I so remember the first day I came here, I was playing with my mother and siblings. Then some children came here to see us and when I ran over to them and jumped up to greet them like I do to my mum, they picked me up and cuddled me. I felt happy and secure as they showed me to their parents and before I knew what was happening, we were travelling in a car, to a strange new place, away from everything I knew.

They were kind to me though and we played and ran around together, but I missed my family and I cried at night when they locked me in the garage alone. I was not sure why I couldn’t sleep with them like I had with my family. But in the morning the children played with me again and I chased them around and had fun. They liked that game but after a while I would sometimes catch them and they got angry with me when I did that and I would get growled at by the parents. So I found some other things to play with and to chew and often I got growled at for that too. It was very confusing as I was not really sure why some things were okay and some not. Also I got told off for pooing and weeing but I didn’t understand that either, my mother never told me it was wrong I thought everyone did that!! So they put me outside on my own a lot more.

At first everyone was home with me most of the time then suddenly everyone went away all day. I was so lonely and very unhappy as I loved my new family. I cried a lot but no one came. The children would run to greet me when they got home and I would jump up on them to show them how much I loved and missed them and wanted to play. We would play a while then they would go inside and leave me. I realised that I was to always stay outside now. I was very sad.

Sometimes in the day when I had nothing to do I would find a way out and go exploring. I had so much fun just sniffing and meeting other dogs, but I was not sure and a little scared of people because often they would catch me and growl at me a lot. They had put a chain or small leather slip collar on me and tighten it around my neck when they growled as well. I stopped trying to do anything in case it was the wrong thing to do.

Now I stay here in the backyard. The children don’t play with me anymore. I am tied up on a chain and I can’t do much so I just sleep a lot and bark at the neighbours and dream of the days when my family played with me and loved me and hope they will love me again someday.

Can we look inside ourselves and ask WHAT is our purpose – for dogs!

Sometimes dog are either fearful or have had a bad experience in a car, with either a fright or feeling nauseous. One way to help your dog is by using your clicker and treats to teach your dog that car rides can be enjoyable. Although this may seem prolonged the idea is to ensure your dog is earning multiple rewards to help build a positive association with your car.

1. With your dog beside you walk calmy toward the car. As you do, click and reward (C&R) for staying calm. If necessary, just start with going toward the car not necessarily all the way to it at first.

2. Once your dog is going to the car happily with you, have the car door open and repeat the step.

3. When your dog walks calmly to the open car door, pause by the door and C&R when the dog sniffs the seat or places his nose anywhere in the car.

4. Continue to C&R for any further movements toward the car, like putting their head further in or one paw in, then for both paws in. To do this teach your dog a touch to hand signal with their nose (at a different location) and then you can place your hand further into the car each time, asking for nose touches. Keep this up very gradually, until your dog is jumping into the car happily.

5. Once your dog will enter the car, work on shutting the door with your dog inside. Begin by closing the door for just one second; reward your dog with a C&R and a chance to exit the car. Slowly build up the amount of time your dog spends in the car with you standing outside, until your dog can wait patiently for several seconds.

6. The next step is for you to sit in the driver's seat and C&R your dog for just sitting quietly and calmly. Make sure you are C&R over and over. Don’t be stingy with the rewards.

7. Next just start the car, C&R, then turn off the engine and allow your dog to exit the car. It is probably best to have someone to help at this stage either operating the car with you C&R or vice versa.

8. Start the car, drive it several feet, C&R, then turn off the engine and allow your dog to exit the car.

9. Slowly increase the distance you drive. C&R often for any calm behaviour along the way.

10. Take short trips to fun locations. Let your dog find out that not only is riding in the car very rewarding, but the destination can be lots of fun, too!

Playing soothing music can also have a calming effect and studies have shown that classical music arranged in particular ways can help decrease anxiety in both humans and dogs.

The Clicker is a small plastic box with a metal strip that makes a sharp, clicking sound when pushed and released. Its value is that the unique sound doesn't get lost in the babble of words we are constantly throwing at our dogs. It is faster than saying "Good dog!" and allows the trainer to mark, with great precision the behaviour for which the dog is being reinforced. Paired with something the animal finds very reinforcing, the clicker becomes a powerful tool for shaping behaviour. Sometimes a clicker is used incorrectly as a device to get a dog’s attention. This is NOT clicker training. The dog knows that whenever a click happens a reward follows WITHOUT FAIL and that doing that particular behaviour elicits a click and treat. It is vital that you understand that a click is just the marker of the behaviour and to a dog it means a treat will follow.

