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Brief history of clicker training

Training a dog with a clicker is called an 'operant conditioning method' of training using a clicker or small mechanical noisemaker, to tell your dog when he is doing what you want. The method uses positive reinforcement - which means that it is reward based.

The clicker is used during the early stages of training a new behaviour, and helps your dog to quickly learn what you want him to do. Clicker training was developed during World War II by Marion Bailey and Keller Breland who studied under the eminent behaviour specialist B F Skinner. They taught wild pigeons to "bowl" (push a ball with their beaks) as part of their military research.

According to their work, animal training was taking too long because traditional methods of praise and reward did not teach the animal quickly enough when it was doing the right thing.

Clicker training has since been used to train over 140 types of animals including whales, dolphins. Seals, bears, lions, chickens and domestic dogs and cats Clicker training is a different way to communicate with your pet. It is easier to learn than standard command-based training. You can clicker train any kind of animal, of any age. Puppies love it. Old dogs learn new tricks.

Although clicker training has been around now for over 60 years it is still quite a new idea for most pet owners and may seem a bit strange at first.It is just a matter of learning how to use a clicker for dog training.

Clicker dog training - the first steps

The first step with clicker dog training is to get your dog used to the idea that a click means a reward. To do this you take your dog and a plate of treats into a quiet area and then click your clicker. When your dog looks at you it is time to offer a treat. You repeat this several times - 10 to 15 should be enough - until your dog gets the idea that a click means a treat.

That is the first stage of training your dog with a clicker completed.

The next step is to click and reward when your dog does something right. This might be to sit, lie down, go to the toilet outside or go to their bed (these are called behaviours). The basic idea is that you 'click' at the exact moment that your dog does something. Once the dog has repeated the behaviour a few times it is time to teach it the command word or hand signal.

If you are trying to teach 'sit' then you would click and reward every time your dog sits. You would then use the word 'sit' as you give the reward. Once your dog has learned to sit on command then you can stop using the treats. Remember that the reward does not always have to be a food treat although most dogs do respond well to food. Other rewards could be praise, a game or a favourite toy.

Clicker dog training - is it for you?

Training a dog with a clicker is something you will either love or hate. It is a very effective way of training particularly if you want to progress to advanced training but it requires a different mindset.

With clicker dog training you wait for your dog to offer a behaviour and then click and reward. This can be quite time consuming in the early stages of training.

I recently watched a video of a top clicker trainer teaching an 11 week old Labrador to go to its mat. The trainer stood in the room while the puppy went around the room sniffing here, there and everywhere. Once the puppy went towards the mat the trainer clicked and rewarded (with a piece of food). Each time the puppy went near to the mat there was the click and reward.

As someone used to more conventional training methods I found this quite different and kept thinking - "why not let the puppy get onto the mat and the click and reward?" It seemed as if the trainer was doing the click and reward too early.

Now I am sure the trainer was right but this shows why it is important to choose a good course on clicker training rather than the small book that often comes with a clicker.

Eventually the puppy did go onto the mat and received the click and reward. This was repeated a few times and the command word 'mat' was introduced. The puppy then started going to the mat on command.

The bottom line is that clicker training works really well if you are willing to take the time to learn how to train your dog with a clicker.