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Fifteen Tips for
getting started with a clicker
Clicker training is a new,
science-based way to communicate with your pet. It's easier to learn than standard
command-based training. You can clicker train any kind of animal, of any age. Puppies love
it. Old dogs learn new tricks. You can clicker-train cats, birds, and other pets as well.
Here are some simple tips to get you started.
- Push and release the
springy end of the clicker, making a two-toned click. Then treat. Keep the treats small.
Use a delicious treat at first: for a dog or cat, little cubes of roast chicken, not a
lump of kibble.
- Click DURING the desired
behaviour, not after it is completed. The timing of the click is crucial. Don't be
dismayed if your pet stops the behaviour when it hears the click. The click ends the
behaviour. Give the treat after that; the timing of the treat is not important.
- Click when your dog or
other pet does something you like. Begin with something easy that the pet is likely to do
on its own. (Ideas: sit; come toward you; touch your hand with its nose; lift a foot;
touch and follow a target object such as a pencil or a spoon.)
- Click once (in-out.) If you
want to express special enthusiasm, increase the number of treats, not the number of
clicks.
- Keep practice sessions
short. Much more is learned in three sessions of five minutes each than in an hour of
boring repetition. You can get dramatic results, and teach your pet many new things, by
fitting a few clicks a day here and there in your normal routine.
- Fix bad behaviour by
clicking good behaviour. Click the puppy for relieving itself in the proper spot. Click
for paws on the ground, not on the visitors. Instead of scolding for making noise, click
for silence. Cure leash-pulling by clicking and treating those moments when the leash
happens to go slack.
- Click for voluntary (or
accidental) movements toward your goal. You may coax or lure the animal into a movement or
position, but don't push, pull, or hold it. Let the animal discover how to do the
behaviour on its own. If you need a leash for safety's sake, loop it over your shoulder or
tie it to your belt.
- Don't wait for the
"whole picture" or the perfect behaviour. Click and treat for small movements in
the right direction. You want the dog to sit, and it starts to crouch in back: click. You
want it to come when called, and it takes a few steps your way: click.
- Keep raising your goal. As
soon as you have a good response-when a dog, for example, is voluntarily lying down,
coming toward you, or sitting repeatedly-start asking for more. Wait a few beats, until
the dog stays down a little longer, comes a little further, sits a little faster. Then
click. This is called "shaping" behaviour.
- When your animal has
learned to do something for clicks, it will begin showing you the behaviour spontaneously,
trying to get you to click. Now is the time to begin offering a cue, such as a word or a
hand signal. Start clicking for that behaviour if it happens during or after the cue.
Start ignoring that behaviour when the cue wasn't given.
- Don't order the animal
around; clicker training is not command-based. If your pet does not respond to a cue, it
is not disobeying; it just hasn't learned the cue completely. Find more ways to cue it and
click it for the desired behaviour. Try working in a quieter, less distracting place for a
while. If you have more than one pet, separate them for training, and let them take turns.
- Carry a clicker and
"catch" cute behaviours like cocking the head, chasing the tail, or holding up
one foot. You can click for many different behaviours, whenever you happen to notice them,
without confusing your pet.
- If you get mad, put the
clicker away. Don't mix scolding, leash-jerking, and correction training with clicker
training; you will lose the animal's confidence in the clicker and perhaps in you.
- If you are not making
progress with a particular behaviour, you are probably clicking too late. Accurate timing
is important. Get someone else to watch you, and perhaps to click for you, a few times.
- Above all, have fun.
Clicker-training is a wonderful way to enrich your relationship with any learner.
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