Clickertraining: The Four Secrets of

Becoming a Supertrainer

AuthorsMorten Egtvedt & Cecilie Koeste

Original title

Klikkertrening for din hund (published in Norway, 2001)

Translation

Emelie Johnsson-Vehg

PublisherCanis Clickertraining AcademyVestre Rosten 78NO-7075 TillerNORWAY

Email: canis@canis.noWeb: www.canisclickertraining.com

ISBN: 978-82-92189-45-0

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. No part of this book maybe used, reproduced or distributed in any form without the

written permission of the publisher.

Table of contents

Acknowledgments ……………………………………………………………………….…… 5

Preface …………………………………………………………………………….………………. 6

For the dog owner………………………………………………………………….………… 8

For the dog (owners are not allowed to read this!) ……………….…… 10

Chapter 1: What is clicker training? …………………………………………….. 12

Chapter 2: Positive and negative reinforcement …………………………. 21

Chapter 3: The 4 secrets of becoming a supertrainer ……………..…. 38

Chapter 4: Find an effective reinforcer! …………………………..………….. 53

Chapter 5: Conditioned reinforcers ………………………….………………….. 65

Chapter 6: Training techniques ……………………………………………………. 73

Chapter 7: Target training ……………………………………………………….….. 85

Chapter 8: Stimulus control ……………………………….………………………. 102

Chapter 9: Backchaining …………………………………………………………….. 108

Chapter 10: The retrieve …………………………….……………………………… 116

Chapter 11: Generalization …………………………………………………………. 123

Chapter 12: Crossover dogs (and –horses)……………….………………. 125

Chapter 13: Five common “syndromes” ……………………….………….. 130

Chapter 14: Actual training …………………………….…………………………. 137

1. Charging the conditioned reinforcer………….………….……… 1422. Eye contact (look at me) …………………………………………….. 1443. Targeting ………………………………………………………………………. 1454. Following you ……………………………………………………………….. 1465. Loose-leash walking …………………………………………………….. 1486. The recall ………………………………………………………………………. 1507. The sit ……………………………………………………………………………. 1528. The down …………………………………………………………….………… 1549. The stand ………………………………………………………………………. 15610. OK! ……………………………………………………………………………. 15711. Offering you to put the collar on …………………………….. 15812. Handling……………………………………………………………………. 16013. Polite greetings (for the eager dog) ……………………….. 16214. Polite greetings (for the warier dog) ………………………. 16415. Waiting alone …………………………………………………………… 16616. Crate training ………………………………………………………….. 16817. Puppy biting …………………………………………………………….. 17018. Getting used to different environments ….……………… 17219. Holding an object (retrieving) ………………………………… 17520. The retrieve …………………………………………………………….. 17721. Switching the lights off (and on) ……………………………. 17922. Shutting drawers …………………………………………………….. 18123. Riding in a wheelbarrow ………………………………………….. 18324. Go to family member (The Postman Game) ………….. 18525. Go to mat when there´s someone at the door ………. 18726. Getting the newspaper out of the mailbox ……………… 18927. Doing the laundry ………………………………………………….… 19528. The spin ……………………………………………………………………. 19829. Choosing the right tool ……………………………………………. 20030. Getting a soda from the fridge ……………………………….. 203

Chapter 15: A few last words ……………………………………………………… 207

References……………………………………………………………………………………. 210

Recommended reading ……………………………………………………………….. 212

Want to learn even more? ………………………………………….…………….. 213

Acknowledgments

Thank you to…

…B.F. Skinner, for giving the world the theory of operantconditioning.

…Karen Pryor, for introducing us (and the rest of the world) toclicker training, and for still inspiring us to move forward.

…Bob Bailey, for sharing your wealth of training experience withthe animal training community.

…Kathy Sdao for very useful comments on the English translationof this book, and for being such an excellent trainer and goodfriend.

…Rico, Ceca, Kiro, Tia, Ergo and Kira (our dogs), for being sopatient with us while we struggle to improve our training skills.

