It’s not unusual for some dogs to have “clicker aversion,” especially with box clickers, as they make a loud, sharp sound. Start with the clicker behind your back, or in a pocket, to muffle the sound at first. If you’re trying to clicker train your dog and he or she seems to be worried about the sound, please stop using your clicker immediately. Some dogs show few signs of discomfort before suddenly running from the room when the clicker is presented; others look increasingly uneasy with every click. Better to stop sooner rather than later, as the problem is harder to fix if your dog has developed a phobia.

Next time you’re ready for a training session, start with your dog in a different location using different treats, no clicker in sight. Give a quick “smooch” sound with your lips instead of the clicker… if this worries your pup for some reason, just switch to the word “Yes” instead. If you’d like to go back to a mechanical clicker, try to find one that makes a softer sound, or even use the top of a click pen. Don’t attempt to reintroduce the clicker, however, until your dog has had a few weeks of non-clicking clicker training!

Surprisingly, dogs who are bothered by the sound of the clicker at home seem to cope perfectly well in a class or an environment where the other dogs are getting clicked.

photo credit: Anton Novoselov

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This is a great trick to teach your canine companion; what better way for him to greet a new human friend than with the shake of a paw? Shaking hands is a relatively easy trick to train, but as with everything else it may take a little patience. There are a few ways to train the behavior.

Method One

If your pup likes to use his paws to get to things, this method may work the best for you:

Step One: Place a treat in your palm and pin it down with your thumb. Allow your dog to investigate.

Step Two: Your dog may sniff, but just ignore this. As soon as he paws at your hand, mark the behavior with a click or a word such as “Yes” or “Good,” then give a treat with your other hand. This is important!

Step Three: Repeat step two until he is automatically pawing at your hand every time you offer it.

Step Four: Now try offering your hand in the same position, minus the treat; if he paws, great! And remember, keep giving your dog his treat with your other hand. If he doesn’t paw at your hand this time, go back to step two until the behavior is a little stronger.

Step Five: Once your pup is pawing at your hand without the treat, try moving to an open, flat hand. If he paws, mark it and treat as always! He’s getting the hang of it now.

Step Six: When he’s comfortable with this, you can add a verbal cue such as “Shake!” to the behavior by saying your cue then offering your hand.

Step Seven: Reduce the treats he gets gradually, until he’ll shake your hand on cue with no reward.

Don’t forget to treat once in a while to keep the behavior strong!

Method Two

Another way to teach this behavior is by physically taking the dog’s paw into your hand.

Step One: Say your cue (such as “Shake!”), gently lift your dog’s paw with your hand and immediately mark this with a click or a word such as “Yes” or “Good”, and give her a treat.

Step Two: Repeat step one; this can take a different amount of time depending on your pup, but expect to do a few sessions of just step one.

Step Three: Eventually, your dog will respond to your cue word by raising her paw without your hand!

These two methods should help you on your way to teaching your pooch this classic trick. Enjoy!

photo credit: Bob B. Brown

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This trick is great fun for most dogs, but it can be a little scary for some pups to show their belly. Go slow, and if your dog isn’t having fun, you can always try something else.

Step One: Get your dog to lie down.

Step Two: With a treat in one hand and a clicker (if you so choose) in your other, lure the dog on his side by moving the treat behind his head. Your dog should turn his head and shift his body position; when he does, click and give him the treat.

Step Three: Go a little further each time, until your dog is on his side. Click, treat, and continue luring him onto his back, giving treats often. If your dog gets tired, don’t be afraid to give him a break.

Step Four: Once your pup is on his back, he might roll to the other side on his own! If he does, click and treat it, release him, and keep going.

Step Five: When he is reliably rolling all the way over with your lure, start going through the same procedure without a treat in your hand, but still click and reward once he completes the behavior.

Step Six: Add in your verbal cue while very gradually fading your lure. After a few sessions, your pup will now roll over on cue without the hand signal!

Have a blast teaching your dog this entertaining trick!

photo credit: OakleyOriginals

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What is the 15-minute feeding schedule?

