What Is Dog Clicker Training?

Dog clicker training is the use of a small clicker to train a dog through positive reinforcement to act in certain ways. The clicker gives a trainer a very precise way of letting an animal know when they have done a desired behaviour. It is a method that enables a trainer to train or guide an animal by positive reinforcement, rather than through punishment or correction.

Clicker training involves the pairing of a conditioned reinforcer with a primary reinforcer. An animal would not normally respond to a click. It has to be trained or conditioned to want to respond to the noise of a clicker. Therefore, a trainer pairs the noise of a clicker with a primary reinforcer to encourage desired behaviours.

The best example of a primary reinforcer is probably food. Most animals are quite happy to work for food rewards. However, animals will work for other things, such as praise or toys as well.

What a trainer does during clicker training is condition an animal to respond to the noise of a clicker. They teach the animal that the sound of a clicker means that a reward is coming. They use the conditioned reinforce (clicker noise) to mark the correct movement and back it up with a primary reward (food etc.).

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Why does a trainer use a clicker at all? A clicker is a far more precise way of marking a desired behaviour. It is far faster to “click” than to say the words “good dog” for example. With a clicker, a trainer can mark the exact second when the desired behaviour is done. The idea of clicking is to catch the animal in the process of doing the behaviour rather than afterwards. They then can offer the reward.

As the animal gains an understanding of what it is that the trainer is looking for, the trainer is able to use the clicker to modify or shape the animal’s behaviour a little bit at a time until the complete desired result is achieved.

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