Welcome to Canis Clickertraining Academy`s free introductory course on clicker training. The goal of this course is to provide you with a brief introduction of the main principles of clicker training and not least show you where you can learn more if you find it all interesting.

In order for you to make the most out of this mini-course, we recommend that you try things out for real with your own dog after each class (you will get homework at the end of each class!). Begin at your own dog’s level and see how far you two get. Good luck with your clicker training!

Morten Egtvedt

(Chief Instructor, Canis Clickertraining Academy)

Lesson 1: Finding effective reinforcers

The goal of today’s class is:

to find reinforcers that work for your dog

Treats

All dogs eat food (if not they are by definition dead). Therefore treats are a ”universal reward” which can be used with all dogs (although some dogs naturally are more interested in food than others). Treats are simple to use for the owner and they make sure that you can easily work through many repetitions in a short time (this is often important, particularly in the early stages of training).

Here is some advice regarding treats for you to remember:

When training, you should use treats which are better than your dog’s normal dinner.

The treats should be so small that the dog does not feel full straight away, but big enough to be worth the effort.

Treats should be soft and juicy so that they can go down easily – it is not smart to waste valuable training time by having the dog standing around chewing for a long time.

The more distractions that are around or the more demanding exercises you are training – the better the treats should be. When you are training indoors in your living room you can get away with bread crumbs, but down at the dog club you should pack heavier ammunition.

It is a good idea to vary between at least 4-5 different kinds of treats. This way you will avoid the dog growing tired of something.

If you are training a lot with treats, you should reduce the amount of food the dog gets ”for free” for dinner (particularly if your dog gains weight easily)

There is nothing stopping you from letting the dog work for its ENTIRE dinner every once in a while (after all, that is what dogs do in nature...)

Do not ruin your dog’s appetite: Do not give it free access to food. Remove the food bowl if the dog leaves it without having finished its meal (and do not feed it again before the next meal). Do not add something ”extra” to the food if the dog does not want to eat. There is nothing wrong with letting the dog go without food for an entire day every once in a while (as long as the dog is healthy). The adult dog’s digestive system (and metabolism) is adapted for the possibility of there being several days between each meal.

Remember that treats can be served in many different ways. Treats can be served calmly from your hand, or you can run away and let the dog chase the treats for a while before you deliver them to him. You can also put the treats in a bowl and reward by saying ”ok” and letting the dog run to the treats. It is a good idea to vary the treat delivery so that it is suited to the exercise you are training.

Games and play

A lot of dogs love playing tug of war, chasing a Kong toy on a rope, or running after a thrown tennis ball. If you have such a dog, you should definitely use play and games as a reward as much as you can. Play can also be used as a surprise reward between rewarding with treats.

Your dog not liking to play is not a reason to give up. Play can be trained! This training should be done separately from other training. Just get out a toy and begin to play! When the dog starts to find this amusing, you can gradually begin to use it as a reward when training.

You will get the best results if you teach your dog to play when it is a puppy. Most of the time, adult dogs take a bit longer to get going.

If you have a dog that only wants treats, it is also possible to teach him that he only gets the treat after having played a bit. Play around with a ball or tug toy and exchange for a treat at the end (but make sure that he is holding on to the toy when he gets the treat).

It is a good idea to teach the dog to play with his leash, not just regular dog toys. This way you will always have a reward at hand (I personally use my car keys as a dog toy if I do not have access to anything better – but I will not take responsibility for any unforeseen accidents if you choose to do the same...)

A lot of people are afraid that a lot of play and games will lead to a stressed out dog. However this fear is most often strongly exaggerated. Just make sure that your dog acts ”politely” when playing- end the game if the dog jumps up at you or is careless with his teeth. Also train the dog to voluntarily come back and give you the toy (reward with a treat or by resuming the game).

Other reinforcers

Remember that there are a great many other reinforcers out there as well. Basically anything that your dog wants can be used as a reinforcer. If your dog wants to run over to another dog, you can have it sit and offer eye contact to you before you say ”ok”. If your male dog wants to get over to a certain lamp post, you can ask for a couple of yards of walking nicely on a loose leash before saying ”ok”. I am sure you can think of many more examples like these.

Homework

OK, enough talking for today. It is time for you to get to work! Here is today’s homework:

Find at least four different treats and perform a little taste trial with your dog. Then arrange the treats in order from 1-4 according to which you think your dog likes the best (remember that the dog’s preferences can change, so this order might be subject to change later).

Try out at least three different dog toys and see if your dog fancies any of them.

Write down at least three environmental reinforcers, that is reinforcers that you cant keep in your pocket but that your dog often wants when you are out and about. Try out at least one of these when you take a walk tonight (for example, say ”ok” when the dog has offered eye contact first).

Talk to you tomorrow!