It’s the simplest way to alter the way your dog interacts with you, with the least effort on your part.

If your dog is already on the 15-minute feeding schedule, pat yourself on the back, go grab some kibble and a clicker, and get to work on Charging The Clicker. If your dog turns up his nose at the idea of dinner as a reward, the 15-minute feeding schedule will work wonders.

What to do:
1. Check with your vet about feeding requirements. Most dogs will survive on the low end of the bag of kibble’s feeding recommendations with no ill effects, but if in doubt, ask your veterinarian. If you’re feeding substantially more than the low end suggestion, and your vet says it’s OK, cut back to the recommended amount over a period of days.
2. Pick up your dog’s food bowl. The days of filling the bowl in the morning and leaving it out all day are over. (“But he likes to eat overnight/while I’m gone/etc.!” Exactly… your dog is determining the food’s value, not you.)
3. Set a timer… for 15 minutes! (Or 20, if you’re feeling guilty.) Then, set out the normal portion for that meal. Whatever is still there after 15 minutes is picked up and returned to the bag. Do NOT save the uneaten portion for the next meal. The regular portion is set out at the next meal.

That’s it! Your dog may not eat at first, but soon he’ll realize there’s an expiration date on the food bowl, and it’s determined by YOU.

Soon you’ll see a happy, engaged response when you reach for the food bag, indicating that your dog views his kibble as a valuable resource. And once you control the resources, you can control the dog.

photo credit: mrdorkesq

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“How old does my puppy have to be before I can begin training?”

This is a question I am asked often. The puppy in this video is 10 weeks old; but you don’t even have to wait that long! “Training” starts the day you bring your new dog or puppy home to live with you — dogs are learning all the time. This is why it is easier to prevent problems and bad habits than to solve them later.

(Check out our Puppy Kindergarten class in Athens!)

But what most people mean when they ask this question is, “How soon can I expect my puppy to start performing tricks and basic obedience behaviors?” Happily, the answer is the same — immediately. Clicker training is an easy and fun way to accomplish this.

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This is my friend Tracy Custer (foster mom to my cattle dog Gimli — Tracy has a littermate), practicing with a few of her 11 (yes, 11) amazing rescued disc dogs.

Most of the moves you see here are used in freestyle competition, which involves the handler throwing to the dog, who catches and performs tricks to music. Awesome stuff.

The good news is, anyone with a clicker and a dog with a little bit of drive can participate in freestyle disc (and if you’re more into throwing than fancy footwork, there’s a distance competition, too).

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An easy way to add to your dog’s repertoire of tricks or commands is to teach her how to target objects.

Targeting (or “target training”) means your dog pays attention to, and then performs an action based on, a particular stimulus (usually an object such as your hand, or a target stick). A dog putting his paw on an object on command, or bumping your hand with his nose upon request, is targeting. Targeting is a super-quick behavior to teach and has a variety of uses.

“Go to your mat” is one handy result of target training. We first teach the dog to “target” his mat, add the cue “Go to your mat,” and then place in a location of our choosing. Agility trainers use targeting quite often to teach their dogs not to skip contact zones while climbing or dismounting obstacles. Service dog trainers use targeting to teach dogs to open doors, turn lights on and off, and more.

Teaching hand targeting

Targeting your hand is an easy behavior for most dogs to learn. Follow the steps below to get started. You’ll need a clicker, a bunch of small, tasty, easy-to-swallow treats, and a leash (if your dogs needs a reason to stick around).

