About Clicker Training

We do not train using “old style” conventional training—using choke chains, pulling your dog around and shouting, but using a newer, kinder, more effective method of training using a clicker. This method of training encourages the dog to use his brain to work out what it is you want from him. We do not push or hold the dog in the position we want—we allow him to work out what is required, and click him when he gets it right! We do not give our dogs “commands” - we teach him verbal “cues” and hand signals that can be used up close and at distance from the dog.

Clicker training is like a conversation between you both - the dog and the handler play an active role in the training.  Conventional training is one sided - the handler manoeuvres the dog into position (either manually or by luring with food) - the dog does not play an active role in this.  Dogs see clicker training as a game where they try to earn rewards from you, so the dog plays an active role in the training session.

Our training methods are reward based—this reward can be food or a toy (depending on what is his thing in life). You simply pay him a wage for his work!

Clicker training is perfect for every type of dog:

• Small breeds (as it saves bending down)

…. In fact, just about any dog you can think of!

I’ve tried it before and it doesn’t work..

We have had a number of people make this comment to us. Think about when you learn to drive a car—if someone told you to turn the steering wheel & press the pedals it wouldn’t mean you could drive!

The key to success is understanding how to use the clicker, when to click, when to add the verbal cue and hand signals —and when you fade the use of the clicker.

How does it work?

Think of a clicker like a camera. If you wanted to take a picture of the bride at a wedding you would wait until she was standing looking fabulous outside the church and then press the button “click” on the camera. It’s the same method for our dogs.

We teach the dog that the click is associated with good things—could be food or toys. We then choose a task to teach the dog—for example Sit

We then wait to see what the dog does—he may jump up at us, bark, run around, stare at us (none of this is “wrong” - its all normal dog behaviour) - but we ignore all this and wait. Most dogs will sit at some point. As the dog begins to sit we click and throw him a reward—a small piece of yummy food or a throw of a toy.

The dog will get up for his reward—he now must think about what got him the reward and try to repeat the behaviour so he get another. He may trying jumping up again, barking, milling around, but soon he sits again—click and another reward. After a few repetitions he begins to offer the sit quicker and quicker—how we begin to see that he has worked out what we wanted.

At this point we begin to add in our verbal cue “sit” and a hand signal.

Eventually we fade out the use of the click and the reward. They are used intermittently—to improve the speed of a behaviour — for example getting our dog to sit quicker.

Why use hand signals?

The whole purpose of using hand signals is as a beginning point into having distance control. Ultimately we want to aim that when our dog is off-lead we can stop him running and redirect him to sit, down or come to us. Without the use of hand signals this can be tricky for pet handlers.

We can also put these behaviours onto a whistle so we teach the dog that one blast means sit, two long blasts means down and so on.

What can I teach with the clicker?

Absolutely anything the dog is physically capable of…

Once you have grasped how to use the power of the clicker—you can teach your dog anything—whether to improve his recall, leaving squashed chips or starfish, closing the door or bringing you his lead… the world is your oyster!

To see how clicker training works in action teaching dogs, cats, horses, llamas and mules Click here

Read our Testimonials page to see what people say about clicker training

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