Is your dog crazy? Does she chew your couch or bark at anything that happens to walk by the front window? Then, you need a clicker.
A clicker can be a very important part of being a dog parent. Most dogs need exercise every day in order to stay balanced, happy, and relaxed. There are, of course, a few super lazy dogs out there, that are very happy to lie on the couch all day. But, most of them need to have physical and mental exercise to engage in, to use up their energy. This is where a clicker comes in very useful.
After you have walked your dog up and down those glorious San Francisco hills, or let her romp around Fort Funston or Dolores Park for at least half an hour, you can practice mental exercises with the clicker. If you need to, you can substitute physical exercise for clicker training once in a while. They release the same relaxing hormones to the brain.
Once you and your dog are familiar with the basic Click-Treat of a clicker, the sky is your limit as far as teaching him tricks. I will outline it below for you:
1. Click the clicker once.
2. Toss a pea-sized treat to your dog. Soft treats, cheese, and hot dog work the best. (The dog needs to be able to eat the treat within 3 seconds of the clicker clicking).
3. Repeat for 2 minutes. Wait 2 minutes. Repeat for 2 minutes… etc.
After a few sessions of this, your dog will learn that once that weird click noise happens, a treat will fall out of the sky! It does vary on how long a dog will catch on to this, so don’t give up. Just keep clicking and treating! You’ll know she has caught on, because she will watch you intently and when she hears the click she will look for the treat.
NOW. You and your dog are ready to start learning tricks! The first one you should teach him is to “touch” a target. The first target will be your hand:
You will hold out your hand flat, about 2 inches away from your dogs nose and say “touch!”
When your dog comes close to touching it, you will CLICK and toss a treat!
If your dog doesn’t try to touch your hand, then click for even looking at your hand. Take steps forward and backwards and around, to try to stimulate your dog to go investigate your hand. You can rub a treat on your hand, so the smell of it will be there.
Once your dog touches your hand 9 out of 10 times in a row, then start moving your hand to different heights and locations. Mix it up! Get that brain working! Remember, it may take a few days and sessions before you get to this point. That’s fine! The objective here is to work the brain, not really to actually get your dog to learn something in record time.
You can now randomly throw in a “touch” request in before meals, before going for a walk, before saying hi to a friend of his/hers. Practice, learn, repeat, and have fun! What you are accomplishing here, is not only a relaxed dog, but a strengthening of the bond between you both - and that bond is what is going to have the most impact on how your dog listens to you and behaves.
Let me know what your questions are about clicker training in the comments below. Have you tried it? Where are you at? What is the next step for you?
Here’s a good video for more clicker training ideas: