Dog Training and Behavior

[CharcoalDragon]

For those who have bought dog treat pouches and/or training clickers:
Any recommendations?

Honestly, I would recommend a fanny pack as a treat pouch- zippers are highly useful.

I recommend not using a clicker, and using a marker word instead for the following reasons:

• No cost
• Allows your hands to be free
• Dog is more likely to learn to respond to your voice
• You don't run the risk of forgetting/misplacing/not having the clicker near you
• Can be quicker to say a word than to press a button
• Less scary for timid dogs

I can't tell you how many times I've marked a behavior that I didn't know I wanted (#4 above). Example: we are sitting on a patio, my pup is chilling when two dogs start barking at the table next to us. My pup lifts her head, looks at them, and then looks at me without getting up and barking too. I mark and reward for calm, attentive behavior. If I wanted to do the same thing with a clicker, I would have to have the clicker in my hands at all times, throughout my drink/meal. Not really relaxing on the patio in that case...
The timing of the mark/click is MUCH more important than the timing of the treat delivery.

A marker should be:
-a single word
-able to be said quickly (few syllables)
-able to be said enthusiastically
Favorites in the community are "yes", "good", and "yay".

 

[ShrekDawg]

Honestly, I would recommend a fanny pack as a treat pouch- zippers are highly useful.

I recommend not using a clicker, and using a marker word instead for the following reasons:

• No cost
• Allows your hands to be free
• Dog is more likely to learn to respond to your voice
• You don't run the risk of forgetting/misplacing/not having the clicker near you
• Can be quicker to say a word than to press a button
• Less scary for timid dogs

I can't tell you how many times I've marked a behavior that I didn't know I wanted (#4 above). Example: we are sitting on a patio, my pup is chilling when two dogs start barking at the table next to us. My pup lifts her head, looks at them, and then looks at me without getting up and barking too. I mark and reward for calm, attentive behavior. If I wanted to do the same thing with a clicker, I would have to have the clicker in my hands at all times, throughout my drink/meal. Not really relaxing on the patio in that case...
The timing of the mark/click is MUCH more important than the timing of the treat delivery.

A marker should be:
-a single word
-able to be said quickly (few syllables)
-able to be said enthusiastically
Favorites in the community are "yes", "good", and "yay".

I agree!! I tried to use a clicker briefly with my last dog and still occasionally try but I gave up because it was such a pain trying to juggle the clicker, the leash (if the dog was leashed at the time), the treats and pouch or toys, etc. etc. I found it much easier to just use my voice.

I usually just used yes! Or good boy! Or a combination of them. It’s bad and not really “proper” per se but I usually always end up using a combination like yes! Good! Good dog/boy/girl etc and getting excited I do need to work on just using one dog but it’s hard hahah but it doesn’t seem to matter to the dog much so I guess that’s good.

They say one advantage of the clicker is that it is consistent and not subject to emotions or whatever like the voice can be, which I guess is a good point, and they do actually make clickers that have a softer click as opposed to the loud metal ones to use for timid dogs so they can work but personally, I find dogs are way more enthusiastic and responsive to my voice anyway. Having a mechanical click gets boring! But yet when I use my voice it doesn’t seem to be and I can also use my voice to possibly trigger reengagement if necessary if they’re starting to lose focus (got more excited/happy/high pitched lol) or lower to calm them down or let them know that they’re doing maybe isn’t the right thing, etc. all with my voice. No need for any extra tools or whatever. Those are nice sometimes but the voice is such an underrated and powerful tool. Body language too.

 

[CharcoalDragon]

I agree!! I tried to use a clicker briefly with my last dog and still occasionally try but I gave up because it was such a pain trying to juggle the clicker, the leash (if the dog was leashed at the time), the treats and pouch or toys, etc. etc. I found it much easier to just use my voice.

I usually just used yes! Or good boy! Or a combination of them. It’s bad and not really “proper” per se but I usually always end up using a combination like yes! Good! Good dog/boy/girl etc and getting excited I do need to work on just using one dog but it’s hard hahah but it doesn’t seem to matter to the dog much so I guess that’s good.

