DOG Training TOYS

What is clicker training?

“Clicker training” is the popular term for the training or teaching method based on what we know about how living organisms learn. Research has shown that any creature—whether a dog, cat, dolphin, parrot, fish, horse, llama, or person—is more likely to learn and repeat actions that result in consequences it desires and enjoys. So clicker trainers provide consequences desired by their animal in exchange for actions or behaviors desired by their trainers. We call these consequences “rewards” and the process is called “reinforcement.” Clicker training, therefore, is a positive-reinforcement-based system of training.

1. -Why is clicker training effective?
2. -Why is a clicker used?
3. -Why use the click? Why not just a word?
4. -How does clicker training work?
5. -How do clicker trainers ask for behaviors?
6. -What if the animal does not obey the cue?
7. -Why don’t clicker trainers use punishments as well as rewards?
8. -How can clicker training be used to get rid of behaviors?
9. -Do clickers and treats need to be used for every behavior, forever?
10. -Can clicker training be used with any animal?
11. -Is clicker training a training method or a philosophy?

Why is clicker training effective?

When an animal intentionally performs a behavior in order to bring about a desired consequence, as clicker trained animals do, they are learning in a way that researchers call “operant conditioning.” Animals (and people) may also associate an action, event, place, person, or object with a consequence, whether pleasant or unpleasant. The more a certain event or environment is paired with a particular consequence, the stronger the association. This type of learning is called “classical conditioning” and represents reflexive or automatic behavior, rather than intentional behavior.

While clicker training initially employs classical conditioning, it quickly becomes operant conditioning as soon as the animal intentionally repeats an action in order to earn a reward. Training through operant conditioning results in purposeful behavior, while training through…