Clicker training question

Since I just moved, I'm trying a new trainer to work with Belle and me (mostly me). He has recommended trying clicker training with her and asked me to start getting her used to the idea that the clicker = good. The method he suggested was to offer her food/treat (when she's hungry, of course) and when she takes it, click the clicker.

Supposedly, that will make her associate the clicker with a treat and then we can start taking the treat away, right? Well, all I've accomplished is making her afraid to take any food/treats from my hand, and she actually snapped some out of my hand because she was afraid I would 'click' at her. She has NEVER snapped treats out of my hand before. She is now about 3 years old and this is brand new to her.

Any suggestions?

I used clicker training with our puppy and was very happy with it as it is all about positive reinforcement. I don't know if the technique would be different for an older dog, but since your dog is having a negative reaction to it, I would hold off until you can work with the trainer. Ideally, the trainer will work with you to make sure you are timing correctly and your dog is accepting the training.

Good Luck!

I train slightly differently. Everytime I click, I give a treat. A click is a promise for a treat. I always, always, always give them a treat if they hear a click. When the time is right, you can take away the clicker. I use the clicker when I'm training for a new command. Once the dog has it solid, I stop with the clicker. The clicker is there to help you teach in steps.. but once the steps are done, there's no use for the clicker anymore.

Are you sure she's snapping at your hand because she's afraid? I noticed Kai would nudge my hand or even mouth it when I was introducing the clicker to him. I knew he got it because when he heard the click, he automatically knew a treat was coming.. hence the reason why he went straight for the treat. She could be snapping because she knows a treat is coming, or because she isn't getting a treat and thinks she should (and she should, every single time).

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Originally Posted by binka_nugget

Are you sure she's snapping at your hand because she's afraid? I noticed Kai would nudge my hand or even mouth it when I was introducing the clicker to him. I knew he got it because when he heard the click, he automatically knew a treat was coming.. hence the reason why he went straight for the treat. She could be snapping because she knows a treat is coming, or because she isn't getting a treat and thinks she should (and she should, every single time).

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If she thinks I have the clicker in my other hand, she hides from me and refuses the treat. She was very quick to learn what the clicker looked like, and that she didn't like it one bit. I was offering her a treat, and she acted like I was going to punish her, but she really wanted the treat, so she snatched it real quickly and ran into another room. She never acted like this until I tried the clicker.

I am taking her to 'school' tonight and will ask him about this; maybe we'll try something else. His objective for trying clicker training was to be able to communicate with her an immediate reward for good behavior. She tends to ignore me or blow me off until she decides to do what I ask her to...it's not that she doesn't understand the commands, just that she's stubborn sometimes. His thoughts were that if she could recognize the clicker as a reward in and of itself, I would have more accurate timing in praising her good behavior, and that it would make her respond more immediately to me.

There are clickers available that have a switch on the back and it controls the volume of how loud/sharp the click sounds. volume control clicker

Or you could hide the exisiting clicker in your pocket and she'd hear it muffled. Then once she'd used to the muffled sound, introduce ehr ot the full sound of hte clicker.

Catnapper made some great suggestions. If she absolutely won't work with a clicker, just saying "yes!" is an option. It's exactly the same method (but it's incredibly important that you have your timing right).. only the sound is different.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions and info. I took her to 'school' last night and she was as perfect as she has ever been (without the clicker). In fact, the trainer asked me if I'd traded her in on a new dog. We have decided to just forget about the clicker training. As long as she works that well, we'll keep using treats and praise alone.

Now, I just have to get her to trust me again in the house so that she'll accept treats from me (that shouldn't take too long, as long as the dreaded click doesn't reappear). I'll keep the clicker, though, and try it whenever I get a new puppy, which will not be anytime in the near future.