want to try clicker training

Hi all,

Marley is 16 weeks today, we have been practicing some basic training at home. its slow but there is progress. I got a clicker today to try that, was only $3. there is conflicting information though. the question is, click before the treat or after the treat? this would be the conditioning to associate the click with something positive.

Thanx

When I used my clicker this what I'd do, I'll give you an example so you understand.

Let's say to train the recall:
Call your dog, as soon as the dog turns around and starts walking towards you, click the clicker when the dog gets to you give him a treat.

The clicker is to mark the behavior that you want your dog to do, so as soon as your dog turns and starts walking to you, you have to somehow tell him that's what you want to do, that's why you click so he knows he's going to get rewarded for that behavior.

Now before you start training the puppy with the clicker, you should get your puppy use to what the clicker is and why you clicking.

The way I did was by taking a few days and click and give him a treat (he didn't have to do anything at all just click and give a treat) this way the puppy will start to understand that the sound that the clicker does means a treat, that way when you start your training your puppy will know when he's doing something right and when he's going to get a treat.

Good luck.

Thanks mate, totally makes sense. I will start conditioning her over then next few days and ill let you know how i make out.

Good luck, you do need to click and give treat for a while just so your puppy understands that the sound means that he's going to get a treat. If you just do it a few times your puppy will not understand why you clicking basically so when you click it doesn't mean anything to the dog, maybe with time he'd start to understand but would take longer, so do take a few days just to click and give a treat to make sure when you start your training your puppy will understand why you clicking.

I wish you the best of luck.