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I bought my first clicker a couple of days ago :cry:

I've been reading up on them, and my obedience club also uses them. So I thought, well it's worth a try :cry:

I can't believe how much more responsive my Sibe is when I am using the clicker - unbelievable! I tried teaching him the heel command using treats alone and it didn't work. Now with the clicker as soon as I say "heel" he looks at me and moves to my side :rainbowbridge: - and that was the second day I used it with him! I've never had him this responsive before. It is really helping his focus. Since we got Daisy, we've been having problems with him lunging when strange dogs walk past him (not so much in an aggressive way as a dominant protective way). We saw a trainer who was great and put him on a training programme and the clicker is really helping with this too.

I'm even noticing a difference with Daisy, at home not so much on the walk. She is only 5 and a half months old though so I don't expect her to be as immediately responsive as Micha. But I will be taking the clicker to obedience on Monday with her and hopefully we'll be noticing a change in naughty puppy to good puppy :cry:

Just had to post about it because I'm feeling very proud of my boy and very impressed with the clicker :clap:

Edited by husky87
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:rainbowbridge: Way to go Husky87. It's lots of fun, isn't it. Not to say you can't achieve good results without the clicker - but it's so nice for giving clear and precise information to the dog, and as you've seen, the dogs will be busy trying to figure out how to make that thing click. I love it when they will throw behaviour at you to see what might work. Lots of fun all round. :cry:
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:rainbowbridge: Way to go Husky87. It's lots of fun, isn't it. Not to say you can't achieve good results without the clicker - but it's so nice for giving clear and precise information to the dog, and as you've seen, the dogs will be busy trying to figure out how to make that thing click. I love it when they will throw behaviour at you to see what might work. Lots of fun all round. :clap:

For me, it was so satisfying just to have Micha look at me, and heel to see if it would click :cry: I clicked and rewarded him everytime he looked up at me for direction too, he worked it out pretty quickly. It was like, "Do I get my treat now?" :cry: And as soon as he heard the clicker he would come really close to my side and wait for the treat :cry:

Edited by husky87
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Guess what?!? I just bought my first clicker yesterday (thankx for the motivation Husky87 :cry:) and it took 5 minutes for Abbie to learn click=treat. She is responding really well with the clicker with her contact training. Another happy clicker convert here!! :o

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I think everyone should at least give a clicker a go, even if they don't end up using it with their own dog. :cry:

I don't generally use a clicker with my own SBT, since he pays good attention to my voice, and since I use so many different verbal signals with him (reward marker, NRM, keep going signal, release command, etc) it seems a bit silly to be using a clicker for one signal and my voice for all the other signals.

But when I'm mucking around with other peoples' dogs, who haven't had so much experience learning or who simply don't know my voice so well, I find a clicker can work really well. It's such a distinctive sound that the dog can't help but pay attention to it.

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I must say I was one of the those skeptical people when it came to the clicker as I always believed I could use a bridge word instead but I thought I'd try it out and the results have been astounding.

I now recommend a clicker to people who have aggressive dogs and I cannot believe how much faster the results come. One Dali at school initially couldn't walk into the training grounds without wanting to "kill" every dog within a 2 metre radius of him. I showed the owner the clicker and suggested he work on focus and click/treat whenever the dog was calm, within 2 weeks the aggressive behaviour began to subside and was slowly being replaced by the dog focussing on the owner whenever another dog came near. 5 months on and the owner is now able to join in a class, albeit he still needs to be extremely vigilant but both of them are a lot calmer and happier. This is but one of the success stories I've experienced with a clicker.

I don't use a clicker for everything but for tricks and sharpening up heeling etc, it's brilliant.

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Guess what?!? I just bought my first clicker yesterday (thankx for the motivation Husky87 :laugh:) and it took 5 minutes for Abbie to learn click=treat. She is responding really well with the clicker with her contact training. Another happy clicker convert here!! :rofl:

How fast you get results is amazing. My sibe would never "heel" for a treat alone, now he reacts to the word immediately. I'm so happy I tried the clicker :)

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I'm not starting obedience with our new pup until May (next class intake). Do most clubs use clickers? New pup is a standard poodle- eager to please breed, but not overly food-orientated.

Any info on the net about clicker training that people would recommend? It's been a few years since I went to training with our mini poodle and food treats were used then.

ETA: Anything to look for when buying a clicker? Best brands?

Edited by Poodle wrangler
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Hey Poodle wrangler.

I find that clickers sometimes help increase food motivations, so give it a go. I find that clubs aren't really pro or anti clicker training, but won't hand them out to trainers - it really is up to you as to whether or not you use it.... that said from personal experience only ;).

No particular preference to brand - I think they are all the same :laugh:.

If you want some clicker training info - I think I have a few on my webpage (under links) if not, PM me and I can forward you some :hug:

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I have been thinking about giving clickers a go.....i tend to use a word then reward, but after reading this tread i might try it ;)

can any one tell me where to get clickers cheap and what kind works best??????

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Thanks leopuppy, found it. Nice website, too.

I found some clickers on ebay: $8.20 for 2 clickers, including postage, but don't know if these are the best type to get: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Clicker-2-for-click...1QQcmdZViewItem.

ETA: There's also http://www.agilityclick.com/category5_1.htm.

Edited by Poodle wrangler
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