PrefaceIn the middle of the 90s, an almost explosive growth in the interestof clicker training took place in the US. At this time there were veryfew dog owners in Norway, were we live, that had ever heard ofclicker training and we wanted to do something about that. Thisbook was first written in 2001 and has since been updated anumber of times. Up till now the book has sold in over 45000 copiesin Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, and is largelyresponsible for the fact that clicker training has become very wellspread in the Nordic countries.

We are very pleased to finally be able to present the Englishtranslation of the book. This is the first time that we have publisheda book as an e-book to be downloaded from the internet, but webelieve there are many advantages with this method of publishing.First of all, everyone who wants the book can have access to it infive minutes whether they live in the US, Australia or Japan. It willalso be a lot easier for us to update the text as we learn somethingnew. On top of this, we will have the opportunity to put hyperlinksdirectly into the text so that we can point to useful information onthe internet. There is no doubt that this is the future of thepublishing world.

This book is first and foremost written for all the pet-dog ownerswho wish to have a dog that behaves well in their day to day life.Our hope is that the book will also be a useful resource forinstructors that teach classes for other dog owners. We have chosenexercises that we think most dogs need to be able to perform intheir everyday life as well as some examples of obedienceexercises. We have done our very best to not make the theory partmore lengthy than necessary and we have put great effort intomaking the descriptions of the exercises as specific as possible.Experience tells us that this makes things easier to understand andthat the threshold for trying things out in real life becomes lower.To just read this book is like buying the sheet without playing themusic. It is not until you try things out for real that you will reallyunderstand what we are writing about.

As soon as you feel that you are comfortable with the training, werecommend that you look at the descriptions of exercises in thisbook the way a jazz musician looks at a theme – as something toimprovise on. You do not have to do stuff precisely the way that wedescribe in this book, the most important thing is that youunderstand the principles and, as time passes, learn how to usethem in order to come up with your own solutions to challenges thatyou and your dog come up against.

A lot of people claim that clicker training is an art. Well, somepeople claim that football is an art too. But football as well as musicand clicker training is first and foremost a question of mechanicalskills. This means that you do not need to have any congenitaltalents to learn how to train dogs well. But you do need to practice!The more you practice training your dog, the better yourmechanical skills will become. As you gradually become moreskilled, you will notice that your dog learns faster too. What is sofantastic about dogs is that they most of the time are unusuallypatient with us as we struggle to try to learn how to train them.

This book is in no way meant to cover everything that you need toknow about dogs and dog training. There are, in other words, a lotmore you need to know about dogs than how they can be clickertrained. However, we do hope that this book will provide a goodintroduction into clicker training and that it makes you want to learnmore about these training principles.

We hope that you will experience as many fantastic trainingmoments with your dog as we have with our dogs.

Morten Egtvedt Cecilie Køste

For the dog owner

This is a book about clicker training. Clicker training is a veryeffective, not to mention fun, training method. Experienced clickertrainers say that you can teach your dog everything it’s physicallyand mentally able to learn with clicker training. Whether you want anice and well-mannered pet, a hunting dog or a dog that canperform perfectly in obedience, field trials or in agility, you willbenefit greatly from learning about clicker training in theory andpractice. If you want to train your cat, horse, ferret, budgie, yourchildren or your spouse, the same principles of training apply tothem as well!

Clicker training is not magic, even if some people like to present itlike that. You can compare the principles of clicker training with arace car. It has the potential to go at lightening speed, but it canalso go off road if you don’t learn how to use the steering wheel, orhow to step on the gas and the brakes correctly.

If you’ve purchased this book looking for a quick fix to solveproblems you have with your dog, we have to disappoint you. Wecan’t deliver miracles – just pass on the principles of effective dogtraining. You have to be prepared to devote time and energy intounderstanding the theory, and then persevere and practice often inorder to develop the practical skills needed to train a dogeffectively. But a consolation is that the training isn’t going to feellike a chore. When you’ve begun clicker training, you’re not going tobe able to quit. You’ll get addicted – and you’re going to like it!

