More Essentials for the More Advanced Canine Guidance Exercises

As we move to the more advanced level of the exercise, we will also be requiring more essentials in our activities. For example, if you are planning to teach your pet to perform in agility competitions, then you will have to consider additional learning essentials which will include, among others, items used in the obstacle course. This apparatus will be used in addition to the basic essentials such as clicker and leash.

Regardless of the items used in the learning activities of your pet, it is important that you learn how to use them so that you are comfortable when the doing the learning activities with your furry friend. There are some trainers who resort to harsh devices such as choke collars and shock collars. However, there are just few of them as most of our competent trainers use the more proper learning essentials and do not resort to this kind of extreme treatment.

Essentials in Obedience Activities

The basic tools required for this type of guidance activity will include a lead, clicker and choke collar among others. Not everyone is inclined to use the choke collar on their pets. However, these are used sparingly and are used in a humane manner to make correction in the behavior of small animals. It may be preferable to use the nylon type as it is gentler than the chain type of choke collars.

Another indispensable tool to carry out this type of guidance activity is the leash. A leash allows you more control over your pet. In some obedience sessions, a choke collar may still be used but it should be employed only sparingly.

Finally, the clicker is a very useful tool in this type of guidance activity. There are upsides as well as downsides for this type of guidance activity. What is important is that you are able to assess the needs of your pet and determine what aspect of its behavior you want to modify before starting any method.

Essentials for Working Canines

If you want to train your pet for working functions then you also have to consider the essentials needed for the relevant teaching method. For instance, if you want to train your pet for hunting purposes then you have to provide for the essential items needed in order to simulate the hunting environment. A canine whistle is a major item that you will use to complete the learning activity.

We live in the country and have a bit of property.  Our backyard is fenced for the dogs and past the fenced area we have a pond. What’s a pond without ducks!  We have 20 pet ducks that we lock up at night to protect them from predators.

To get them out of the pond we usually clap our hands and talk to them and they come out and head for the house.  Sometimes they are not that quick at responding to us.

So what you ask does all this have to do with clicker training?  One night when we went to put them away I had the clicker in my pocket and decided to see if I would get any reaction from them if I used the clicker instead of the hand clapping method.

It was truly amazing!  With just a couple of clicks out they came, quacking the whole way right into their house for the night.  We have been using the clicker every since to put them away at night.

Then I noticed something else. When using the clicker for the ducks it got the dogs’ attention. They are now responding very well to Clicker Training
I’ve come to the conclusion that the dogs didn’t want to be outsmarted by a bunch of ducks!

So when you attempt any type of training with your dog remember training takes time, it does not happen over night.  Be consistent with your training and remember praise, praise, praise.

Remember also that “The single greatest cause of death in dogs under one year of age is not Parvo, it’s not Distemper, it is lack of obedience training and 93% of training and behaviour problems can be solved using a series of simple dog training techniques. ”

Until next time

Maureen Brownell

Personally I have never tried Clicker training but after reading up on it I am thinking of trying it on our dogs. Our niece has tried it with their two year old dog they adopted from the Humane Society and has had great success training with the clicker.

Clicker training has been used to train dogs, horses and birds. It is a very gentle and humane way of training. It is based on positive reinforcement. Therefore instead of correcting a bad behaviour you ignore the bad behaviour and reward the good behaviour.

The clicker is a handheld device which emits a clicking sound which the dog will hear when it displays good behaviour. You can buy one at your favourite pet store and they are not expensive.

The first step in Clicker training is to get the dog to associate the sound of the clicker with something good. Something good would be a treat. We have to make this a very special treat, so use things like cheese, hotdogs, cooked chicken etc.- something that is going to be healthy for your dog. Remember to cut it up into fairly small pieces.

Take your dog into a quiet room and as long as the dog is not misbehaving click the clicker and then give them a treat. Repeat this until you see that your dog understands.  He will understand when you click and you see that you have his attention.

Now the actually training begins. Start training inside in a quiet room.  We want to build a strong base before we introduce a lot of distractions.

Say your dog’s name with enthusiasm but only once. If your dog doesn’t look your way touch him to get their attention and when you have his attention click and treat. Repeat until he starts to understand. As with all training be patient. When you get the desired behaviour then you start to shape that behaviour to reach your goal.

Your goal is to get the dog to look right at you when you call them. Start the training as you did before but then if he doesn’t look at you do not click and treat. Most dogs will get frustrated by this and guess what, they will eventually probably look right at you to find out what’s up.  When they do click and treat! With practice and patience your dog will learn quickly.

Obviously there is a lot more to learn when training your dog with a clicker. Want to learn more about Clicker training? Then you should check out this program on clicker training
Now if you already have a well trained dog then you probably don’t need to do any more training. Even though I consider our dogs trained I am going to try some clicker training with our dogs.
It will be another way to have some fun interaction with them and who knows I may even learn something.

Until next time
Maureen Brownell