Proper communication is fundamental to helping your family have a pleasant experience in training your dog.
Difficulties can occur with your dog because signals often differ from one person to another.
When giving the same verbal command members of your family may differ in the tone of their voice which will lead to confusion in your dog.
This in turn may cause your dog to act erratically.
When your dog does not perform as you expect he may be reprimanded which leads to further confusion if he does not understand what he has done wrong.
If your dog continues to feel confused he may become aggressive.
Clicker training is an excellent way to eliminate confusion.
The principles of clicker training are easy to grasp for just about every family member, whether young or old.
Communication between your family and your dog is greatly improved with a clicker and therefore your dog will better understand what you want him to do.
A clicker trained dog will follow the commands of his family because he knows he can trust the clicker to be consistent.
Rewarding desired behavior is the focus of clicker training.
You must figure out what you want your dog to do and then reinforce that behavior.
If you don't want your dog to bark then you reward him only when he is quiet.
You always emphasize the behavior you want, not the incorrect behavior.
As soon as your dog performs the way you want you immediately click the clicker.
A treat is given instantly after the click.
This reinforces the desired task.
Do not misunderstand, you do not want to allow bad behavior.
You stop the wrong behavior and then reward for the right behavior.
For instance, if your dog starts to get up on your sofa you would take him off and then, when all four paws are on the floor, you would give a click with your clicker followed by a treat.
Whenever you observe your dog performing the correct task you give a click and a treat.
It will not take long for your dog to realize that the behavior you want is followed by a click and a treat.
Since your dog wants the treat that comes after a click he becomes an active participant in his own training as he finds ways to please you.
Once a behavior is well established you can add a hand signal or a verbal phrase.
The hand signal, word, or phrase becomes the cue your dog will follow when you want him to behave a certain way.
In order for your cue to be effective it must apply to one specific task.
You should not use a general cue such as "good boy" but should pick a specific word or phrase such as "quiet," "good quite," or "sit.
" Your dog needs to learn to associate a specific cue to a specific action.
In order to teach the cue correctly you use the clicker and give the treat after you cue the action.
When the cue is well understood you no longer have to follow it with a click and a treat.
Your praise and attention can now replace them.
The entire family can be part of clicker training.
It is interesting to note that children seem to be more open to clicker training than adults.
A clicker is an excellent training tool when used appropriately.
A clicker can add a lot to your dog training program.
Yes, clicker training takes time and patience but so does any dog training program Clicker training is an enjoyable and satisfying way to train your dog.