A great deal of the content of this book will be different from whatyou previously have learned about dogs and dog training, and thatmay seem a bit confusing at first. Since you have purchased thisbook we know that you’re interested in learning more and that youhave an open and curious mind. A lot of people might have told youthat clicker training is something dodgy, that clicker training isdifficult or perhaps that clicker training is stupid. And you stillbought the book! In short – we’re not worried. We know that youwill read this with a critical mind and form your own opinion.

Luckily, clicker training is both logical and easy to understand.When you start observing the behavior of dogs and people aroundyou (a common side effect of clicker training!) you will notice howthe principles of learning function in everyday life, on all livingorganisms you encounter (including yourself and your dog).

Previously, you might have been more concerned with correctingyour dog when it’s done something you don’t want it to do. From

now on you will begin to notice all the little and big positive thingsthat your dog does, and reinforce these. You will be surprised byhow much more effective that is. It might feel odd in the beginning,but you will soon get the hang of it. A lot of people who have takenup clicker training claim that they have developed a betterrelationship not only to their dog, but to their friends, colleaguesand not least their own family when they have brought this thinkingwith them into everyday life. But, we will focus on the dog for now.

In the beginning it might seem difficult to control the clicker, treatsand the dog at the same time. After all, you have only two hands.But you will notice that this will come more and more naturally toyou. You’re now beginning to develop the mechanical skills thatevery good dog trainer needs. If you’re enthusiastic and traindiligently, you can become very good at clicker traning in a shortperiod of time, and you will notice that it becomes easier and easierto teach the dog new things. You will both “learn to learn” and thentraining will go really fast. So as soon as the most important basicskills are in place (with both you and your dog), new things will betrained in record time!

If you have a dog that you previously have trained a lot with“traditional” methods, you probably will experience that thingsseem to go a bit slow in the beginning. Your dog might not be usedto taking the initiative and try on its own and it needs some time toregroup. On the other hand, if you have a puppy or a young dog,everything might go really fast.

A piece of good advice is to take it easy, bring out the clicker andsomething the dog really loves – and have fun together. You willsee results. Don’t feel upset about the mistakes you make in thebeginning (it is a necessary part of training). Instead, feel goodabout everything you do in the right way, and feel happy about thejoy in working that your dog displays.

For the dog (owners are not allowed to read

this!)

It’s possible that your owner will act really strange the next coupleof days. She might be sitting on the couch reading (this book), andsuddenly get up looking enthusiastic and get treats and a clickerand just do lots of things that you won’t understand at first.

Be patient with your owner in the beginning! Every dog knows thatowners are not fully trained in one day. You need to work withpurpose and patience, and you’ll see your owner becoming moreand more skilled. The good news is that if you play your cards right,the days of leash poppings, scoldings for things you don’tunderstand and other unpleasant things are over – once and for all.You might get the owner you’ve always dreamed of!

And what are we dreaming of? Well, here’s the thing: Our ownershave a lot of things that we would like. They have treats, toys andother nice things. They decide when we get to go out, run free, playwith other dogs and pee on lamp posts. They can even decide whenwe can get attention or cuddles. But those days are about to end!Clicker training is in town, and this is our chance to finally takecontrol of the things we want.

Clicker training an owner really is rather simple. It’s all aboutmaking the owners click, because every time they do that we getsomething that we want. There are many ways to get an owner toclick. Which strategy is most successful varies from owner to owner,and sometimes you might even have to do a lot of different thingsto get the same owner to click.

A common method to get the owner to click is to walk nicely at theirside and not pull on the leash (yes, we do realize that may feel odd,but try it!). When one does that, most owners tend to click andtreat in intervals. Sometimes the situation calls for more drasticmethods, and you might need to roll over, play dead, lie down orfetch things they throw. Just try and see what makes your owner dowhat you want (click and treat). Sooner or later they will obey!Luckily, the owner won’t be upset if you don’t manage to makethem click straight away, just keep trying until you find a methodthat works.

