Clicker Training: The Why and How

Why clicker train your dog? This amazingly simple method of communication works by telling your dog that he has done something right. Some of the old methods used to train dogs utilized fear as a motivator. A great deal of time and energy was spent telling the dog when he was wrong, and that we might hurt him for being wrong. We did not necessarily combine this with any information about what he might do to be RIGHT. While this style of training often worked, thanks to the amazing adaptability of the domesticated dog, it was not conducive to building a trusting relationship with our favorite companion animal.

Clicker training is different. We use a precise marker signal, the click, to tell the dog what he did right! The click also communicates to the dog that he gets to have something he wants. Once the dog knows how the system works, he begins to try different behaviors in an effort to get you to give him what he wants. Behaviors that have a positive “pay-off” (reinforcement) are much more likely to be repeated. Some trainers call this the, “catch your dog doing something right” style of training. By using a clicker and a bag of treats, we learn to focus on rewarding behaviors we like. We help to make the behaviors we like “pay off” for the dog often enough that he will keep performing them.

Clicker training takes advantage of some proven laws of learning. One of which is this: behavior is driven by its consequences – good or bad. Clicker Training is effective because the good consequence is immediate and clear to the dog. It is also fun – for the dog as well as the trainer. This method can be used to train many kinds of animals: fish, birds, horses, pigs, etc. not just dogs. A similar method has been used for years in the training of marine mammals at theme parks. As a matter of fact, Karen Pryor, a marine mammal trainer, brought this approach to the dog-training world. Gary Wilkes made it practical. For the purposes of this article, we will only refer to training the pet dog.

It works like this: a small noise-maker is deliberately paired with a delicious treat or other reward such as petting, play, or a favorite toy. Most trainers use small treats, as they are fast and easy to get to the dog. This allows training to proceed more quickly. Very soon your dog comes to understand that the “click” means something good is about to happen. You will know the dog has made the association when you see the classic “startle” response, much like the one you get when you shake the box of dog biscuits or open the cookie jar. In other words, your dog whips his head around to look at you when he hears a click.

Basically, the “click” comes to mean, “YES, that’s right!” Once your dog knows that when he hears the sound he will get a reward, you can use the “click” to communicate instantly that you liked what he just did. It is important to click at the very moment the dog did what you wanted, then feed a treat. If you want the dog to sit, you must click as he sits. If you click as he is getting up, you will be reinforcing getting up. While you are learning, it is better to click a little early rather than a little late. It will take some practice to improve your timing. The good news is that while you are learning, as long as you give the dog his treat, there is no real harm done. Clicker training can become a great game for both of you as your best friend will become inclined to think up ways to get you to make that noise again and give him another treat. In a nutshell, he thinks that he trained you!

Note: to be effective is essential that you have something the dog really wants. It can’t be something you think he should want, something he wanted yesterday, or even something that advertisers say all dogs will love. Do some taste testing to find out what your dog is crazy about. It is also necessary that the click predict the treat. That means the click comes first, not at the same time. It is not very important what the dog is doing when he eats the treat. Concentrate on clicking while he is doing the correct behavior and worry about giving him the treat afterwards.

Many trainers today prefer this method to more “traditional” methods utilizing force and here are some reasons why:

Dogs learn by repetition. So do we of course. Have you ever taken a couples dance class? How many times did you or your partner step off in the wrong direction before you got it right?
When we clicker train, WE get to choose what behavior the dog repeats, for the most part anyway. We can choose to set up his environment so that he has opportunities to repeat correct behavior. This, by the way has the added benefit of building a trusting relationship.
The other choice is to push the dog around in an attempt to make him do what we want, which can cause frustration, and in some cases even aggression if the dog is frightened or frustrated enough.
If we choose to clicker train our dog he actually learns to solve problems and to think. He becomes an active participant in the process. He learns HOW to learn.
If, on the other hand, we consistently punish the dog for being wrong, he may sometimes learn what we want him to do. But he is also learning not to think for himself, and NEVER to guess what we want because being wrong can mean being hurt or scared.
The click is a novel sound in the environment. It is easy for the dog to distinguish it from all the other noise in his life. If we use words instead of a click the dog has to work harder to pick out important words from all the other words he hears.
It is simple. Dogs do what works. Unlike us, dogs will not keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Most dogs will quickly abandon an activity that doesn’t bring a desirable result. So, if you communicate to your dog that, sitting quietly, paying attention to you, and keeping his mouth to himself will almost always score him small pieces of liver brownies; voila you get a lot of sitting quietly, paying attention and, closed mouths (except when it is open to receive the liver).

By now, you may have noticed something is missing from clicker training. It seems that we don’t TELL the dog what to do. Well, this is a component of clicker training that is different from other training too. When using a clicker to train the dog, we let the clicker do the talking. For example, if we were teaching the dog to sit we would not say, “sit”. This is because there is no reason to say, “sit” until the dog knows what it means. It just becomes more verbal noise to the dog. However, once you are sure the dog is going to sit, if you add the word just as he is about to do it, he can start to make an association between the sound you are making and his body dropping into a sit. In this way, you have set things up so that it is very easy for the dog to learn what new words mean. You will always pair new words with a behavior he already does predictably. In time, he learns to sit when he hears the word, because you have helped him make the association between the word and his behavior of sitting.

It is hard for most of us to be quiet and let the clicker do the talking. It is hard for us to change some of our old comfortable habits and ways of thinking too. If we want to be really effective clicker trainers, it is necessary to think about some human tendencies and beliefs that can get in our way before we even get started:

We humans have a tendency to notice every mistake. Therefore, it is important to re-train our selves to focus on the positive and IGNORE the negative. At least as much as possible.
It is also important to remember that while you are doing the training, your dog is doing all the work. Remember to Click and Treat often and praise lavishly at first. Be generous.
It is important to understand that your dog does not have the ability to be spiteful. Now I know some people will argue this forever but it’s true. If your dog is not doing what you want, then the most likely reason is that he is untrained, or more probably, incompletely trained.
We need to be patient with ourselves. If we have always trained our dogs using other methods, it will take us a while to feel comfortable with clicker training.
For beginners, it is helpful to have a plan before we start the lesson. How can we expect the dog to know what to do if we don’t know what we want?

Clicker Training allows us to use real and proven laws of learning. It allows us to bypass all the confusion created when we try to guess what our dog is thinking. Or worse: what we think he should KNOW without proper training. Clicker Training allows us to try something brand new and stop fretting about all the possible reasons the dog is not doing what we want. We can choose instead to focus on what might be possible if we train the dog using positive methods he can understand.

The best part of clicker training is that it builds a relationship based on trust, respect, and compassion for another living being. It’s fun. It’s rewarding. The kids can join in. And after all, weren’t these the reasons you got a dog in the first place???