To Clicker or Not to Clicker – There Really isn’t a Question

It amazes me that there are still people who want to use a choker collar and punitive measures when training. With the wealth of research and the number of case studies the question shouldn’t be, ‘do I want to use a clicker’ when training. It should be ‘how well do I want my dog to behave?’

Clickers are not magic. All they do is capture a behavior, repeatedly, and increase the chances of that behavior to be repeated. I’ve successfully trained dogs with a clicker and treats, and without treats but using another reward. Both work easily and both work quickly.

You Should Use a Clicker?

• You don’t feel comfortable talking to your dog.
• You become distracted when working your dog.
• You feel your dog just ‘doesn’t get it.’
• Your dog is stubborn
• You don’t have a lot of time in the day to train your dog
• You are easily frustrated when training.
• Your dog has reactive behaviors, aggression, or fear issues.
• Your dog is young
• Your dog has ‘poisoned cues’ (words that generate negative/aggressive reactions)
• You correct/punish the negative behavior or wrong actions, and ignore (forget to praise/reward) the correct behaviors.

You Don’t Need a Clicker?

• You don’t want a high level of obedience/performance from your dog.
• You talk to your dog constantly and it is very in tune with you.
• You work your dog 2 – 3 times a day and have a good trusting relationship with your dog.
• Your dog looks to you for guidance.

A clicker has been proven to generate a higher level of obedience, more varied commands and obedience, and it does this faster. The more you use a clicker the faster your dog will learn. Clickers are used by military and police K9 Units, service dog and performance dog trainers. Anyone who needs a dog to do a job, consistently, without fail will often rely on a clicker.

Problems with Clickers

• If your timing is wrong then you could be capturing the wrong behavior
• You need to be consistent
• You need to understand exactly what behavior you want from the dog
• You need to be willing to use the clicker in public

Benefits of Clickers

• Better relationship between you and your dog
• Dog learns faster with less stress and frustration
• Dog understands what you want from it
• Shaping behaviors is mentally stimulating and can be fun
• Dog enjoys training and wants to work with you
• You are accentuating the positive not the negative