Time Your Clicks for the Exact Moment

For a very good guide to all sorts of dog training processes and dog behavior challenges, I use and recommend Clickertraining ...that link goes to the description of this terrific ebook you download immediately, wherever you are! -- Rosana

This article is excerpted from the free ebook I wrote, Seven Steps to Clicker Training Success with Your Dog. The link takes you to where you can get a copy by signing up for my weekly email newsletter. (It just takes a jiffy, and you can always unsubscribe.) The ebook covers every aspect of getting a good start with clicker training dogs.

In any dog training, you want the communication with the dog to be clear. What is it that you want him to do? His response typically consists of him doing what you are training for, offering another behavior you have previously trained for, getting distracted, or being confused.

What you want to do in your communication with him is to let him know when he does exactly what you want him to. This is where the clicker is so great. It’s a sharp distinct sound and when you click at the exact moment that your dog’s body contacts the ground if you are teaching the down, then the dog knows what you want.

(Well, the dog knows what you want once he understands what the clicker means. See Step One if he hasn’t got that yet.)

So you need to learn how to click at the exact moment. For some people, it’s easier than others. If you have good hand-eye coordination you are ahead of the rest of us. I don’t, so I have practiced without a dog to get better. Believe me, if I can do it, you certainly can! …

How watching TV can make you better at clicker training

You can also practice using your clicker with a television and a remote.  I like to use the mute signal because it is almost instantaneous, and I tell the people in the ads “Quiet!” For starters, if there happens to be an ad that you are familiar with, then you can choose to click when certain things happen. Another time I like to practice is when watching tennis or other sports, where I can pretty much predict how people will move their bodies.

Whatever television shows and ads you watch, I’m sure you can come up with some creative ways to practice hitting  the clicker right when you want to. Do be sure the dog isn’t going to hear you, though. You want him to think of the clicker as something you do with him.

Click (your mouse, not your clicker) here to get the ebook: Seven Steps to Clicker Training Success with Your Dog

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