If you have never trained a dog and know little about dog agility, the word “clicker” probably makes you think more about a TV remote control than a piece of dog training equipment.
A clicker is a tiny handheld device that can be useful when working on any type of dog training, and this includes agility training. The clicker, as the name suggests, makes a little clicking sound and when you click, the dog recognizes that he has obeyed a command correctly. These clickers are quite popular with dog training but actually are also used to train livestock and even other types of pets, such as birds or even cats.
As with all pieces of dog training equipment, it is important to introduce the clicker to your dog slowly. You can begin by associating the click sound with something positive such as praise, some softs pats or perhaps a tiny training treat. You can even just be sitting on the couch and click the clicker and then give your dog a treat. After that, wait for a couple of minutes, then click and give a treat.
Of course, sometimes during this process, your dog will begin to sniff around and paw at you hoping for more treats, and you simply need to ignore the dog until this behavior stops. Then once the behavior stops, wait a couple of minutes, then click and give a treat. After a couple of days, your dog will associate the sound of the click with a treat and now you can begin to use it for training. You might start with a basic command such as sit. You give the command by using a hand signal or perhaps the word “sit,” and when the dog obeys, click the clicker and reward with a treat and some praise.
Often when working with dog training equipment, a trainer will begin by teaching a command and rewarding the dog with a small treat. For instance, if you are training with a dog agility tunnel, you might state the command “through” and when the dog goes through the tunnel, you click the clicker and the dog comes to you for a small treat and praise. Gradually, you will want to phase out the treats and rely on the clicker sound and praise as rewards. After all, treats and clickers are not allowed on agility courses. You must use only verbal commands and hand signals to help your dog through a course.
You might be worried that praise is not enough to motivate a dog to follow commands, but dogs adore praise and this is often all they need to behave. In fact, it’s not always necessary to use treats at all. Often the clicking sound following by praise is enough motivation for your dog. Dogs tend to love using dog training equipment and are enthusiastic about just spending time with you and don’t really end up needing treats as motivation.
After your dog has learned how to use a piece of dog training equipment successfully, you can eliminate the clicker for that piece of equipment and simply use your verbal command or signal.
When learning any new skill, including basic clicker training or perhaps learning commands for a new piece of dog training equipment, brevity and patience are your biggest keys to success. Keep training sessions short at first because a dog typically doesn’t have a huge attention span. Also, be patient and enjoy this special time with your furry friend. Agility training and even basic dog training can be an amazing bonding experience, and agility is always meant to be fun and playful for you and your dog.
If you are ready to begin using some fun dog training equipment, we have everything you could possibly need for agility training. Our agility equipment includes jumps, weaves, tunnels and chutes, teeters, a-frames, dog walks, pause tables and much more. In addition, we also have a full line of miniature dog training equipment ideal for smaller dogs and even puppies.
Brad Carlson enjoys dog agility training. To find agility equipment or to find more about training equipment for dog agility equipment, please check out the Carlson-Agility.com website today.
