Give That Dog a Bone!

It’s that time again, animal-lovers, for a segment I like to call, “Give That Dog a Bone.” Most animals (not just dogs) do things for the betterment of themselves. I’m not saying they read French novels or refine their golf swing, but they often do things that benefit them; if something makes them feel good, they’ll probably do it. This is true when training your animal, too. If they are instantly rewarded for performing a desired action, they’ll probably want to do it again.

There are many methods in doing this (ex: with food, attention, a praise word, etc) and one system is with a “clicker.” This device can take all shapes and sizes, but when you press it, it makes a clicking sound. This tactic has been used with all types of animals including many that perform on stage, in television, or in movies.

To begin clicker training, have a treat ready. Getting your animal used to the clicker and what it means can be a little tricky – the object is to have your animal associate the clicking sound to a reward.

In the beginning, a “click” and than an immediate treat is given (the treat need not be a large amount, just enough for a reward). As this is repeated (Click-treat, Click-treat, Click-treat) your animal will begin to associate the clicking sound to something they did correctly, and they’ll want to do it again.

Training them to do other things is done a bit more gradually. Most animals are very smart and pick up on clicker training very quickly.

When you choose an action you’d like your animal to do (such as “sit” or “down” or even as obscure as “paw at this remote”), begin to click for things that are close to the action.

If the animal takes a step closer to the remote: “click!”. If the animal takes a step away from the remote, then ignore the action until they attempt to move closer. This continues until you get the desired action – you’ll click for actions closer to what you’re looking for when the animal has an idea as to what it’s doing.

For example, you’ll no longer click for the animal walking towards the remote, but instead, click when the animal gets very close to the remote.

This will teach the animal that the desired action is not to walk towards the remote, but it’s something more specific.

After your animal is used to clicker training, they’ll begin to try different things to get the “click”-treat. All of my dogs are very excited when I get the clicker out, and I’ve had a dog sit, down, roll over, and stand on its back legs all within a few seconds just to get a treat. This is a very positive training method, and has proven to be very effective.

If you’d like to learn more about clicker training, or other positive reinforcement tools, contact your nearest library or breeder.

Unfortunately, there are many negative reinforcement based training methods, too, and they seem to leave the animal in fear of doing something incorrectly. It may just be me, but I’d rather have an animal willing to learn and train than a fearful animal that’s not having any fun.

Again, I’m not an expert by any means – this is just my experience, so if you have any questions, please contact your local vet or breeder.

Thanks for reading, and I hope I helped answer some questions about positive training tools .

Next month, I’ll attempt to explain AKC dog shows!

Remember: Every Good Day has its Dog!