GETTING STARTED WITH CLICKER TRAINING…
1 FIGURE OUT WHAT YOUR DOG WILL WORK FOR. Ideally, it should be something small, the size of M-M or smaller for smaller dogs-so your dog doesn’t get full quickly. It should also be easy to consume (so you can work with lots of quick repetition). Biscuits, for example, won’t make for a good treat because it takes a lot of time to chew them!
2 PAIR THE CLICKER WITH THE TREAT. Click and simultaneously give a treat to the dog. D this repeatedly, about 15 to 20 treats, Then, little by little, add a slight to the delivery of the treat so that gets used to it. When the dog has learned that a click signal treat, start clicking and rewarding for simple desire behaviors, like looking at your face or coming to you.
3 GET THE DESIRE BEHAVIOR BY ONE OF FOUR WAYS. *Targeting- This involves teaching the dog to a touch a target object (i.e a stick or your hand) with his nose or his paw and then moving that target for the dog to follow until he gives the behavior. *Shaping- This involves clicking and rewarding incremental step toward the behavior that you want. For example, if you are teaching the dog to step on a mat on the floor, you would start by clicking and rewarding each step he takes toward the mat, until he eventually gets into it with all four paws (the desired behavior). * Capturing- This is one-step training method, when you clicking every time the behavior happens. However, the behavior must usually be one that is displayed frequently enough to catch, like barking, if you are teaching your dog to bark. *Luring- This method is when you use food to lure a dog into the behavior (like a sit or down).
4 CLICK AND REWARD THE DISIRED BEHAVIOR. Repeat several times and reward each time the dog gives you the behavior.
5 ADD THE COMMAND. Once the dog is offering the behavior, you now add the command by saying it just before the dog offers the behavior. Reward each time.
6 FADE OUT THE CLICKER/TRAETS. Once the dog is reliably giving you the behavior you want, then the clicker and treat are faded out as soon as possible so that the dog doesn't become dependent on them.
