Category: Animal House
Has anyone who's gotten a dog (just as a friend, not a guide dog), used Petsmart, or know anyone who's used Petsmart classes to train their pets?
I didn't even know Petsmart provided training classes, but they do, & I'm thinking about using them for my new baby Sadie. (Decided to change her name from Sable, cuz everytime I say it I think Sadie instead).
Also, what info can you give me on Clicker training? Never done it myself, & don't know what it is.
Thanks for any help in advance!
I heard the Petsmart training is pretty good. I have never had my own pet go through the training though.
You can use the clicker when training your dog obedience: come, sit, down, stay, and go to your place, go to your blanket; whatever you want to call it. You can teach them to roll over, give you their paw, and other tricks you might want to try to teach them. Basically, every time they do the command correctly, you click the clicker and then give them a treat. The clicker can also be used without giving the dog a treat, but it might work better with a treat especially in the beginning. Before you use the clicker on your dog, let her see and smell it. Put it on your wrist, so she can see you with it, then slowly start introducing it to her. I have an extra clicker if you don't already have one and want me to send it to you.
I found this, hope it helps.
Fifteen Tips for Getting Started with the Clicker
by
Karen Pryor
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.
list of 15 items
1. 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.
2. Click DURING the desired behavior, not after it is completed. The
timing of the click is crucial. Don't be dismayed if your pet stops the behavior when it hears the click. The click ends the behavior. Give the treat after that; the timing of the treat is not important.
3. 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.)
4. Click once (in-out.) If you want to express special enthusiasm, increase the number of treats, not the number of clicks.
5. 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.
6. Fix bad behavior by clicking good behavior. 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.
7. 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 behavior on its own. If you need a leash for safety's sake, loop it over your shoulder or tie it to your belt.
8. Don't wait for the "whole picture" or the perfect behavior. 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.
9. 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" a behavior.
10. When your animal has learned to do something for clicks, it will begin showing you the behavior 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 behavior if it happens during or after the cue. Start ignoring that behavior when the cue wasn't given.
11. 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 behavior. 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.
12. Carry a clicker and "catch" cute behaviors like cocking the head, chasing the tail, or holding up one foot. You can click for many different behaviors, whenever you happen to notice them, without confusing your pet.
13. If you get mad, put the clicker away. Don't mix scoldings, leash-jerking, and correction
training with clicker training; you will lose the animal's confidence in the clicker and perhaps in you.
14. If you are not making progress with a particular behavior, 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.
15. Above all, have fun. Clicker-training is a wonderful way to enrich your relationship with any learner.
I use the clicker while working with my guide dog. I use it when practicing obedience, targeting objects, and learning new routs. If you want more information let me know.
excellent. Guide dogs for the blind trains their dogs with the clicker, so they understand what the sound means. ditra is very motivated to do things once I give her a click. She gets so excited. *smile*
Hi Bella & Nyphodora,
Thanks to both of you for your reply.
Thanks for all the advice Bella!
Our guide dogs are not clicker trained as far as I know, but I introduced my girl slowly to the clicker and she gets very excited. I am also trying the whistle for recall. You also get clickers now whith a different volume. Just in case the dog is scared of the loud click.