The Clicker is Not a Distraction

Happy June! I hope you are able to take advantage of the beautiful weather we’ve been having with your fuzzy friends.

Today, I would like to talk a little about a common misconception about the use of the clicker in dog training. Clickers are used as a form of “mark and reward” training – you “mark” that the dog has performed the task you requested by clicking the clicker (or saying a word like “yes”), and then you reward the behavior, often with food, to reinforce the behavior.

Something I have noticed is that sometimes people get confused and start trying to use the clicker as a distraction. For example, if their dog sees something that is triggering, the person tries to click to get the dog’s attention. When the dog ignores the clicking sound and starts reacting to the trigger, the owner looses control of the situation, and thinks the clicker is not working. In reality, what is happening is that the dog was too near to the trigger to be able to remain calm during the early stages of training, and the clicker was not being used properly. While the sound of the clicker is distinct and certainy does capture the dog’s attention, it is not meant to be a tool of distraction. The reason a dog responds to the sound of the clicker or a marker word is that we have taken time to “charge” the sound. We have taught the dog that a reward comes after hearing the particular sound. So for example, if your dog is in the beginning stages of learning the Engage/Disengage Game, you will click your dog for looking at something that could be triggering and then you’ll reward him. BUT. You’re not clicking to distract him. You’re clicking to say “yes! you saw the thing and you didn’t react and life is good!” Your dog turns his head to get a treat because he is conditioned to understand that the sound of the clicker means “you did a good thing and food is coming.” Once your dog masters this first step of the game, you will move on to the “disengage” portion of practice (see photo).

Likewise, if you are working on recall training with your dog, you will click the moment he comes to you, then reward him. You will not click the clicker as a cue for your dog to come to you.

With mark and reward training, especially in situations where we are helping a dog learn new behaviors in the face of exciting distractions, we must be sure that we have fully grasped the concept and the timing so that we can master proper distance and intesity of different triggers with our dogs, otherwise, we risk slow or no progress. That said, the clicker is not the be-all-end-all marker tool. Using a specific word for this type of training is also perfectly acceptable. More on that another day.

Have you ever had hiccups on your training that may have been cause by the misunderstanding I described? Let me know, and I’ll be happy to help!