Don’t forget that owners can be very sneaky. In the beginning, allyou need to do might be walk nicely two or three steps on leashbefore they obey (click and treat). It’s not unlikely that you sooneror later may have to walk nicely two- or three hundred metersbefore they click. Just be patient and keep working. If you want to

get your owner to let you run free, we recommend you use the “sit-down-and-look-at-the-owner- command”. Most owners will do whatyou just asked them to.

Some of you might find that you can’t manage to train your owneras well as you’d like. You must understand that not all humans aresuited to this kind of training. At least you tried, and we want youto know that you’re not to blame because it didn’t work. And don’tforget – you can always achieve what you want with “traditional”methods (pull on the leash to get to what you want, bark like amaniac so you won’t be left alone and steal stuff of the table). Thatworks too!

At the end of the day it’s very simple to be a dog. We do whatworks for us right now – no matter what that is!

Chapter 1

What is clicker training?

You might have overheard people talking about “clicker training”lately. And maybe you´re thinking “oh, well - another new andrevolutionary method that is supposed to be the solution to everydog owner’s problems.” Actually it’s neither.

The history of clicker trainingOne can’t actually claim that clicker training is a new invention. Themethod rests upon scientific learning principles which have beenknown since the 1930s. However, it’s not until the last ten yearsthat it has become known in dog training circles, perhaps mostlythanks to dolphin trainer, biologist and author Karen Pryor. She isthe author of several books on the practical use of operantconditioning, or clicker training. During the early nineties shetravelled around the US, giving a number of seminars for dogowners, and this was the beginning of a small revolution. And she isstill doing a great job promoting clicker training through her books,the website www.clickertraining.com and the famousClickerExpo conferences.

The fast growing popularity of clicker training was also connected tothe ever growing Internet. Through web pages and mailing-lists,dog owners all over the world could read articles by Karen Pryor,Bob Bailey and other “clicker pioneers.” Dog owners in the US coulddiscuss problems with other clicker trainers in Sweden and Australiaon a daily basis, something that was completely unimaginable just afew years earlier.

Ok, and this amazing method is supposed to be the answer to everyimaginable problem a dog owner might have? No, unfortunatelynot. The result is, just as with any other dog training method,dependant on your commitment and practical skills. If you placeyour grandmother behind the wheel of a race car, the car is notnecessarily going to go at top speed. But it’s over-simplifyingmatters to just blame the car for this…

So, clicker training is as mentioned neither new nor revolutionary,and it’s no miracle cure either. Why should I then bother to finishreading this book? The answer is simply that clicker training has

been shown to be a very effective and interesting training method,well worth getting to know and understand. It is up to you if youwant to embrace 100% clicker training, or just learn the methodand add it to your repertoire together with other methods. The onlything you risk when reading this book is learning something new!

Today clicker training is used in a number of areas. The methodworks just as well for teaching pets loose-leash walking and comingwhen called, as advanced obedience or tricks. Clicker training isused in tracking, search and rescue and agility. Even trainers ofhunting dogs are starting to show an interest in the method. Newfields of applications are discovered along with new dog ownerslearning the method.

What is clicker training?But exactly what is clicker training? Well, in the days when it wasonly Karen Pryor who was talking about clicker training, that was aquestion that could be answered fairly easily. After the fact thatmore and more dog owners have started to apply the method, itcouldn’t be avoided that the method begun to split up in differentways. Some have continued to work according to Karen’s way, whileothers have picked parts of clicker training and added these to theirold methods.

Nowadays when a dog owner claims to be a “clicker trainer” thatdoesn’t necessarily say much about the way this person reallytrains. Because of this, we’ll start out with clarifying how we chooseto define clicker training.

There are four core elements that define clicker training.1. Focus shall be kept on rewarding the correct behavior.2. The dog shall offer the behavior voluntarily3. The systematic use of a conditioned reinforcer (only this one

is not a sentence)4. We focus on what we can see

We will now explain each aspect in more detail.

