spector has done an incredible job of detailing application of clicker training principles to obedience showing... if you never thought it would be possible to use the method in this forum, this book will help you to see the light.

Brenda Rushman, Web Author

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