Clicker Training For Dogs
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Clicker training for dogs is based on operant conditioning, which is where your dog acts upon something in the environment which results in you rewarding the consequences of your dogs action. Behaviours that do not get reinforced will eventually get extinguished.

Operant conditioning merely means ‘learning by consequences’ which can be both pleasant and unpleasant. It is a behaviour that is determined by its consequences; pleasant consequences for success, unpleasant consequences for failure. Remember, in clicker training for dogs, that no single reinforcer can keep a dog motivated at all times e.g. food. Though some of you may have a dog that seems to defy that suggestion!

Positive relationship that increases the bonding and teamwork between trainer and dog leads to excellence in the performance of learned behaviours.

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It is very important to always reward with a ‘click’, every time your dog does the correct thing. Clicker training for dogs is mainly used to shape the behaviour of the dog. In many cases food is also used as a lure to ‘bribe’ the dog to a better understand of what is being asked of it. However, behaviour that is offered without the bribe is best (operant behaviour).

Negative Control

Clicker training for dogs is not a command based training system. In Clicker training for dogs, negative control is generally never used to create behaviours. But there may be an occasional case where it can be used successfully in conjunction with the Clicker. Negative control can be a tiny but crucial part of any successful training method. However, some negative controls can be dangerous. A commonly used negative action by owners, is a loud noise, however, you should avoid loud noises as punishers as they can lead to neurotic behavious by the dog later in life.

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Clicker training for dogs

It is very important to have a link between the signal you give and the punishment. The link could be the word ‘no’. If you want to a stop dog from jumping up, be prepared. Wait until you can see the dog bunch its muscles to jump on you. At the instant you see the dog tense, put you hand in a stop position and say a forceful ‘NO’ and bring down a soft object (like a large, soft, folded towel) from your shoulder and hit the dog. This will startle the dog and it will back off for a second, but it won’t hurt him.

The Clicker Makes the Difference

This is where the clicker becomes so important. If you only used the action of hitting with a soft object, repeatedly, the dog could become afraid of anyone using a hitting action and could even become aggressive. But for now you must repeat the action when the dog tries again to jump up. Often by the third time the dog is not as likely to jump – and may even sit.

As soon as the dog comes towards you without jumping, click and treat. Now you may only have to repeat this once or twice more before the dog understands the combination of the hand signal (stop) and the voice signal (NO) and the clicker (reward). It won’t be long before you can drop the clicker and reward – but it is suggested you do use the clicker/reward randomly for the next few months, just to keep the dog alert. This is an example of clicker training for dogs combined with negative control.