Clicker Training: Will It Work For Every Dog? #69
Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett
DogsThat
4.8 • 679 Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2021
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Visit us at shapedbydog.com
How do you decide when to use a clicker and what to use it for in dog training? That's a question recently asked on my Instagram and what we're covering in this episode. Is a clicker a good choice for your dog, or you as a trainer, or for the behavior you want to train?
In the episode you'll hear:
• About using clickers, markers and what conditioned reinforcers are.
• The four things you can do when using reinforcement in your training.
• The verbal markers I like to use and why I changed from "yes" to a short "good".
• Why we use a clicker and how it can reduce stress.
• About the clicker's precision and how a precise tool helps our training.
• Why a clicker is like a laser for training to isolate exact moments for your dog.
• About knowing what your dog thinks you clicked, not what you think you clicked.
• What I learned about getting what I click in the nineties when training a go out.
• When I use a clicker.
• The reasons to use reward throwing or food chucking in dog training.
• What to do if you are luring to fade the lure as soon as you can.
• How I inadvertently trained by dog Buzz to stop at the first weave pole.
• The difference between gross behaviors, behaviors of motion, and precise moments in time.
• Easy games to help improve your timing and skills with a clicker.
Resources:
• Video: 5 Games for Puppies - https://youtu.be/Hxd1sVEQp2Y
• Susan's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/SusanGarrettdogsthat/
• Blog Post: Three Different Types of Verbal Markers in Dog Training - https://susangarrettdogagility.com/2018/09/three-verbal-markers-in-dog-training/
• Blog Post: To Click or Not to Click, that is the Question - https://susangarrettdogagility.com/2009/09/to-click-or-not-to-click-that-is-the-question/
• Blog Post: When Clicking Goes Wrong - https://susangarrettdogagility.com/2009/09/when-clicking-goes-wrong/
• Blog Post: Practical Videoing Tips - https://susangarrettdogagility.com/2019/03/practical-videoing-tips/
• Video: Target Training for Dogs Part Two - Step by Step Training Plan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqsEEWCXze0
• Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube - https://youtu.be/Hl2aB1TrE1E
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | One of the things I'd like to do at the end of every day, if time permits, is to go back |
| 0:15.0 | and read all of the questions, comments, reviews about this podcast. And recently, one came in on Instagram and here's what |
| 0:25.3 | they wrote. I love your podcast. Watch your videos on YouTube and I just ordered your books. |
| 0:30.8 | Woo-woo. In one video you were teaching Archer, maybe M Tater, I'm not sure. |
| 0:41.0 | And, oh, I know, Archer the puppy, of course. |
| 0:44.9 | In one video, I was teaching Archer and I was only using treats. In a different video, you were teaching a dog to touch a stick with his nose and you |
| 0:49.1 | were using a clicker. |
| 0:50.4 | I was wondering, are you only using a clicker to teach some things? And then how do you decide |
| 0:56.4 | when to use a clicker for training? Thank you for putting out your podcasts and your videos. I appreciate |
| 1:02.2 | it. Thank you for your note and your question. I thought that's a great question. Let's make |
| 1:09.2 | it the topic of a podcast and that's what we're doing today. |
| 1:12.2 | Hello, I'm Susan Garrett. Welcome to Shape by Dog. And today I'm going to help you to decide, |
| 1:18.9 | number one, is a clicker a good choice for your particular dog? Is using a clicker and training |
| 1:25.3 | the best choice for you as a trainer? |
| 1:28.8 | Is a clicker the best tool to choose for the behavior you're trying to teach right now? |
| 1:36.6 | Because there are some behaviors I would never use a clicker for. |
| 1:39.9 | There are other behaviors I will always use a clicker for. |
| 1:42.3 | Take a look at this behavior. It's a video of |
| 1:45.1 | my puppy, this when she was quite young, hitting a button. Now, as you look at this behavior, |
| 1:52.9 | I want you to decide, is this a behavior that I would have used a clicker to shape? And if you know or think you know the answer, |
| 2:03.8 | and even if you don't take a guess and leave it in the comments wherever you might be watching. |
| 2:08.1 | And if you're listening, come on back and watch because I got a game for you to play later on. |
... |
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