[simpleaffiliate source="chitika" results="0"][/simpleaffiliate] What are some good clicker training books and dog tricks book?
I'm going to start training my puppy using a clicker, and I wanted some good books to buy or check out. Thanks in advance.
I always recommend Clicker Training for Dogs by Karen Pryor as a good starter book. It explains very simply the theory and how to get started as well has how to teach basic exercises.
Handling Shyness- Clicker Dog Training
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I am going to be doing clicker training with my new dog. Should I do it alone or should my wife also do it?
In other words, should we switch off so that I train her sometimes and my wife trains her sometimes, or should it always be one person in order to establish someone as the pack leader? If I do all the training, will she listen to my wife?
Training should be learned and done by both of you together. You should both be on the same page as far as your commands, the way you walk with him, even the way you hold the leash.
If you are individually doing different things and giving different commands all you will do is to confuse the dog.
Training is not easy, if you have never done it before. This is where you will make it or break it. If not trained correctly, which, unfortunately, I've seen a lot, it will take virtually undoing everything that you've done and re-teaching him.
If you want to do it yourself, please read a lot and watch training videos before you undertake the project.
Good Luck.
Solving Counter Surfing- Clicker Dog Training
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[simpleaffiliate source="chitika" results="0"][/simpleaffiliate] Do you agree with the Clicker Training Method?
Why/why not? Do you think it is a successful way to train dogs?
If not, what dog training method do you prefer and use? I use clicker training myself with my dog. In fact, I actually started clicker training when I discovered zsianz1 and kikopup's channels.
People seem to have th wrong idea about clicer training. The clicker sound doesn't /replace/ the reward (food, toy, walk, whatever) it just lets the dog know EXACTLY what earned the reward (as you can mark an exact moment in time) and lets him know that a reward is coming within a few seconds.
The problem with just using treats is that you can sometime reward a few seconds too late and so reward the wrong behaviour. Imagine you're teaching your dog to stand. You lure him up from a sit, he walks forwards, sighs and you give him a treat. You've just reinforced the sigh.
If you do the same thing in clicker training you lure him up and click as he straightens his back legs, he can than walk and sigh all he wants before you treat, you've still reinforced the standing, rather than the sighing because THAT'S when you clicked.
With clicker training you can also reward the tiniest of behaviours. I was having trouble getting my dog to learn to spin by luring him around in a circle. So I sat down with my clicker and waited. When he looked to the left I clicked and followed it with a treat. Next time he looked to the left I clicked and followed it with a treat. Soon he was looking to the left every few seconds so then I stopped clicking that everytime and started only clicking if he turned slightly. Within half an hour he was spinning round in a complete circle without me luring him at all.
You couldn't distinguish such small movements with ordinary training. Your dog would have no idea what it was being rewarded for, with the clicker however (as long as your timing is good enough) you can mark things as small as a shift in weight, a flick of an eye, a tail movement. As long as there's some small behaviour to start off with you can build huge chains of behaviour that are nothing like the original behaviour you started from. Example: I went from clicking my dog for looking at a book to having him do a handstand with his back feet against a wall!
The part where people go wrong in clcker training is they think the clicker /becomes/ a reward, it doesn't, it just becomes a /promise/ of a reward. It says to the dog "I like what you just did, and now I'm going to get you a treat".
You don't /have/ to use a clicker, you can use voice signals too. Both my dogs know that "YES!" also means a treat is coming (useful for when I don't have my clicker to hand). My friends' deaf dog is trained to a flash in the eyes with a torch and a hand clap (as long as he can see it). The thing with the clicker is that it's shorter and sharper so there's less chance of you inadvertantly marking more than one behaviour with it.
I'd reccomend reading "Click for Joy!" by Melissa Alexander. It goes over how the clicker works, how to prime the clicker and how to use it to solve common dog problems and train puppies in basic obedience. It's written in a Q&A format, so it's easy to dip back into when you need reminded of something.
For fun tricks I'd reccomend checking out the users Kikopup and zsianz1 on Youtube. They're both brilliant trainers and their dogs are all 100% clicker trained!
Clicker Training for Dogs by Ahimsa Dog Training
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