1. Focus shall be kept on rewarding the

correct behaviorWhen clicker training, we aren’t so concerned with correcting thedog for the “wrong” behavior or for stuff we don’t want the dog todo. Instead we focus on reinforcing behavior that we want. When abehavior is reinforced, the dog will repeat this behavior more often.If you’re diligent with reinforcing behavior you like, the dog will

soon be doing these things very often. It sounds simple – and itreally is!

But what about unwanted behaviors? You can’t stop the dog frombeing up to mischief simply by reinforcing, can you? That sounds soweird! In reality, it is not only possible – it’s at least twice aseffective! Focus on what you want your dog to be doing instead ofwhat you don’t want it to be doing. Instead of punishing the dog forbarking, you can reinforce being quiet. When you reinforce beingquiet, the periods without barking will become longer and longer.And that means the periods of barking will become shorter andshorter. You see?

You just need to change your perspective. For every unwantedbehavior that your dog has learnt, we’re sure you can come up withat least one behavior you would like it to display instead. Is the dogpulling on the leash? Reinforce walking on a loose leash. Is your dogbusy looking at other dogs all the time? Reinforce looking at you!Does the dog jump up on people when it wants to say hello? Onlylavish it with attention when it keeps four feet on the ground!

When you’ve figured out what it is you want your dog to do, all youneed to do is reinforce that behavior enough. You’ll soon see thechange in your dog. When you start thinking like this, we guaranteethat a whole new perspective will open up and not just on dogtraining. It is worthwhile to think about which methods you employwhen you want your children, spouse or colleagues do what youwant. Imagine what this kind of mindset could do for the MiddleEast…

But even if we do think that it is more effective to reinforce thethings the dog does right, that does not mean that a clicker trainernever utters a “no” to her or his dog, or in other ways hasboundaries for the dog when it is up to mischief. When your dog isdoing something wrong, like for example runs off or is on its way tocounter-surf, naturally you shouldn’t just hang around and withholdthe click until it gets off the counter again! Just stop it right away!This really has nothing to do with “training” – this is handling of anacute situation or “fire fighting” if you will. Once the fire’s out youcan revert right back to thinking about how you’re going to teachthe dog what you would like it to do instead of running off orcounter-surfing. This way you don’t have to keep fire-fighting forthe rest of your dog’s life…

You have to keep training and fire-fighting separate – and see to itthat you devote a lot more time to training than to fire-fighting! Inplanned training situations, it is more effective to reinforce the

things the dog does right. With positive reinforcement the trainingwill go a lot faster, you’ll have a dog that enjoys working and you’llnot have to deal with all the negative side effects that come withscolding, leash-popping and other aversive methods.

2. The dog shall offer the behavior voluntarilyThis second core element of clicker training is from our point of viewthe most important one, and it’s this aspect that makes clickertraining so much fun – and so effective. Imagine you’re going toteach your dog to sit down. If you’ve read other kinds of dogtraining books you might have read that you should move a treatabove the dog’s head and lure it into sitting down, and perhapseven put pressure on the dog’s rear end.

In clicker training, we go about things a whole lot smarter. Orrather – we’ll do nothing. We’ll just be ready, clicker in hand andtreats in our pocket – waiting patiently. When the dog voluntarilysits down, you click and treat. The next time, the dog will sit downsooner. You want the dog to come when called? Click and treatevery time the dog comes to you without being called. Soon the dogwill be coming up to you a whole lot more often than before.

Your dog already knows how to sit, lie down, stand, run, walknicely, carry things in its mouth, bark, keep still and a whole list ofother things. We’re certain it does all of these many times a day! Ifyou want to train your dog to do any of the above, start byreinforcing when the dog does a behavior on its own accord - justcatch it. When you reinforce a behavior, the dog is likely to repeatthe behavior more often. And when you’re certain that the dog willdo the behavior, you can add a signal for that behavior (we’lldiscuss more about adding signals to behaviors later in this book).