Introducing a Clicker

Your first step is to "pair" the click sound with a treat that the animal really likes. Click and treat a number of times until the dog begins to look for the treat when he hears the click. You are then ready to begin using the clicker to communicate with your dog.

Capturing Behaviour

In order to reinforce the desired behaviour, you must first get the behaviour. Some behaviour occurs naturally, such as sitting, lying down or barking. Not only do these behaviours occur naturally, but they are apt to occur at predictable times as well. You can place the animal in the situation where the behaviour is most likely to happen and then wait patiently

An alternative for those who have no patience, and for those behaviours that do not occur naturally, there is another method. These behaviours can be lured with food. Teaching the "sit" is an easy way to demonstrate this method.

Touch a treat to the dog's nose and then lift it up slightly and move it toward the dog's forehead. If you don't lift the treat too high, the dog will follow the treat with his nose and his rear end will just naturally hit the ground. You "click" as his rear end hits the ground (timing the click is critical!) and give him the treat. You have "lured" him into a sit. Repeat this several times and he will likely offer the sit to you.

Be sure to remove the lure as quickly as possible – this is essential in clicker training. Most of us naturally believe that what comes before behaviour (i.e. a command or a lure) is what the dog (or person) responds to, but Thorndike’s Law of Effect (as strong as any law like the law of gravity) essentially says that behaviour is a function of its consequence or another words the strength of a behaviour depends on the consequences (what comes after) this behaviour had in the past.

It is human nature to think and believe that what we do first influences the behaviour greatly but in fact it is the consequences of that behaviour that affect the behaviour. Think of a person performing at the Olympics. Is it the starter gun that motivates them and makes them want to run or swim or is it the gold medal?

Adding the Cue (Command)

With clicker training the cue is added at the end. This may sound strange as most training is done with the cue (or command) added in the beginning to tell the dog what to do.

However if you think about it, the word or signal you use has no meaning to the dog at all in the beginning of your training. It would be like someone saying a word to you in a different language.

While we are teaching our dog a behaviour we want them to concentrate on learning the behaviour itself. Then we add the cue or command to the perfected behaviour. The advantage is that we are simply naming a behaviour that the dog is already doing. While some behaviours take a number of steps to achieve, others like SIT are learned relatively quickly and the cue added quite quickly.

Timing

Timing is everything! We as mere humans are not good at timing when it comes to training our dogs. The clicker is a marker and you must deliver the click as the dog is performing the desired behaviour. For example if you are training a SIT, click as your dog’s bottom touches the ground. It is too late to do it afterward.

With this in mind I strongly recommend you practice your timing prior to training your dog. I realise that you probably just want to get on and train your dog but putting this time in to get your timing right will pay huge dividends in the long run.

1 Get a tennis ball in one hand and a clicker in the other and bounce the ball - as it hits the ground click

2 Get a friend to drop that ball for you from different heights. The shorter the distance the harder it is to get the timing right.

3 While watching television click every time a scene changes or choose any other repetitive behaviour to practice your timing.

4 To see your reaction time try it online type in “time reaction test” and see how fast you react, most people struggle to get under 0.3 consistently

Any of these will improve your timing. Aim to have the click occur at the same time as the behaviour.

Distractions

Start your training in an area without distractions. This is so important and could mean the difference between success and failure. Choose an area inside your home or outside if there are no traffic, dogs, cats or other distractions. Later when the behaviour is learned and reliable you can add in distractions slowly.

Using Trials

One of the best ways to keep track of how well your dog understands you is to test using a specific number of trails. Many experienced trainers use a method that I have found to be excellent. It works like this:

When teaching a step in behaviour, repeat the action 5 times.

Push: If your dog gets it right 5 out of 5 times then add in the next criteria. (Go to the next step)

Stick: If your dog gets it right 3-4 times out of 5 stay on the same step

Drop: If your dog gets it right 2 or fewer times then go back a step

If you make sure your steps are very clear this method leaves no space for interpretation. Your dog moves forward, stays in the current training step or goes back a step.

Final Thoughts

Reinforce constantly – one way is to check how many reinforcements you give in 1 minute – you should be reinforcing at least 8 times per minute. Make sure treats are small and easily able to be eaten quickly so you have a high rate of reinforcement. The more treats your dog gets in 1 minute the faster the learning.

Keep training short and end on a positive.

Click and treat each small step toward a finished behaviour.

Timing is everything

The click ends the behaviour

The click always produces a treat

Your dog will learn quickly and love you for the clarity and fun!!