In a good number of our other articles, we’ve introduced a few techniques you can use to train your dog. This article describes how the positive reinforcement, correction-based, or clicker dog training method works with all of those techniques.

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement uses rewards – treats, praise, playtime or a combination of all three consequences – to communicate proper behavior. It’s the most popular type of all known dog training methods used by professionals today largely because it has a high success rate. Since dogs respond to treats and praise really well, the end result is almost always a confident, enthusiastic trained dog . This is why positive reinforcement comes highly recommended. That, coupled with the fact that all methods impact the way dogs view humans and respond to them for their entire lives.

Correctional Training

Correctional training is an old-style method of teaching dogs proper behavior – largely abandoned in favor of positive reinforcement. Instead of rewarding a dog for doing something right, it strictly punishes dogs for doing something wrong. Dogs eventually figure out what’s acceptable by avoiding behaviors that attract discipline. Some types of corrections include hitting, leash jerking, scruff shaking, shocking, and of course, yelling.

The main problem with this sort of training is that used exclusively, it creates an unconfident and fearful dog. Dogs trained with this method just don’t demonstrate the same enthusiasm that dogs trained with positive reinforcement show, and enthusiasm is one of the things that judges look for in things like agility sports or conformation shows. It also takes a dog longer to learn this way since it has to learn its lessons through a tremendous amount of trials and errors.

Clicker Training

Clicker training is another positive training method that uses a clicking device to indicate correct behavior. It too, comes highly recommended and although it may sound strange, the theory behind it is very sound.

The clicker is a small, handheld device that trainers press to make a clicking sound. The clicks communicate that a dog is doing something right as it’s doing it. (Unlike treat and/or praise rewards that communicate a dog has done something right after a completed task.) Animal trainer Karen Pryor developed the clicker in the 50s to train dolphins and the method as successfully carried on over to dog obedience and agility training as well.

How and why exactly does this method work? The delay that occurs between a completed task and a reward could make training difficult to master or take longer to comprehend. A dog may not fully understand what it’s being rewarded for instance, when it’s trying to figure out the sit command. Is it being rewarded for sitting? For starting to sit? For releasing a sit? When trainers click, they issue a command at a specific step. A trainer may for example, click when a dog lifts its paw after being asked to shake. Another click is given when the dog extends the paw to the trainer. And the trainer clicks yet again when the dog lets the trainer move the arm up and down, but in this step, she gives the "shake" command. In this instance, the dog understands that the clicks lead up to something that its owner wants it to do. As long as the dog hears those clicks, it knows it’s on the right track.

Clickers aren’t always easy to manage. They’re small and easily misplaced or they’re simply hard to juggle with a hardy dog. You will after all, have a dog, the clicker, and a bag of treats to manage all at one time. Remedy the awkwardness by placing the clicker on a wrist coil or neck coil. Then learn how to work a clicker before using one with your dog.

You need to get used to the springs and the sound that’s produced. Once you get that finger action down, you’ll need to help the dog associate the clicker sound with a reward. This is as simple as clicking the clicker and then treating the dog. Do this 40 times and the dog will understand that the click sound leads to something tasty.

Then when you catch your dog doing something that it should be doing, click the clicker, issue the appropriate command, and then give the dog a treat. If you keep doing this, the dog will soon associate the behavior with the click, and then the treat.