In the beginning, it often takes a little time before the dog starts tooffer behaviors spontaneously. But when it comes to realize thatyou often click and treat when it offers behaviors, it will becomemore and more skilled in trying things by itself. The dog will so tospeak become better at the game “Hot or Cold?”. Do you want meto sit? Lie down? Not that either? Spin around? Yes! Training dogslike this is amazing fun. This is zest for life in practice! Simple? Yes!Effective? No doubt about it!

3. The systematic use of a conditioned

reinforcerFinally – enter the clicker! A conditioned reinforcer is somethingthat signals that the real reward is on its way (for example a treat,a ball or something else the dog likes). The clicker is a small plasticbox which emits a sharp click sound. When the dog has learned thatthe sound means that a treat is on its way, the clicker conveys veryclear information to the dog. With the clicker you can reinforce veryexactly, just as the dog takes a few steps on a loose leash, just asthe dog looks at you instead of at the other dog across the street,just as both elbows reach the ground as the dog lies down. In otherwords, you can tell the dog exactly which behavior you’re after.Experienced trainers know how instrumental timing is for the finalresult. With improved timing you can cut the time it takes to trainsomething new by many percent.

If you click just as the dog does what you want it to, it usuallydoesn’t matter that it takes a few seconds for the primary reinforcer(the treat, the ball etc) to reach the dog. The behavior that the dogwas doing as it heard the click will still be reinforced. Think of theclicker as a camera! When you click, you take a photo of what it isyou want your dog to do. And then the reinforcement follows.

However, a conditioned reinforcer can be many other things than aclicker. We’ll get back to that later on.

4. We focus on what we can seeHave you ever wondered what’s going on in your dog’s head? Whatthe scoundrel’s thinking when he doesn’t come when you call him?Rest assured, you’re not the only one who has wondered. A greatmany dog owners analyze themselves silly trying to understandtheir dogs. The problem is that it is not possible for us to know whatour dogs are thinking. Trying to figure out what is going on in thedog’s mind will at best lead you to qualified guesses andinterpretations (which indeed might be interesting to discuss withother dog people over coffee).

As clicker trainers, we’ve made everything a whole lot easier for us.We simply don’t care about what’s going on in the dog’s mind, orother stuff that we can’t see (at least not while we’re training).Concentrating on what you can see with your own eyes will takeyou a lot further.

And there are a great many things we can see when we train ourdogs:

• Situation: We can see what’s happening around us whenwe’re training

• Behavior: We can see the behavior the dog executes.• Consequence: We can see what happens after the behavior,

for example “the dog got a treat (when it sat down)” or “thedog reached the lamp post (when it pulled on the leash)”.

• Timing: We can see how exact we can be with delivering thereinforcement. What was the dog doing when it heard theclick?

• Criteria: We can see what behaviors are reinforced and whatbehaviors are not.

• Rate of reinforcement: We can see how much time passesbetween every reinforcer.

• Quality of reinforcement: We can see how intense the dog iswhen it receives the reward.

All of the above are things that we can see. And it will give youmore information than all the attempts at mind-reading in theworld. We can’t change what the dog thinks (or at least we haven’tfigured out how to do that yet). But we can change our training.And when we change our training, we have to change the stuff wecan see and that we actually control.

Since we focus on what we can see, the advice you’ll get from aclicker trainer will be very specific. Here are some common trainingtips that you’ll never get from us:

• “You’ve got to improve your leadership”.• “It is important that the dog trusts you”.• “The dog must regard you as its leader”.• “You’ve got to improve the working relationship with your

dog”.• “You’ve got to work more as a team”.

We’re sure these are well-meaning bits of advice, but what in theworld do they mean? This kind of abstract advice is to be found inmany books about dog training. How in the world is a dog ownergoing to understand how he or she should train a dog after havingreceived that kind of abstract advice?

Instead we often give advice like:

• “You were half a second late with your click. Do your best tobe more precise the next time. “

• “Don’t call or nag your dog when it’s busy watching the otherdogs. Withhold your click until it looks at you voluntarilyinstead!”

