Not long ago I had an opportunity to observe and train with a litter of Malinois puppies in Colorado. These pups were getting sent around the country to participate in various jobs and hobbies: some personal protection, some sport, some pet dogs. At 6 weeks old, they were starting to develop personality, at 8 weeks they were showing their individuality and personality and they were eager to start working. So we got to work.
A clicker is a device that makes a consistent loud “click” every time a handler presses down on it, no matter how firm or how long, the sound is the same. It’s a solid tool for any pet owner to introduce to a dog that eventually will mean “good job, come to me for food.” It can be used in a variety of ways for advanced obedience but for puppies at 8 weeks old, they are learning that every time they hear that sound, it means food is on its way. Any dog being introduced to a clicker has a very easy week ahead of them: click, food, click food, rinse and repeat. That is a form of Classical Conditioning: when an unknown marker is paired with a known marker. At the beginning of clicker training, the click doesn’t mean anything to a dog, so we teach it through a fool proof process that each time you hear this noise, it means something- in this case food.
A clicker is also known as a marker, something that “marks” a behavior was done. When I work with clients, we interchange a clicker and the word “yes” so owners have a way to say to their dog, good job, come to me for food, without having the clicker in hand. Trust me, when learning to train a dog, it sometimes feels like patting your head while rubbing your belly with all the coordination and timing that’s needed. But good training takes time and with an expert trainer, you soon gain confidence to feel like an expert owner! I tell clients to think of dog training like learning a second language, both for you and your dog. It takes commitment and constant practice but once you have the basics down, it’s easy to “form sentences” and start building strong behaviors in your dog.
To introduce the clicker and show the pups that it’s valuable (“loading the clickers”) I would Click then give food, click food, rinse and repeat. 3-4 times a day with their meals for a day is all it took these smart pups. I was trying to build a reflexive response where once they heard that noise, they immediately turned to me with the expectation of getting food. Once they demonstrated that behavior, I moved on to shaping.