Clicker Training

Duma has been clicker trained since he was about 3 months old, so almost everything he knows was taught to him using a clicker.  A clicker is a plastic box with a piece of metal in it that clicks when you press it. 

The click serves as a marker signal for the dog - basically a really fast way of saying "Good boy!"  The click is always followed by a treat and so is a way of communicating to the dog that THAT particular action is what is going to earn him treats.  It is a very quick and effective way of communicating.

Using clicker training, you are creating a safe environment for the dog to learn.   The dog is safe to make mistakes, because the worst that can happen is he won't get a click and a treat.  This means the dog is going to be more hapy and confident because you're encouraging him to work out how to do something new instead of punishing him for not doing it. 

The Difference:

Generally, with traditional dog training, you give a command ("sit!") ,you make the dog carry out the action, using force if necessary (eg push the dog into a sit).  You punish when the dog gets it wrong and praise when it is right.

With clicker training, you would click the dog for sitting, and after a short period of time he will realise that his butt hitting the floor is what is getting him a click (and a treat).  So he does it over and over.  THEN you introduce the "sit" and he soon understands that "sit" + butt-on-the-floor means a click, (and eventually he learns that butt on the floor with no "sit" means no click).  Theres no pushing and pulling, no pain for the dog, and he ENJOYS it because he's using his mind and getting reinforced for it.

"Clicker training is, in its simplest form, just a training method like any other training method. Done properly it works, just like other training methods. Clicker training's edge come from its philosophy of rewarding the good and ignoring the bad. It encourages the trainer to concentrate on what the dog is doing right, not what it's doing wrong. It gives the dog a chance to learn how to exist in this strange, strange world. Clicker training not only produces trained dogs, but it strengthens that precious bond between dog and human. And isn't that why we have dogs?" - Melissa Alexander

Visit some of the following websites to learn more about clicker training and positive reinforcement.  Most of them tell you step-by-step how to go about it.

• Wag 'n' Train

• Karen Pryor's website

• The Basics of clicker training

• Dolittle Training - clicker training classes held in Waimauku, Auckland

• Counties Dog Training Club - obedience and agility training using the clicker.

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• SPCA Auckland - I volunteer here once a month, they do terrific work and are always needing donations of old blankets, newspapers, pet food etc. 
  

• NZKC - New Zealand Kennel Club

• The Real Dog Equipment Company - equipment for sled dogs in New Zealand

• Counties Dog Training Club - Clicker trained obedience and agility

• Dogpatch - one of the biggest agility sites on the web

• House Rabbit Society - A good (U.S.) site with lots of info about rabbit behaviour, health etc

• Waiorau 50 - the big dog-sled race held in Wanaka.

Alaskan Malamutes

• Malamute Help League - There's some good advice on the linked page, but also have alook at the page “Basic Alpha Training”.

• Dog Sledding - some good articles.

• "O'Mals guide to living with a housedog malamute indoors" - this is the website of some Malamute breeders in America.  They have six malamutes living indoors with them as housedogs - and have written some awesome articles about how they keep the pack order and avoid fights etc.   Really worth a read.  Click on the 'Articles' button at the top of the page and have a look at 'Pack Living' and 'You Can't Do That!'

• Agility with Malamutes - Duma and I are training for agility competition at the moment and hope to be competing next winter.  And just to prove that it can be done, this website has photos of mals doing agility.

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