Posts Tagged ‘ clicker training ’

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

Clicker training is one of the most rewarding and easiest methods for training your dog. Since clicker training uses positive reinforcement, your dog, puppy or pet will quickly learn the behavior your are teaching. Here are a few things to you need to understand about clicker training.

Clicker training is made up of several concepts including positive reinforcement, clicker conditioning, often called charging the clicker, proper timing and marketing and repetition. It’s through these concepts that you can quickly begin training your dog with a clicker with great success.

Positive reinforcement means that you are rewarding your dog when they perform a behavior or action that you want them to perform. This is different than luring or bribing your dog to perform a specific action. Using positive reinforcement with clicker training, we are actually allowing the dog to perform the action on their own, and the click and treating them when they do it correctly. Postive reinforcement is faster and easier than correction based training where we are trying to stop the dog from doing something, like jumping or biting. An example of positive reinforcement may be when a dog or puppy sits down on their own when we are training a “sit” comment and we reward them for that action.

Clicker charging is the method of training your canine the noise of clicker and that a reward will be provided at the noise of the click. The first few training times may require you to charge the clicker, but after the third or fourth period it won’t be necessary. To charge the clicker you simply click the clicker and then provide a reward to the puppy. Repeat this 10-15 times until the clicking sound leads to your puppy to search for the treat. As soon as the puppy realizes that the sound of the clicker “represents” whenever they will get a treat the teaching can start.

Proper timing is essential with clicker training. In order to tie in positive reinforcement while using a clicker, we need to time the click, or “mark” the behavior. For example, when training the “sit” command we can click the minute the puppy is sitting down. This means the second their butt touches the ground, you click. This “marks” the behaviour so you would then instantly treat. If you ever click a second or two later the dog might not know what they did. Should you treat and then click, you’re reinforcing the incorrect action. So, timing is everything. Again, with this example, we’re permitting the dog to sit on their own, then we’re marking the actions with a click after which treating.

Repetition and ongoing training will help you clicker train your dog with more accomplishment. This permits your puppy to easily understand and start learning on their own precisely what conduct you want them to execute. You can then begin combining behaviors. For instance, you might start teaching a sit behavior. After understanding the sit order, you would move on to the “lay down” command going from the sit. You can then command the puppy to sit, then lay down and click.

Once you grasp these 4 main ideas of clicker training it is easier to start to show other types of behaviors . More complicated behaviors could be bundled together and the use of target training can be introduced to permit your puppy to concentrate on certain items or positioning to develop a behavior. These four concepts in addition to 4 secrets that every owner should know can be located at the http://ClickerTrainingSystem.com website.

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Saturday, May 1st, 2010

Many people claim to have all of the answers about the most effective dog training techniques. Once you bring home a puppy of your own, virtually everyone you know who has a dog will offer various suggestions on how to best care for your new pet. It is very similar to what parents go through with the birth of their first child; every person they know has to give their two cents about how to get through the perils of parenthood.

For dog training, the use of the clicker has become increasingly popular in recent years. The clicker is a small box that elicits a distinct clicking sound when the user presses their thumb down on the device; the click is a signal to the dog that he is exhibiting noteworthy behavior and that you are pleased with him. The real element of using a clicker for dog training is teaching your dog what the sound actually represents.

Obviously, the first step is to buy a clicker. It might also be a good idea to get one of the many books out there about dog clicker training. Begin slowly by initiating the process with a simple command like “sit”. Attempt to get your dog to sit on his bottom, as you tell him to “sit”. You should give your dog a little treat, and press the clicker box, as soon as he has followed the command. Do this every time the dog is given a treat – click. In short time, the dog will associate being rewarded for their excellent behavior with the click.

In you follow the competitive circuit at all, you have probably noticed that many of the dogs there are trained with clickers. Whenever you watch television, keep an eye out for a person using a clicker to help these trained dogs run through courses complete with jumps and hoops. As long as the method of “command, treat, click” is strictly followed, clicker training is one of the best ways to train your dog.

Through the use of clicker training, you are in control of letting your dog know how you feel about his behavior, along with dispensing punishment and praise when it is needed. This method helps you to develop a closer relationship between you and your dog.

It is also important to note that dogs really like and react well to rewards as opposed to discipline, so remember to use the clicker as much as you can to be effective.

Roger writes articles on the latest dog life jacket models and about where to find cheap dog life jackets on the web.

 

Aggressive dogs and children do not mix. If your dog is acting aggressive then there are a couple of ways to handle the problem.

The first option would be to get rid of your dog (not recommended). While this is not the option most people choose it is something some people do.

If you do decide that the only way you can handle your aggressive dog is by getting rid of him then make sure he lands in a nice, safe home. You should never just let your dog go out the door. It is true that dogs are from wild animals but we have pretty well breed that out of them so it would be very unsafe for a dog alone out in the wild.

An even better option would be to train your dog or have a dog trainer train him. There are a variety of different dog training classes you can take you dog to or you can train him in your own home.

One type of dog training is clicker training. If clicker dog training is done correctly you will see a major improvement in your dog’s behavior. The beauty of clicker training your dog is that after a while of using the clicker you will have a dog that listens to your commands without the need of using the clicker or dog treats.

When you are doing clicker dog training timing is everything. If you do not get this right then you will be basically wasting your time and effort.

When your dog follows your command you need to immediately click your clicker and administer a treat to your dog. If you click to late your dog will only know that you are being very nice and giving him lots of treats.

You also should keep the clicker tucked in your hand so your dog can not see it. Another thing you can do is click using your tongue when your dog has gotten accustomed to the sound of clicking.

No matter how you plan on training your dog you should always use positive training methods. Using negative methods to train your dog will not only hurt your dog but he will get steadily worse behaved as time goes on.

When dog training barking is usually high on the list of behaviors that have to go. Visit SafeDogObedienceAdvice.com to find out how to safely and positively train your dog. Dog Obedience Training

 
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