1. Remember to always offer your dog a reward after you click, even if you have made an error.
2. Offer your dog your hand, palm facing the tip of her nose (you can hold your hand in whatever position is most comfortable). Most dogs will sniff or lick your hand out of curiosity. As soon as she touches your hand, click and offer a treat. If your dog does not attempt to touch your hand, put it behind your back for a second or two, then try again. If your dog is having trouble finding your palm, hold it closer to her face. Click only when she reaches and touches your palm with her nose.
3. Timing is everything! Be sure you are clicking as the dog’s nose touches your hand, not after. Otherwise, she won’t understand which behavior is earning a treat.
4. Add the word “touch” or “target” just as your dog touches your hand. As your dog becomes more fluent, begin asking your dog to touch your palm, using the command.
5. Raise and lower the target hand so that your dog has to take several steps to reach it. Have you moved it closer and closer to the ground, and up high so she has to stand up on her hind legs to reach it? Have you moved across the floor and had her follow you, nose to the target, as if her nose was magnetized?
6. Begin asking your dog to target other objects with her nose, such as small container lids, pieces of cloth, the end of a stick, etc. You can also vary the length of time the dog must keep her nose on your hand or target object before she gets her click and treat.

Of course, you can teach your dog to target any number of objects, whether portable or not. The most portable object I ever used to teach target training was a sticker, which could then be placed anywhere, including unmovable places like walls!

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A short video demonstrating how to get started with clicker training by introducing your dog to the clicker.

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“Doggie Zen” is an exercise I learned from clicker trainer Shirley Chong. This exercise is particularly effective in teaching your dog to focus on you amidst distraction.

Before you begin, remember…

1. A click is a promise that a treat is coming. Always offer your dog a reward after you click, even if you have made an error.
2. Reinforce (click and treat) any behavior you like. Ignore or manage behavior you don’t like.
3. Wait until the dog has offered the behavior several times before putting a name on it. For example, if you are trying to teach your dog to “Sit” using the clicker, don’t use the word “Sit” until you have captured the behavior several times.

Doggie Zen

1. Gather your treats, clicker and dog. Put your dog on a leash to keep her near you, if necessary.
2. Hold out a treat in a closed fist for your dog. Your dog will lick your hand to get at the treat.
3. As soon as your dog stops licking or sniffing your hand (even for a second), click and open your hand to present the reward.
4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until your dog is no longer attempting to touch you. When this happens, begin waiting for the dog to look at you before you click and treat.
5. Move your fist to a different place; hold it out to one side, then the other. This will help your dog understand that looking at you, not looking for the treat, is what earns a reward.

Watch a video of the Doggie Zen exercise.

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Let’s teach our dogs the most important word they’ll ever hear: their names. The good news is, this simple, life-saving word can be taught in literally a matter of minutes.

All you’ll need to do is grab your dog, a leash (if you need it to keep him nearby), and 50 or so really, really good treats. I’m not talking about dog biscuits or those pre-packaged, food coloring-filled store-bought treats — we mean business here. I’m talking about hot dogs, chicken, turkey, pieces of salami, roast beef, and the like. The good stuff. The stuff you were always told not to feed your dog from the table. Anything your dog would love to get his little paws on counts. (Obviously, check with your vet if your dog has dietary or medical issues.)

You don’t need to use big treats — slices or bits the size of your pinky nail work just fine for even the largest dogs. This is a treat your dog loves, remember?

If you want to go high-tech with your training, get a clicker as well. Remember to condition your dog to the clicker before getting started, if it’s your first time using one. If you don’t have a clicker, no worries — with this exercise, you can simply skip that step in the following instructions:

• Place the treats within easy reach for you, but where your dog cannot get them.
• Say the dog’s name, click the clicker and feed a treat. Do not ask for a sit, do not call the dog from a distance, and do not repeat the dog’s name. Click as soon as you say the dog’s name and feed a treat.
• If your dog isn’t paying attention, move backwards with the leash in your hand. Wait for the dog to look at you, say his name, then click and treat.
• Repeat with all treats. Do this exercise at least twice a day in different locations.

Once you’ve done this exercise for a couple of sessions, test its effectiveness by saying your dog’s name while he’s not looking. His head should snap up and he should focus his big greedy brown eyes on you in hopes of getting a treat. If he does, congratulations! You’re ready to move him outside and repeat the process. If not, check that you’re still using a super-yummy treat in a non-distracting environment and repeat the exercise a few times before testing it again.

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