Best Pet Articles

Dog Clicker Training


Dog clicker training is so much fun for both dogs and people that the training part just slips in! Dog clicker training gets the dog to figure out what you want, making it an enjoyable game.

This wonderful, cruelty-free method is revolutionizing dog training!

Have you tried it yet? It's quite easy to learn at a basic level, and once you and your dog get the habit, it can be used for many enjoyable tricks as well as for all the essentials of training. Clickers are inexpensive and widely available at pet stores and on the internet.

Here's how you might do a short dog clicker training session (and short sessions work best for the dogs' learning):

1. You have a clicker in your hand, and some small treats in a pocket or nearby. The treats can be small pieces of dry dog food, commercial dog treats, tiny pieces of cheese, or anything you know your dog likes to eat. You have chosen what you are going to train for this session... let's say it's "sit."

2. Your dog wanders over, for whatever reason. He happens to lift his head up, and you click the clicker and give him a treat.

3. Now you've got his attention. Let's say he happens to sit. You immediately click and give him a large "jackpot" treat because he's done exactly what you want -- even though he didn't know you wanted it.

4. After some more rewards when he happens to do something that is either the behavior you want or part of it, he gets the idea that yummy treats come when he does certain things. He may offer you a variety of behaviors. Just reward the ones that you want in this context.

5. If he doesn't sit because he is too excited by the treats, you could hold a treat over his head, so far back that he would sit (or even make a motion toward sitting) and then you could click that. Try to click at the very moment that he does what you want.

Once he definitely has the idea that sitting brings a treat (which might be more than one session), you can begin to use the word "sit" -- timing it so you say it just before you think he is about to sit. He still does the sitting because in his mind, sitting and treats are connected, but after he has heard the word 'sit" in that context enough times, he'll get the idea.

This is exactly how I trained my Basenji to sit in the first week we had her as a puppy. It was the first time I had trained a dog to sit without endlessly shoving on its rear -- and it got me hooked on dog clicker training!

Clicker training is a relatively new method for working with dogs. Dolphin trainer Karen Pryor began using the process with dogs. It has rapidly spread in popularity as its effectiveness has been proven -- with young puppies, with "problem dogs," with countless dogs in a great variety of situations. It's based solidly on scientific principles of how animals learn.

Rosana Hart is a longtime dog owner who has clickers and little bags of treats in several rooms of her house and in a bunch of her jackets. Her dogs think that they have trained her! You can find out more about clicker training and about other pain-free, positive dog training methods at her website http://www.training-dogs.com.


MORE RESOURCES:

China Daily

Pet stores struggle to cope with dogs abandoned after holidays
China Daily
By Zhou Wenting (China Daily) SHANGHAI-A 3-year-old Doberman Pinscher has been waiting for its owner for three weeks in a pet shop here, where it was taken for a bath in mid-January, to be claimed on the following day. Li Haigang, shopkeeper of Little ...

and more »


Bryan College Station Eagle

Expecting parents can help pets adapt
Green Bay Press Gazette
Experts say the countdown should include prep time for pets too. A baby changes everything for a pet — from how its home looks, smells and sounds to what the rules are. Low energy, friendly, social dogs are the most adaptable pets, while independent, ...
Baby on the way? Prepare your pet for new arrivalHerald Times Reporter
Pets need some prep for new babiesBryan College Station Eagle

all 12 news articles »


Cleveland News - Fox 8

Obesity epidemic strikes US pets
CNN
The majority of adult dogs and cats in US homes are overweight or obese, and the problem has gotten worse over the past year, according to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. Fifty-three percent of adult dogs and 55% of cats were classified as ...
Avoid a Pet Emergency in Overtime: Super Sunday's Parties Can Be Dangerous To ...Sacramento Bee
Are We Feeding Our Pets to Death?Gawker
Half of All US Pets Dangerously OverweightCalorieLab Calorie Counter News

all 58 news articles »


Good News For Pet Lovers Can Get Better
KXO Radio
The percentage of dogs and cats in homes adopted from shelters and rescue groups has risen from 27 to 29 percent in the last few years, while the number of healthy and treatable pets losing their lives for lack of a home has dropped from 3 million to ...
Homeless Pet ClubsPatch.com

all 3 news articles »


BigPond News

Ohio proposal would ban owners from buying exotic animals, create new caging ...
Washington Post
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Proposed legislation in Ohio would ban the purchase of lions, bears and other exotic animals, but current owners of the dangerous wildlife would be allowed to keep them as pets if they meet strict new requirements. State Sen.
Ohio bill would ban new ownership of exotic petsCBS News
State bill would ban new ownership of exotic petsFox News

all 212 news articles »


New York Daily News

Courtney Love 'to sue over leaked testimony in which daughter Frances Bean ...
Daily Mail
In the explosive files, Frances Bean accused her mother of causing the death of their family pets. She filed the restraining order against Love in LA superior court in December 2009 after they got into a physical fight. Backed by evidence from her male ...
Courtney Love's accused of killing family pets by daughter?Gather Celebs News Channel
Courtney Love to sue over leaked restraining order filed by daughterZee News
Frances Bean Cobain: Courtney Love 'killed the family pets'New York Daily News
Fox News
all 130 news articles »


Hunterdon County Democrat - NJ.com

More pet owners take advantage of free rabies clinics in Hunterdon County
Hunterdon County Democrat - NJ.com
Twelve free rabies vaccination clinics were held over the past month in Hunterdon County, timed so that people registering their pets can show proof of current rabies vaccination. The next clinic is scheduled at the High Bridge rescue squad building on ...

and more »


Pets rescued from burning clinic
Charleston Gazette
Several pets were rescued from a veterinarian clinic in Logan after a fire broke out there early Sunday morning. Firefighters were called to Knowles Animal Hospital, 615 Stratton St., around 2 am, Lt. Hatfield of the Logan Fire Department said.

and more »


Super Bowl Gone to The Dogs & BARKCODE®!
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
With each tag that is ordered through the Kizashi Kicks website, BARKCODE®, on behalf of Suzuki, will donate three dollars to the American Red Cross1 for disaster relief and preparation to help people and pets. For additional information on BARKCODE®, ...

and more »


Orsini Looking for More Than a Blind Date
Patch.com
They are very nice people with friendly pets who I get along with just fine. I am happy for the love and warmth they have shown toward me, even when I have been shy and hesitant around them. Now that I have been here for a while, I am much more relaxed ...

and more »

Google News

home | site map | SubArticle
© 2008