Clicker training question

[VTJess03]

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).

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.

[catnapper]

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.

[binka_nugget]

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.

[VTJess03]

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.