Brought home the clicker today and the minute I clicked, my dog freaked out, would not come near me or take a treat. What to do?
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Home » fear
Afraid of the clicker
By bradyboy on 11/15/2009
Filed in - fear - clicker dog training
Brought home the clicker today and the minute I clicked, my dog freaked out, would not come near me or take a treat. What to do? |
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Perhaps
Maybe it's because its a foreign noise. My friend's dog never heard a sharp sound ever! So when I first clicked they backed away and barked randomly to "scare the clicker away" You should get a clicker that has a softer sound (really cheap ones) and they'll eventually get used to the clicker sound. My friend's dog now loves the clicker, everytime I come through the door with a clicker in hand the dog follows me
Read Karen's newest book "Reaching the Animal Mind"
I am reading Karen's new book and after I had responded I was reading more chapters in the book and found the subject regarding animals being scared of the clicker . She mentioned in it to use a light instead of the clicker at first and then later move to the clicker with the noise muffled first. I HIGHLY recommend getting the book and reading it.
something to try.
I guess my first question would be is your dog normally scared of noise? When you say freaked out what exactly did he/she do? Were they looking for something, scared, nervous or curious? What type treats did you have? Is your dog normally one that loves food or couldn't care less? I had one dog that 1/2 the time the would not accept any type food (hotdogs, liver, fish etc.) He liked play or a toy much better.
I know with the horses when they first heard the clicker it was much better for them to actually have the sound muffled in my pocket. With some of them I have also got them used to it at feeding time. They are used to getting their food at that time and routine so then I introduced the sound at that time. If they looked up or away then I would not click but as soon as they had the head down eating --> click they would look up or step away of course but eventually they were fine with it and started to associate it with food. (If your dog is really scared of the noise I would probably even have the sound muffled at first as well).
I know our yellow lab for some reason was doing great with the clicker and target and then one day decided to be scared of it. I am not sure why but I put it away after a couple of times and then the next day he was fine.
Those of are some observations/examples I ran across. I am still learning more on the clicker. Someone with much more experience may have more or better ideas for you. Good luck.