3 Things You Need To Know About Clicker Training

What is clicker training? Clicker training uses a mechanical clicker to mark a specific behavior. For example, sit, kennel, down, etc. What I mean by “mark” a behavior is, as soon as the sought after behavior is exhibited you would click the clicker.

TIMING

In dog training timing is very important. You only have a very short window to reward or correct a behavior. I like examples, so here is another one: Let's say we are working on sit. As soon as our puppy’s little butt hits the floor we would immediately click to mark that behavior. That click is like taking a snapshot of the exact moment when your puppy sat. That picture in your puppy’s mind of the sitting behavior is then reinforced through positive reinforcement (typically a food reward).

Watch this video of Rogue learning how to sit using a clicker:

Something to keep in mind is that the click not only marks the behavior but ends the behavior. So as soon as the click happens your puppy can stand back up. Timing is very important for correcting unwanted behaviors as well, such as pottying on the floor. You can’t scold your puppy for pottying on the floor if you don’t see it happen and can interrupt that behavior. We will get into more detail about potty training in another article.

CONSISTENCY

Consistency is one of the most important parts of dog training. The more consistent you can be in your training the faster you can accomplish your goals. A clicker allows you to be extremely consistent when marking a behavior, as long as your timing is precise. The benefits of using a clicker to mark a behavior vs verbal praise, is that a clicker sounds exactly the same every time you use it. It doesn’t vary, have inflection or any other emotional baggage. Instead of saying, “yes”, “good girl”, “thatta boy” or any other word of praise, the clicker makes the same sound every time you mark a behavior.

ASSOCIATION

Now we know what a clicker is, and how it helps you have good timing and be more consistent when training. But why does it work? There really isn’t anything exciting or rewarding about a clicking sound for your dog. That’s why we have to associate that clicking sound with a food reward (or another form of positive reinforcement). Your puppy needs to know that when they hear the click something good is about to happen. We call that charging the clicker and that is the first step in clicker training. Dogs and especially puppies have very short attention spans so being able to promptly reward the behavior we are looking for is important. Using a clicker will also give you the added time to utilize a food reward because your dog will know they did the behavior correctly and a reward is coming.

How do you go about charging the clicker? It can be pretty easy and straightforward, especially with a food motivated dog. You basically click the clicker and feed your puppy a food reward.

Watch how we charge the clicker with Quest:

Do this with a couple of your puppy’s meals and your clicker will be charged. Click, kibble, click, kibble, etc. Things to keep in mind are that if your puppy isn’t overly food motivated, using their meals will be more helpful, than trying to get them interested in a midday snack after they have already eaten and aren’t overly hungry anymore. If you still can’t seem to keep your puppy’s focus you can try a soft training treat that is small so your puppy can eat it quickly and keep the momentum of the training session going. After a few training sessions of charging the clicker you can test to see if your puppy is associating the sound of the clicker with something good. To do this, you will simply click the clicker while your puppy isn’t distracted by something else and if they perk their ears, come over to you and excitedly look for a treat, that means your clicker is charged and you are ready to start clicker training your puppy!

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Kat