They say one advantage of the clicker is that it is consistent and not subject to emotions or whatever like the voice can be, which I guess is a good point, and they do actually make clickers that have a softer click as opposed to the loud metal ones to use for timid dogs so they can work but personally, I find dogs are way more enthusiastic and responsive to my voice anyway. Having a mechanical click gets boring! But yet when I use my voice it doesn’t seem to be and I can also use my voice to possibly trigger reengagement if necessary if they’re starting to lose focus (got more excited/happy/high pitched lol) or lower to calm them down or let them know that they’re doing maybe isn’t the right thing, etc. all with my voice. No need for any extra tools or whatever. Those are nice sometimes but the voice is such an underrated and powerful tool. Body language too.

Consistency is key, with heavy emphasis on enthusiasm (noted above). Even if you're pissed, even if you're sad, you don't let it show. The trick is to remember that every time you mark, it's a win- and wins are something to be celebrated. It makes it easier to mark a behavior with the same enthusiastic tone, even when your pup was being a PITA not even thirty seconds ago.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Consistency is key, with heavy emphasis on enthusiasm (noted above). Even if you're pissed, even if you're sad, you don't let it show. The trick is to remember that every time you mark, it's a win- and wins are something to be celebrated. It makes it easier to mark a behavior with the same enthusiastic tone, even when your pup was being a PITA not even thirty seconds ago.

Yeah that’s true! I usually always try to do that but sometimes it’s hard hahah but I usually try not to say no or correct or whatever unless they’re doing something like really bad or dangerous or whatever. I usually just try to let them figure it out and then reward big when they do even if they took a while or did it wrong a bunch first hahah and if we’re doing tricks or fun stuff then there’s zero correction cause I want it to stay fun.

 

[CharcoalDragon]

Yeah that’s true! I usually always try to do that but sometimes it’s hard hahah

It's very hard, but it's a skill that comes with practice.

 

[ShrekDawg]

It's very hard, but it's a skill that comes with practice.

Yeah I need to work on it more for sure!! I’ve gotten a lot better about it recently cause I’ve been working with a lot of different dogs but definitely hard. Like for example, when you’re playing and get chomped on or jumped on etc. by an over enthusiastic, ball obsessed young dog, it’s hard not to react

 

[Swiss]

That is how I was thinking about clickers, but I could also see how they can be beneficial.
I think I'll just try to make a treat pouch. Then, it will be how I want it to be.
Thanks, everyone for the responses!

 

[ShrekDawg]

That is how I was thinking about clickers, but I could also see how they can be beneficial.
I think I'll just try to make a treat pouch. Then, it will be how I want it to be.
Thanks, everyone for the responses!

Yeah I can definitely see the benefits too and some people love them but personally for me it was just a pain haha and I think the concept works just the same with a word as it does a clicker. The idea is just marking the exact behavior. I guess technically a clicker could maybe be more precise in marking the exact moment cause it’s shorter than speaking? But maybe not by the time you get it out haha

I ordered a treat pouch on Amazon along with some clickers and other stuff but it was really deep so it really wasn’t practical haha was hard to reach all the way in.

 

[CharcoalDragon]

The difference between a clicker and a marker is minute- a simple difference in sound. It does not matter much to the dog. Just as Pavlov could have used a horn over a bell, you could use a buzzer on your phone, the word "goat", a whistle, or even clapping your hands. Its about assigning meaning, and using the marker as a bridge between behavior and reward.

Personally, I've never seen benefit in clickers, especially when I've been around other dogs and trainers. All the clicking was triggering everyone else's dog. Was easy for the few of us who had marker trained to remain in clear communication with our dogs. My dog didn't even react when someone else said the marker word I trained her with because it wasn't me- she knew my voice.

 

[ShrekDawg]

The difference between a clicker and a marker is minute- a simple difference in sound. It does not matter much to the dog. Just as Pavlov could have used a horn over a bell, you could use a buzzer on your phone, the word "goat", a whistle, or even clapping your hands. Its about assigning meaning, and using the marker as a bridge between behavior and reward.

Personally, I've never seen benefit in clickers, especially when I've been around other dogs and trainers. All the clicking was triggering everyone else's dog. Was easy for the few of us who had marker trained to remain in clear communication with our dogs. My dog didn't even react when someone else said the marker word I trained her with because it wasn't me- she knew my voice.

That makes sense! I never even thought of that... that the clickers could all sound similar! Although I guess I figured they could tell the slight differences between “their” clicker or not? But maybe they are all too mechanical and too minute and difference for even dogs to tell? Maybe there isn’t even a difference because they’re all mass produced to sound exactly the same? Never thought of that. Just out of curiosity... do you still have to “load” your voice the way you would load a clicker or do they just know what it means easier/naturally cause it’s your voice?