Clicker training

[Snowblind]

HAve any of you tried clicker training your frenchies? My mutt is a clicker dog and we both love it. I have the problem of getting another marker signal as good as the clicker "click" for him because Khris is on the click and I don´t want to confuse them... Any thoughts???

What have you clicked to your dog? How long didi it take for him ta catch on what the click means?

[gmacleod]

Clicker training is an excellent way to train a dog :) In the beginning stages at least, it is better to work separately with your pup.

Beyond that though, using clickers and having multiple dogs isn't really a problem. Just as you want a dog to be able to differentiate commands (not just go through his repertoire until he manages to do something that earns him a treat), you also want them to be able to differentiate which dog you're addressing. So it's a good idea to preceed commands with the relevant dog's name. And you reward the dog to whom the command was addressed.

If you like though, you can always use a different marker sound for each dog. There is no particular reason (other than convenience) that the marker needs to be a click. It could just as easily be a whistle, or a sound (preferably not a word) that you make yourself. Sooo - for example, you could use the clicker to make a click sound for your older dog, and use a whistle or make a cluck sound yourself for your new puppy.

If you've never visited, the is an excellent site about clicker training: www.clickersolutions.com

[Snowblind]

Oh I hve visited and studied this site and many more and I have the "Don´t Shot The Dog" that I have read many times. But I find that my experience with traditional training methods (not harsh, more leaning on motivation but still traditional) are interfearing with my clicking... I add the cue long before the behaviour has been shaped. I kind of fear that she/he will not understand what I want and will give me the whole repertoire. Especially when starting with a new behaviour... It isn´t nearly as bad as I make myself think but still... I wish I had found the clicker before I got to training dogs. I think I whould have a exam-passing trick mashine at home right now but I am struggling with myself to keep the two things apart :rolleyes:

I tried a whistle but that didn´t work for me really. He had problems understanding with lie down: with his little frenchie feet it didn´t really make a difference when I lured the treat from his nose to the gound because he reached to the ground perfectly well. I inroduced the whistle-clicking. He got on it pretty fast but I needed to hald the whistle in my mouth to be able to whistle at the right moment. So I got a thooth ache from the metal whistle and he started lying only when the whistle was in my mouth... My mistakes probably but I find clicker alot more comfprtable. Lucky for me I found a different clicker from a dog whow this weekend. I haven´t introduced it yet but plan to do it today.

Nobody else has clicker experience? Well I stronly recomend! Gives the dog alot of brain-work, neat tricks and useful everyday behaviours that make life alot more simple and a better way of communacation to you two alltogether :D