The lowdown on dog clicker training

Dog training is a necessity when you make the decision to keep a dog as a pet.Dogs, particularly larger ones, must be obedient, or keeping them becomes extremely hard work.

In addition to their appreciation for being fed, as pack animals dogs have natural instincts that favour training. These instincts are manifested as a desire to please a trainer. This gives the dog trainer an unbeatable edge in shaping the dog's behaviour.

While dogs can be trained for complicated, serious actions, such as rescue work, circus acts, or medical diagnosis, there are certain elements of training that almost all dogs can learn, to the benefit of both dog and trainer.

Basically, dog training is about communication. The trainer is communicating to the dog what behaviours are correct in what circumstances. A successful trainer must also understand the communication that the dog sends to the them. The dog can signal that he is unsure, confused, nervous, happy, excited, etc. The emotional state of the dog is an important consideration in directing the training.

Dog training clickers are great training tools. They are effective training tools for puppies or dogs because dog clickers make a very distinct sound, letting you control your timing, and eliminate the inflection in your voice that can hinder dog training.

Dogs are very sensitive to inflections in your voice, and training your dog with a clicker eliminates the inflections and you can train more effectively, even if you are in a crabby mood or are getting short-tempered during the training session.

Now that you've got a dog clicker it is time to train your dog to get used to the tool. First thing, get a pocket full of small, edible treats ready and, for easy access, get a nice clicker treat bag. Then you can lure the dog with the treat or go to the dog with the clicker and some treats.

Click the clicker, and give the dog a nice treat. At this point, it doesn