Is Clicker Dog Training For You?

I don’t teach clicker training in my dog training classes. Not because I don’t think it works, it does, if you’re a professional trainer. Clicker training takes a certain skill that most people don’t have. It’s a timing thing. The average dog owner just doesn’t have it. Professional trainers usually have it. As do professional musicians, pro athletes, and people who easily pick up foreign languages. There is nothing wrong with the brains of people who don’t have the right timing skills. They most likely have other skills that the clicker brigade doesn’t have. Some people can draw and paint, some people can juggle knives, some people can clicker train. There is nothing wrong, lazy, stupid, or apathetic about people who can’t.

However, I was taking a puppy through a puppy training class a few years ago where the instructor encouraged clicker training. The instructor taught the class that when the dog did something right, you clicked the little plastic clicker and then gave the dog a treat. It has to do with the whole positive reinforcement concept of positive dog training. A very good concept. The problem is that most people aren’t professional trainers, athletes, musicians, or speak five different languages. And if not, then it feels like you need one hand for the leash, one hand for the treats, and one hand for the clicker. A definite problem for the average person. It’s a brain/hand coordination thing. For the people who didn’t get it right it didn’t mean that they didn’t practice, weren’t paying attention, or didn’t care, as the instructor would have these poor people believe. She harangued them.

I’ve found that statistically, in a class of 15 beginning dog training students, 5 of the students will easily pick up clicker training, 5 of the students will have some success with it, and the other five will do miserably and drop out from frustration and failure. These are not acceptable numbers. When teaching a class – any class on any subject – the instructor has the responsibility to teach in such a way that all participants can easily assimilate the information being taught and respond successfully. There is no “one method” that works for every dog and owner. Therefore, it is irresponsible for an instructor to teach using just one method. All methods should be based on positive reinforcement and rewards for good behavior, but that is about the only thing universal in a teaching environment. Everybody is different and learns in a different way and at a different pace, dog and owner alike.

A dog training class should be fun, rewarding, informative and most of all, a positive experience for everyone.

Clicker training does work in many situations for many people. But, if you can’t hum a tune, think Tae Kwon Do is Chinese take out and Buenos Noches is something you order when you want chips with cheese sauce, then it’s probably not for you.

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