• “Put some distance between you and the other dogs at first.Move closer when your dog can look at you even if there areother dogs around. “

• “You’re letting a bit too much time pass between each click.You don’t want any more than 5 seconds between each clickat this stage in your training. “

• “Those treats look a bit dry. Try these juicy meatballsinstead!”

We really hope that you can see the difference – because thismakes a lot of difference! So if you want to be real clicker savvy, weadvise you to forget all those abstract ways of putting things, andfocus on what you can see instead. Be as specific as you can whenadvising others and expect specific advice from instructors, booksand others that come with advice. It might not sound as fancy asdog whispering, but it works!

What clicker training is notA lot of people buy a clicker and begin to use it in training.However, there is a huge difference between using a clicker andusing the method that is clicker training.

A lot of people have begun to use the clicker as a means to rewardmore exactly (or precisely), and that’s nice of course. But theycontinue to base a lot of their training on correcting their dog whenit does something wrong. They help, model and lure the dog to getit to understand what to do (instead of waiting for the dog to offerthe behavior voluntarily).

In short, they train much as they’ve always trained. This is NOTclicker training. It not even close to clicker training, it doesn’tmatter how much they click. This is traditional training with the useof a clicker. It might be more effective than regular training withoutthe clicker, but they lose out on so many of the real benefits ofclicker training.

To complicate things a bit further, you don’t even need a clicker toclicker train. A conditioned reinforcer can be anything – a clicker, awhistle, praise, a smacking sound, a hand signal, you name it.Anything the dog can perceive can be used as a conditionedreinforcer. Don’t get hung up on the clicker. It’s used because inmany cases it’s the most fitting choice. If you find a better behaviormarker, please give us a call straight away! Remember that it is theprinciples of clicker training (the four core elements) that areimportant – not the small plastic box.

The benefits of clicker trainingSo, why should you use clicker training? Here are a selection ofreasons:

• You will mainly work with reinforcing wanted behaviorsinstead of correcting wrong ones. That creates a dog that ishappy to work and that enjoys the training and not a dogafraid of doing something wrong.

• Instead of luring and commanding the dog, you will teach it tooffer behaviors voluntarily. That means a smaller risk for yourdog to become dependant on your luring.

• Since the dog is taught to voluntarily offer behavior from thebeginning, you will get a dog that participates in the trainingof its own free will. One doesn’t have to worry about a badworking relationship with a thoroughly trained clicker dog!

• A clicker trained behavior seems easier to generalize into newenvironments and situations. In other words, if the dog haslearned a behavior in a certain situation, it’s easy to train it toexecute the same behavior in other situations.

• With the aid of a clicker you can reinforce very precisely – thetiming of the reinforcer improves. That makes training moreefficient, you save time and you’re able to achieve theprecision you want.

• When clicker training, we teach the dog what to do first. Weadd a cue when the dog executes the behavior perfectly.Since we teach the behavior first and then add the cue, weget more reliable cues.

• Clicker training becomes amazing fun after a few months oftraining. After a while, you’ll get what we refer to as a “clickerwise “dog. A clicker wise dog knows the rules of the game, itloves to work, it offers behaviors left, right and center and itis very creative. New behaviors are trained in no time. Wehope that you get to experience what it’s like to train such adog. It’s a true high!

• As a clicker trainer, you’ll get better at observing behaviorand “reading” your dog, splitting your training into small parts

and increasing the criteria in small steps appropriate to thedog’s ability.

• And it’s so much fun when you get started! You’ll get in agood mood with this kind of training.

“Well, you say so. But you still haven’t said anything about how it’sdone practically.” We’ll get there, we promise. But before we canget started with the real training, there are some bits and pieceswe’ve got to run through. We need to get more familiar with what’sunder the hood of this race car before we turn the ignition on.

Want to read the rest of this book…? Order your

copy now (with four great bonus videos!) at

www.canisclickertraining.com