Clicker Successes - Brag Here

• Clicker Successes - Brag Here spiritdogs Posted : 12/26/2006 8:58:25 AM I would love to have a section dedicated to clicker training, but barring that, I thought it would be fun if members who use clickers had a brag thread where they could share successes.  Did you teach your dog to do a new behavior, a trick, heel nicely by your side, get a good contact on his A-frame, or anything else noteworthy?  Why not share it (and maybe how you trained it, too, especially if it's a complex or backchained behavior). I'm just starting a new one - my dogs got a skateboard for Christmas... Here's my brag - Sequoyah is just starting out in agility and is quite bold over the A-frame, through tunnels, etc., but she is afraid of the "cracks" on the dogwalk [].  So, last Thursday, I whipped out my trusty Terry Ryan clicker/target stick combo and got her over her first "crack" - yippee!!! LIKE 37 REPLIES 369 VIEWS LAST POST GRIFFINEJ5 Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• agilebasenji Posted : 12/26/2006 9:35:03 AM My first big clicker success was getting Brindlewonderkid to look alert and get his ears up in the conformation ring.  Shortly after, we got that last major by taking the breed over several specials.  []   At that point I said "Hey, this thing really works." 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• RKimball Posted : 12/26/2006 9:37:21 AM Thanks for the post!   I'm just starting clicker training with my almost 1 year old and I'd love to hear peoples experiences.  (We have done non-clicker obedience training but since she is injured we are looking for some new ideas to keep her from going insane (and me too!)) 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• dasher Posted : 12/26/2006 9:44:27 AM Great topic!! Wow, where do I begin...Dasher has learned so much b/c of the clicker.  We do agility, so probably the most noteworthy are his contacts.  The clicker has really helped in this area.  I think if we did not have the clicker Dasher would be leaping off the contacts from about 1/2 way down!! It really seemed to come together at our last show.  Normally in our first class he would be a bit wound up and may blow a contact.  At this last show it was about 20 degrees on Sat morning and I thought for sure he would be full of himself and blow a contact or two.  He did not blow one contact all weekend!! Wo Hoo!! [] I owe it all to clicker training.  On a side note, I have also taught him things like "wave" and other fun tricks in a matter of minutes b/c of the clicker. [] 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• astaracheetah Posted : 12/26/2006 3:54:30 PM Well, it's not a HUGE success yet, as I've only been clicker training for a few weeks, but:   I strengthened Shippo's sit, down, and stay, and taught him to roll over!   Eevee's stuff is all strong already, but I am working on slowing down her "crawl" trick (she was crawling at 90 MPH lmao), and I taught her how to "back up."  >^_^< 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• spiritdogs Posted : 12/26/2006 5:02:21 PM It sounds like your dogs are having a ball. [] 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• Ari Emery Posted : 12/28/2006 12:05:23 AM Oh this is a great thread - I'd love to read more success stories!   I've only been clicker training for two weeks and Lola's only 10 weeks now so we haven't done much... but she can Sit and Come very nicely and she knows how to play Fetch now (before she'd play keep-away, now she brings it back to me).  There are only two things with Fetch... 1) I haven't figured out how to get her to put it in my hand and 2) if my husband throws the ball, she brings it back to ME... we're working on that tho, lol!   Next I want to work on Stay (we've been doing that a bit) and Lie Down, which I'm finding the most challenging.  And my long term goal, because she likes to pick up everything, is to get her to pick up my husband's socks and her toys and put them away, lol! 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• mondayblues Posted : 12/28/2006 6:13:58 AM Great thread! I don't know where to begin. I'm a first-time dog-owner who adopted a three-year-old mix about seven months ago. Clicker training has worked wonders for us. It really helped build up her self-confidence and trust in me, working together really helped strengthen our bond. As of now, she knows sit, down, come, roll over, spin, stay, bang (play dead), find it and jump through the hula hoop. I didn't think I could teach her so many things in such a short period of time! For example, she learned spin in only ten minutes -- and the hula hoop, which she used to be so afraid of, she learned to jump through in two sessions. 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• spiritdogs Posted : 12/28/2006 7:20:53 AM ORIGINAL: mondayblues Great thread! I don't know where to begin. I'm a first-time dog-owner who adopted a three-year-old mix about seven months ago. Clicker training has worked wonders for us. It really helped build up her self-confidence and trust in me, working together really helped strengthen our bond. As of now, she knows sit, down, come, roll over, spin, stay, bang (play dead), find it and jump through the hula hoop. I didn't think I could teach her so many things in such a short period of time! For example, she learned spin in only ten minutes -- and the hula hoop, which she used to be so afraid of, she learned to jump through in two sessions. That's great! The important thing I got from your post is that you sound like you are having so much fun.  Training should be fun!  [] 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• houndlove Posted : 12/28/2006 10:02:55 AM I'm teaching Conrad to wipe his paws!!! This is like the holy grail for dog owners who live in rainy climates and I'm bound and determined on this one. Once I get it with Conrad I'm going to start with Marlowe. I started to teach it with Conrad because we're still doing really basic nose and paw targeting to get him crossed over to the clicker and every now and then he'd miss the toy when he was paw targeting and scrape the floor instead. JACKPOT LIKE WOAH!!! The lightbulb totally came on over my head the second I saw him do that and I saw the possibilities. Oh to have a dog who wipes his paws before coming into the house! My kitchen floor will no longer be a maze of little muddy footprints! I'm totally stoked. 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• jones Posted : 12/28/2006 10:09:29 AM Clicker training was a great confidence-booster for Russell, too, particularly playing the box game.   Recently, just for fun, I taught him to lay his head on his paws when I say "bummer." Just a parlor trick but it was easy to teach... basically I just captured it.   I also recently started freeshaping with him a couple times a week (to "earn" his dinner). In general he plays it safe and is not very creative in training - I think this is his lack of confidence showing, he is not sure of himself and wants to stick to what he knows will work - but he is starting to put his mind to freeshaping more and more. I definitely think that this is great for strengthening my bond with him... giving him a time to be the sole focus of my attention and be rewarded for doing well on his own initiative rather than just doing what I ask/tell him to do. 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• Chuffy Posted : 12/28/2006 10:09:32 AM houndlove.... When you achieve it LET US KNOW!  What worked and what didn't and how long it took.... I would love to teach our dogs to do this. 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• luvmyswissy Posted : 12/28/2006 11:45:20 AM My intent is not to highjack this tread (so maybe I should I start a new one?) but I am intersted in learning if anyone has corrected a bad behavior using clicker training?   What the bad behavior was?  How you corrected it?  How long did it take?  Since this is the area I use more aversive methods I would love to hear success stories. 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• houndlove Posted : 12/28/2006 12:18:39 PM Well, I know this isn't the worst behavior in the world (my dogs are both naturally just pretty good guys) but I dealt with Marlowe's jumping up habit with the clicker. I put the behavior on cue and also taught "off" to end it. Now Marlowe knows to sit and wait to be invited "up" for his hugs and then when I say "off" he goes away. I did notice, however that his training broke down when I went to pick him up from the kennel where we'd boarded him over the holidays! As soon as he saw me he gave me a big hug, then went over to the kennel staffer who'd brought him out and gave her a big hug goodbye. But under normal circumstances, we've got his jumping under control. 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• Katie Posted : 12/28/2006 12:25:41 PM Great thread.  I must get a clicker.  Everyone here seems to think the clicker works wonders for agility contacts, and that right there is reason enough for me to go get one tonight! [] 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login