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Clicker Training For Dogs is a Great Way of Dog Training

Marty Moore on

Published in Cats & Dogs News

One of the more effective training aids is clicker training for dogs. It involves no pain to your animal and is a valuable training aid. Good behavior is rewarded using behavioral psychology as the motivation. This method of training involves 'marking' the good behavior with a click from the clicker, enabling the dog to know it's done something good and will receive a treat .

The clicker method when coupled with the treat for correct behavior is a humane way to train dogs and other animals.The animal is not harmed or shouted at or given pain in any way. Your dog wants to please you in reality which can appear surprising. Communication is one of the main problems when dog training. This clicker method clears that up for your dog.

This is called 'operant conditioning'. Basically the dog does something with the intention of bringing about what they want ie a treat. Dogs tend to associate people, places, and events or objects with a pleasurable or un-pleasurable grading system. So the more they're associated with an event in a pleasurable sense, then the more they associate that event in a favorable light. Its really a form of conditioning.

Once the dog learns that it gets a reward for certain behavior, then it will repeat the good behavior over and over again. This conditioning is how the dog is trained. The 'operant' conditioning will produce behavior that's purposeful, while the classic type of conditioning produces behavior that's habitual. Together they form a powerful type of training.

The clicker sound is a more effective sound than the human voice for a good reason. Our voices can say the same words with different inflection and intensity. It's difficult for a dog to always know what we mean. It comes back to communication. But with the clicker, it sounds the same every time, and the dog quickly associates it with good behavior and rewards.

The Dolphin is one of the other animals that this method has been used on. I'd say that it's pretty much impossible to force a Dolphin to do something, so methods like this have to be employed in order to train them. And it's been very successful in doing so, and has since been used on a lot of other animals as well. From cats and leopards, to birds and rabbits, this method has been very successful.

 

You should commence the click whilst the dog is carrying out the behavior you want.Don't wait until he has finished. Give a click and a treat before the behavior and after the behavior is complete. You should click when your dog does something you would like him to repeat, that way you reinforce the message. Always use the same click but you can give different types of treats for different behavior.

Using clicker training for dogs can enable you to communicate with your dog in a positive way that you weren't able to do before. Your dog will begin to behave well as he realizes that he gets a reward. If you punish your dog for bad behavior it may work to a point but is more likely to lead to more bad behavior. The use of positive reinforcement will lead to more positive behavior.

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Marty Moore writes on dog related issues at http://www.trainingdogshelp.com

For in depth advice on this and other dog issues visit clicker training for dogs


 

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