Soon after learning that a click marks the exact behavior and tells the animal what earned its reward, newcomers to clicker training wonder how to go about getting that clickable behavior. On this point, the answer they hear depends on whom they ask.
Shaping and Targeting
Erasing Fear: A Lesson (or Two) on Cues and Shaping
By Clint Matthews on 11/01/2012A note from Karen Pryor:
How to Teach Your Dog Left and Right
By Aidan Bindoff on 03/01/2012This is a fun exercise that is handier than it seems at first. You'll set up two targets at a distance, and teach your dog to go to either target—left or right—on cue. Later, you will set up similar exercises to bring more general meaning to the cues "left" or "right."
A dog that understands "left" and "right" has a terrific skill for many competition venues including agility, herding, mushing, water dog, and retrieving. This understanding would also be handy walking on trails—and service dog owners could think of a dozen or more applications for "left" and "right."
Helping Shy Dogs Blossom Using Targeting
By Dee Ganley on 02/01/2012Shy dogs are an especially difficult challenge in the shelter environment because it is so hard for them to establish trust. We have found that teaching these dogs to target our hand can help many shy dogs develop confidence with people fairly quickly. You can't begin to try this method until there is at least one person (staff or volunteer) the shy dog has a little trust in.
Target training teaches the dog to touch his nose to some object or person for a click and then treat. (If the shy dog is very noise reactive, you may choose to use a "soft" voice marker or a muffled clicker)
How to Clicker Train Your Dog to Stay in the Yard
By Steve Benjamin on 06/01/2011Draw the lines yourself
Would you like to train your dog to stay in your yard without resorting to electrical shock?
