We have been trying the clicker method with pup and it works brilliantly ( for sitting only ) .
We have been using it for just over a week and when we ask him to sit he will stop whatever he is doing and sit . But he will not respond to any other command :(
We can even get his attention (even from chasing the cat he will stop on hearing the clicker and run over to us and then sit ) .
Do you think he associates the clicker only with this one command ( in which case it will be useless carrying on with it ) or will everything else just "click" in ( sorry for the pun ) :)
given time ?
Has anyone else experienced this
lel

I may have misunderstood what you meant but are you clickingto get pup's attention because that isn't the way a clicker is generally used. The click is to mark the behaviour you want then treat after or give toy what ever you prefer.
When I used clicker to teach sendaway I first put down mat and clicked if Cava looked at it, then if he went near it, then for sniffing, touching with foot, sitting on it, then lying down. This took a few days, everytime you teach a new action you need to go through steps, I would be calling him and clicking him for coming.
Don't know how clear that is I find it quite hard to put into words but works great in practise. Hope Linsay will be along she's better at explaining than me
Anne

Thanks for that Ann but I don't think I am better at explaining :p !!! I thought you were doing well :p :)

It does sound, lel, as if you are clicking to get the pup's attention - i have often seen people use the clicker for this, but the trouble is, it negates the conditioning and eventually the pup may start to ignore you or it. (I've also seen people pointing the clicker at the dog as if it is a remote control LOL - and i did this once too <g>.)

Click must always be followed by a treat (so if you click accidentally, still treat ;) )

and click and treat only after your dog has done something for you. Have you got a book to help you, or if you have a clicker, most are sold with a booklet detailing how to use it?

Have you conditioned your pup to the clicker, and if so how? Perhaps we can take it from there and help you :)

(Sorry for all the questions!)

Lindsay

I agree with what's already been said - look at it this way - if you boss rang a bell and gave you £5 every time you completed a task, you'd be rattling through those tasks as if they were going out of fashion. But if the boss also rang a bell during your tea break and gave you £10, why bother doing the task??? And then started ringing the bell - but not giving you anything at all? You wouldn't know where you stood and would probably very soon down tools altogether.

You are not using the clicker correctly, so it's not going to work for training different exercises. The clicker isn't used to get attention, the 'click' is the praise when the dog performs the action you want. You need to get the wanted behaviours from your dog eg. down, stand, heel, using the clicker when he is doing right, and remember not to put a command to it until the behaviour has been shaped, or it will mean nothing.

thanks guys
Maybe that is where we are going wrong as we ask the command first .
I think i explained it wrong there in the first mail.
We dont use it to get his attention its just that at the moment we can only get the sit and sometimes lie response from him
Lel

Lel the way to teach a Sit with the clicker is to use a food treat to "Lure" into position - you do this by putting treat near dogs nose, then move hand back towrds his tail, over his spine, and he will have to sit. If dog jumps the hand is too high :)

When bottom is on the floor in the Sit position, that is when he gets the click and treat. Does that make sense? And when he is good at this and seems to know what to do, then you addd the word of command and again click and treat.

After a bit you can stop the click and treat, but continue to praise, and reward every 2 sits, every 3 sits, and eventually onlly reward very fast sits, and so on, so you can stop the treats. Is this any help?

Lindsay

Lindsay
that is what we have done but so far he is only responding to Sit and lie . I just thought maybe he was associating the click with the treat and not the command if you know what i mean ?
Lel

Well yes, he will associate the click with the treat, but he should also learn fairly quickly that he only gets rewarded for doing the behaviour you want, and he will recognise the click as meaning he has done something right. When you do click, make sure you don't speak to him as well, such as 'good boy' or whatever, as that might confuse him. Don't teach too many exercises at once either - what are you working on besides sit and lie down? Only go onto a new one when he's clear about the previous. After a while you will find he will offer you behaviours in the hope of getting praise, eg. my Aussie will suddenly go into heelwork, or he will look at me and start walking backwards, so it does make them think! I never had the same by using just treats to train.

Lel - you said in your first message 'We can even get his attention (even from chasing the cat he will stop on hearing the clicker and run over to us and then sit ) ' which means there is some indiscriminate clicking going on somewhere. When I clicker train I lure the dog into the required position and click and treat as Lyndsey described, but I don't use a word until the dog is looking for the reward when they carry out the excercise - this tells me that they know what they've done it 'good' - then you use the word as you give the treat 'good sit'. Slowly the word moves forward in the proceedings, so after a while (maybe a couple of 5 minutes sessions later, maybe after a couple of days) you start saying the word as you click, then as the dogs butt hits the ground, each time only moving forward after you've done the excercise several times the previous way. Eventually the word becomes associated in the dogs brain with the position and he will leap to the sit each time you ask - willing you to press that clicker! It does take time - more with some dogs than others, and the big secret is not to rush (according to the 2001 World Obedience champion Helle Poulson who I was fortunate to attend a masterclass with a couple of weeks ago)

Thanks everyone for your advice
Lel

With regards to conditioning to the clicker, I have only just started and am working hard to get my BC pup Jay to associate 'click' with 'treat' and have not yet moved on yet to any training with it. However, I had a big argument with my other half today who I caught clicking to get Jay's attention to come in from the garden, without treating! He said "it worked before" Has he done irrepairable damage to my process.... or was I nasty for no reason?

If he doesn't do it again it will be Ok I think, just condition a bit more. Were you nasty for no reason, not at all give him a clip roung the ear from me :-D
Anne

Think I will take the clicker with me whenever I leave boyfriend alone with Jay to stop him doing things he cannot comprehend!!!!

lol Sounds to me like he could do with some training as well, have you tried clicker training your boyfriend?? If it'll work with dolphins! :D :D

Ha ha just thinking about even conditioning him to the clicker, it would mean me giving him treats and food without him asking for it and for nothing in return.... don't think so....!! :D

If you find it does work with him could you train mine next :)
Lel