Hi, I just wondered if anyone could recommend some good books on clicker training (for beginners!) I kind of understand the concept of the clicker but want to get a good understanding of this type of training before I begin. I have a very hyper, alert puppy (4 1/2 months) that goes absolutely crazy at the sight of food, I find it hard to train him with just treats because he gets so overexcited that he leaps around and goes through every command he can think of at lightening speed and screeches while he is doing it...does it sound like he would be a good clicker candidate? Would it help him gain more focus? Any extra advice from any pro's out there would be warmly recieved aswell! Thanks!

Hiya,

I personally think any dog is a candidate for clicker training - I think it's a great tool. Clicker training for dogs by Karen Pryor is a great straight forward beginners book, you can get it from Amazon, it's £7.99 I think.  The fact that he loves food is great for training, use it to your adavantage, he doesn't get the treat that he wants until he is sitting quietly and that's where clicker training is great because you can use the clicker to mark the tiniest moments of the behaviour you want, so if he sits calmly for even a second you can mark that with the clicker, much quicker that you could get the words out to praise and then treat him.  Just take it slowly and don't expect to much, a lot of pups at 4 and a half months can be very hyper.  Have fun with it. :-)

Karen

I'd second that book, it's very good :)

If you fancy moving further on and getting into say, using it for obedience or any dog "sport", I'd highly recommend 2 books:

Click for Joy by Melissa Alexander (one of my fav. books relating to dog training) and Clicker Training for Obedience by Morgan Spector.

The first one goes into great detail re. clicker and is written by someone who got first hand teaching from Bob Bailey who was involved in originally
teaching clicker training to a variety of animals. It also answers lots of questions and really to my mind brings everything together.

Clicker Training for Dogs is excellent though and a great start :)

Lindsay
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Hi there,

Yeap, I recommend the books already mentioned. I also like 'Quick Clicks' alot and looove 'Dog tricks for dummies' - yes it has tricks, but there are loads of sections on how to clicker train 'good manners' and how to tackle potential behavioural problems. It is very, very easy to read and it is in a form of 'recipes', so you can work on each recipe straight away without having to read the whole book. Highly recommended and relatively cheap in Amazon.

All the best,
Patty

Well I have just purchased the Karen Pryor book to start with...Ive read it cover to cover and I must say I am hooked! We've had just a few short sessions and Im finding it brilliant...our training sessions before were a bit useless, it would just result in him leaping up at me squealing for the treat...he is now putting that energy into figuring out what I am clicking him for, and I must say he is catching on rather quickley, I finally feel we are actually progressing with our training now, even if in tiny puppy steps...but we are definitely getting somewhere!

I was just wondering if I should go through commands that he does already know (well, I think he knows them) like I taught him to sit with 'traditional' training and he does do it, but I sometimes have to ask him 3 or 4 times, does that mean that he doesnt really know the command so just takes a guess...would it be worth me just starting from scratch on things like that using the clicker?

I'd think so, yes :)

If you have to ask him several times he may not have quite "got it" or may not be motivated enough.

Remember clicker training involves positive reinforcement, extinction and a tiny bit of negative punishment occasionally (ie take away the reward) and once you have this down to a tee the training is very effective :)

This is explained more in the Click for Joy book.

Sounds as if you're doing really well, enjoy :)

Lindsay
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Hi Shannon,

So pleased you have discovered the joys of clicker training! Once you've tried it, then you'll never want to go back :-)

All the best,
Patty

If you have to ask your dog 3 or 4 times to do something it means either he does not understand, or that you have trained him to do it on the 3rd or 4th time! :D

You can clicker train previously known behaviours by changing the cue ie use egg for sit, this will test your training and the dog's understanding.

[link]http://www.learningaboutdogs.com/acatalog/General_Clicker.html[/link]

the books available from the above link are excellent to take you through the whole gamut and there are accompanying videos and of course training days/courses.

I have Mary Ray and Justine Harding's book 'Dog Tricks' which although it doesn't say so on the cover is clicker training.  It is very well explained and illustrated.  I was looking for activities to keep my dog busy but was quite happy to try clicker training.  It is very good for getting my dog to push a ball along instead of mouthing it for instance.