berserker is so in trouble

My advice? Get some steak sauce because your DH is going to be chowing down on his foot a lot. If there's one thing I've heard over and over and over when people begin clicker training is that they always thought their dog was just too dumb to be trained and now they realize how wrong they were.

Let us know how your first few sessions go. For the most part, it's not rocket science, which is something I love about it as a methodology. There's some basic principles to keep in mind, but beyond that the sky is really the limit.

Just be forwarned that sometimes "crossover dogs", dogs that have been trained traditionally, have a hard time picking up clicker training at first. They just kind of stand there and look dumb. It isn't that they are dumb, it's just that their previous training had taught them, "Don't do anything unless someone tells you to." and clicker training works more on the dog thinking "Try everything and see what works!" These dogs usually just need a bit more time with the "charging" or "loading" of the clicker and a few extra sessions of "free-shaping" (clicking everything the dog does) for them to get with the new program.

A couple months back I started to do some clicker training on my stepkids dog and I got some great advice from Houndlove on getting started.  []
 
I was amazed by the dogs responce after the first 5 minutes.   I am usually NOT the one using the clicker now since I don't live with the dog, but I showed the kids some basics and they still use it with her with great success!
 
I hope this method will work out for you!   

ORIGINAL: houndlove

My advice? Get some steak sauce because your DH is going to be chowing down on his foot a lot. If there's one thing I've heard over and over and over when people begin clicker training is that they always thought their dog was just too dumb to be trained and now they realize how wrong they were.

But what if you think the OWNER is too dumb to be trained? I just can't seem to 1) find the clicker, 2) find the right end to click 3) remember to get the treat when I get the clicker and 4) when calling Gracie to come, know whether to click when she STARTS to come to me, or REACHES me?

But what if you think the OWNER is too dumb to be trained? I just can't seem to 1) find the clicker, 2) find the right end to click

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3) remember to get the treat when I get the clicker

Because the click marks the behavior, you can just start saying "let's go get a treat!" after you click and then run with the dog to wherever the treats are. This is actually how the class I was in taught us to fade the treats--put them further and further away from where the training is happening and every time you click, truck with the dog to where the treats are. Though maybe easier would be to do what I did when we first started clicker training: get a tupperware container for each room you're usually hanging out in and put some treats in it and just have that be where the treats always are in that room.

and 4) when calling Gracie to come, know whether to click when she STARTS to come to me, or REACHES me?

You'll be happy to know that this is also a matter of some controversy. Some say "the click ends the behavior" so you click when they get to you. Others say no, you should click when the start to move towards you. Me? I dont' think for most people's purposes it really matters. For "come" I don't even use a clicker. I just call and then reward like mad once they get to me. They don't really need that behavior "marked" in such an exact way because as long as they get to me in a timely manner, I don't need to be any more precise than that. I think that is one command in which it is pretty clear to the dog what constitutes a successful performance. There's a physical marker (you) and when they get to it, they get great stuff. I think that's enough for your average dog.

From what I understood, you start out equating the click with treats. Once they associate the click with treats, then you can begin the training. So, ideally, you would give the recall command then click and then treat when they get to you. That is, the click is a bridge between the command and the treat. And, at first, you don't give the command. If the dog is at a distance and you click, they know a treat is coming, so they recall themselves. Later, you can attach a human word, whether that is here, come, or flapjacks, as long as it consistently means return to the human for something good.
For a stay, you start close in and short duration. Stay, click and treat. Stay, click, wait 10 seconds, treat. Eventually, you will vary to time between the click and the treat, then phase out the clicker and treat sporadically.
 
I haven't used a clicker but when I train Shadow's down-stay, I back up with my front to him and my hand out as a visual signal to go with the audible command. After say 15 seconds, I go to him and treat. Other times, I will have him down-stay and I back up and then I call here, and he gets a treat. Sometimes, 2 or 3 treats at once. It's never the same. So, obeying is a gambler's dream. You get a reward, sometimes, the mother lode, but you never know when, so it pays to obey because this might be it. As the human, you have to go ahead and give out the mother lode to keep the motivation.
 
This all can be done with a clicker. I think the clicker is so effective because it's not a human word but a sound. I make a smooching sound with my lips as a marker. It's the same effect. It gets his attention for what is next.

I wish Sammy wasn't terrified of the clicker []  I even tried the top to a jar with the little button and he ran away from me.....  I need a clicker to train to be okay with the clicker! lol.
 
Ron, you just make a noise and that works the same?  I guess I could try that... might be easier than having an actual clicker anyway, right?

You can use any sound that sounds pretty much the same way every time. If you use a word like "yes" you have to be mindful that you're saying it the same each time. You can use a lip smooch or a tongue-click or anything, as long as you make an effort to make it sound more or less the same each time and it's pretty short in duration (multi-syllable words I'd think would be out). The advantage of using a noisemaker like a clicker rather than voice is just that the clicker always sounds the same each and every time without you having to think about it. But Sammy is certainly not the first dog to be wigged out by that sound, so you can pick another sound that he likes better.

One of my dogs was afraid of the clicker at first as well.  I put the clicker behind my back and used his dinner the first time.  So I knew he was hungry and he knew I had the food.  So I'd click the clicker behind my back, then shove some food in his mouth before he could run away.  Once he was sure I had food, then I would just keep c/t and he soon didn't mind the clicker.  Now he runs to me if I even pick one up because he knows we're in for a training session! 

thanks everyone! i will definitly let you know how it goes, if i ever get the darn thing, dh has been over to my parents twice now and forgot to bring it back [sm=angry.gif]