There are  many ways of dog training, in our experience I have found clicker training to be the best by far!

Why?  It's quick, effective and fun and that's what training should be.

What is clicker training?

Clicker training is a hands off, positive reinforcement method of training.

The clicker is a “conditioned reinforcer” – this uses a particular sound to become significant to the dog as it conditions the dog to associate the sound with a reward.

The clicker falls into something called Classical Conditioning.  Many of us have heard the phrase “Pavlov’s Dogs” but how does this relate to clicker training?

Pavlov conducted experiments with dogs as he discovered when food was produced, the dogs would salivate.  He then progressed this onto sounding a bell just before the food was produced and the dogs then began to salivate when they heard the bell in anticipation of the food.

The bell (like the clicker) is a conditioned reinforcer where the food is a primary reinforcer.

You can use anything as a conditioned reinforcer but something with a consistent sound is the most efficient.  This is where the clicker is so effective – it makes a distinctive double click sound, quite unlike anything else.  This makes it a superb, non-confusing training aid for your dog.

The clicker is just a small rectangular plastic box fitted with a piece of metal that when pressed, makes the double click sound.  You can use words (e.g. “Yes”) but it is hard to use the same tone of voice, especially if family members are involved in training