to click or not to click.... - Page 1

That's the dilemma. Well, in a previous post someone told that he/she liked the clicker training. I want to hear opinions about the subject please. Why to use it or why don't. Thanks a lot and happy hollydays

I like it i have a young female. I have been doing it with. I think it produces a very good picture. It does take some time. Since you will be breaking it down in such small pieces. But i am very happy so far with the progress Ava has made. What i like about it is seeing the dog learn. You will see the dog trying different things to get the food. Some people like it some do not. I say try it for yourself then make a decision. I think for the learning phase it is the best thing since sliced bread. Jerry Marshall

The training of dogs is a continual learning process for us as we gradually understand more about the dog vs man interaction. Many core training fundamentals will never change as they have no reason to do so. And many supposed axioms of the past have become just that-axioms of the past. But occassionally a new method/tool is discovered that has a profound effect on the success of training. Does clicker training work for all dogs for all things? I would not think so, but perhaps it works well for many if not most dogs. If there was one (1) absolute method for training all dogs then we would not need to look at things from different perspectives and all trainers could be nearly equal in their success. The most successful trainers are those who use time-proven methods and can best read the dog and determine how he needs to be trained, and I believe that is an innate skill that very few of us possess. And these same people tend to keep an open mind about developments elsewhere. This reminds me of a statement that I read when I was a technical instructor "Do you train the same way that you were trained?" It made me realize that I needed to prove to myself that the way I was taught was the absolute best way. Best Regards, Bob-O

Bob-O: " "Do you train the same way that you were trained?" It made me realize that I needed to prove to myself that the way I was taught was the absolute best way." That reminds me, in some Psych class, I was told an individual is most likely to believe the first "side" they hear and take it as fact in many cases. I wish I could come up with the example that was used. One example, but not the best, would be something like: Which do you do first, brush or floss. Some heated, stupid, debates can begin with such questions. It's no wonder people can be so closed minded when it comes to how they train... psychologically it is natural for them to think the first way learned is the correct way.

BTW, I think positive reinforcement is absolutely wonderful! But personally I do not use the clicker... just one more thing to juggle... and wean away from. It is great to learn to train with as it helps the owner/trainer really understand how the dog is learning and perfect their training skills, so I definitely encourage it.

keep in mind I have only ever titled ONE gsd in schutzhund so this is obviously extremely limited experience with sch training, but I completely and totally clicker trained him, as I have clicker trained all the assistance dogs and obedience/agility dogs this way. I also trained a border collie to do all the sch routine, including the bite work with operant conditioning, but his bites were ... well, typically border collie. kind of that corn cob messing around thing and I had little desire to pursue it with him. I do not care for compulsion training but neither do I think that each and every dog HAS to be clicker trained. Millions of dogs and people in the world with them, I would have to agree with Bob-O who stated that there are lots of ways to train dogs. It is simply my frame of reference and the training style with which I am more comfortable and knowledgable. Keep in mind too, that people (sch, or not) who have the type of attitude that... my dog WILL obey me, WHEN I give a command, they will IMMEDIATELY obey etc etc. are deluded. The dog always has the ability and will to decide "yes, I think I will indeed chase the cat instead of staying on this long, rather boring "down"" We train to produce not only obedience, but an attitude that is more inclined to be willing to obey. Some of that is breeding, some of that is conditioning and part of that conditioning is allowing the dog to be part of the shaping/behavior situation. That is probably the biggest positive with operant conditioning. But there is NO training situation that will produce absolute 100% results 100% of the time. If you really insist on that, buy a tamagachi or whatever they're called. Lisa