Clicker Or Not?

[beezneez]

I am having trouble with my Border Collie Puppy not always listening to me when i give her commands. She knows a fair few tricks and sometimes recalls. But i was thinking of retraining her recall with a clicker as she isn't doing very well with it.

Any suggestions?

Who thinks clickers works?

Who is against the clicker?

Thanks

[Salukifan]

I am having trouble with my Border Collie Puppy not always listening to me when i give her commands. She knows a fair few tricks and sometimes recalls. But i was thinking of retraining her recall with a clicker as she isn't doing very well with it.

Any suggestions?

Who thinks clickers works?

Who is against the clicker?

Thanks

A clicker won't make your dog 'listen' - that's a focus that needs to be developed with practice and reward.

Clickers work well with marking behaviour when the dog is close, and when you want to make a particular 'instant' that you get the behaviour you want.

Personally I don't think they work well at a distance, nor for behaviours of longer duration like recalls and stays. No reason why you can't use a clicker for some things and not for others IMO. I"d be far more inclined to use my voice to encourage and reward the dog during the recall and then treat or play when she gets to you.

A lot of folk swear by the "Really Reliable Recall" DVD and method - something you might want to look into.

Edited February 6, 2012 by Telida Whippets

[Kavik]

Clickers are an awesome tool for capturing a behaviour at an instant in time - like a camera taking a picture. Using one or not is not going to define your success with your recall as it is not a training program, just a tool.

I've picked up many helpful tips on training a recall through SG's Recallers online group. Chase you games are lots of fun and useful as well.

[megan_]

A clicker is just a marker - letting your dog know that it is doing the right thing. Used the right way markers are very powerful things. Used the wrong way they are useless. How are you using it? Have you taught her that click = treat yet (in many different places, positions etc, hundreds of times?)

[sheena]

Providing that she knows that click = treat everytime, to start training the recall you have her on a long lead, call her name & as soon as she turns to you, you click & treat, You can also do out & here by tossing a treat & as soon as she reaches it, before she picks it up...click..she eats...then call "here" or "come" or her name, whatever your recall is & she turns to you, you click, she comes running to you (hopefully) for the treat. I take my clicker & treats with me whenever I walk my two BC's off lead. They might run off a short distance, but as soon as one turns to look at me, I click & they both come running for the treat. It has become a favourite game with them & it's a race to see who can get to me the fastest & sit in front of me waiting for the treat. They can hear the click quite some distance away, up to aboout 50 meters. Mind you, they are probably listening for it, because they know that their behaviour of turning to look at me is going to get a click. My dogs love the clicker game, but as Megan says you have to put lots of value on it.

[beezneez]

Providing that she knows that click = treat everytime, to start training the recall you have her on a long lead, call her name & as soon as she turns to you, you click & treat, You can also do out & here by tossing a treat & as soon as she reaches it, before she picks it up...click..she eats...then call "here" or "come" or her name, whatever your recall is & she turns to you, you click, she comes running to you (hopefully) for the treat. I take my clicker & treats with me whenever I walk my two BC's off lead. They might run off a short distance, but as soon as one turns to look at me, I click & they both come running for the treat. It has become a favourite game with them & it's a race to see who can get to me the fastest & sit in front of me waiting for the treat. They can hear the click quite some distance away, up to aboout 50 meters. Mind you, they are probably listening for it, because they know that their behaviour of turning to look at me is going to get a click. My dogs love the clicker game, but as Megan says you have to put lots of value on it.

I have just purchased a clicker. I haven't started using it yet. I was thinking of starting to retrain her with it. To show her that the clicker=treat. Do you think i should try it? or will it just confuse her introducing the clicker at 6 months of age?

Thanks for your help :)

[Tassie]

You can introduce the clicker as a marker at any age - but.... you need to know what you're doing - and the essence of the training is the same whther you're using the clicker or a marker word to inform the dog that what they did is correct.

I think Vickie has advised you about chasing games - lots of her chasing you, and high excitement and high value rewards when she gets to you - and as Sheen says, you can mark the head turn towards you - BUT - make sure the head turn happens whenever you use the dog's name - otherwise you're just training her to ignore her name, as you are training her to ignore the recall word you might use if it's not working.

I'd probably start some name response work quite close up. THe other thing I would suggest is to use a light long line on her (as in 5-10 metres long - but not a retractable please) - this way you know that ultimately you will win - even if you have to walk down the line to her if she's really not listening.

By the way, although it might look like it, I think it's better if you assume that she doesn't know her recall well enough, rather than that's she's being 'cheeky'. :)

[persephone]

I think it's better if you assume that she doesn't know her recall well enough, rather than that's she's being 'cheeky'. :)

[sheena]

Providing that she knows that click = treat everytime, to start training the recall you have her on a long lead, call her name & as soon as she turns to you, you click & treat, You can also do out & here by tossing a treat & as soon as she reaches it, before she picks it up...click..she eats...then call "here" or "come" or her name, whatever your recall is & she turns to you, you click, she comes running to you (hopefully) for the treat. I take my clicker & treats with me whenever I walk my two BC's off lead. They might run off a short distance, but as soon as one turns to look at me, I click & they both come running for the treat. It has become a favourite game with them & it's a race to see who can get to me the fastest & sit in front of me waiting for the treat. They can hear the click quite some distance away, up to aboout 50 meters. Mind you, they are probably listening for it, because they know that their behaviour of turning to look at me is going to get a click. My dogs love the clicker game, but as Megan says you have to put lots of value on it.

I have just purchased a clicker. I haven't started using it yet. I was thinking of starting to retrain her with it. To show her that the clicker=treat. Do you think i should try it? or will it just confuse her introducing the clicker at 6 months of age?

Thanks for your help :)

I didn't start my older BC girl on clickers till she was nearly 3. It has been a godsend for training a very reactive border collie & she will do anything for me, if she thinks I have the clicker on me. As Tassie says, maybe start out with some close up....like the "In Ya Face" game, where you take 10 or so treats & have her sitting in front of you, call her name, click & treat & do this in rapid succession.

[Tassie]

And the variant on that - where you mark the head turn (with click or verbal) then throw the treat a little distance away, telling the dog "get it" or something like that, then as she's away from you a bit, use her name, and mark the head turn - rinse and repeat - interspersing with getting her to come to you for the treat. Tossing the treats gives her more chance to respond from a little distance. Mix and match the two.