How many of yall use clickers when training your hunting companion.

If you do when do you stop? Whats your preference for clicker use?

Not my cup f tea.

Mine either Bill.

With that said the breeder of the my soon to be drathaar puppy and i were talking yesterday. He really emphasized me using a clicker. I have only had labs and trained my own to a level of success im very pleased with and have never used the clicker. Im just wondering if it has magic properties.

What's a clicker

Its a training aide to reinforce positive behavior. How to effectively use it, im not sure.

In my opinion you should stay with what you are comfortable with.

Robby

Just one more thing to carry around. Don't see the point.

All of yall have used operant conditioning which is all a clicker is.

I would ask your breeder to help explain what it is, how to use it, etc.

True but it is the LEAST effective method.

It's not that you abandon a lead for field work later on or the use of a lot of praise all the time. I think early on operant conditioning builds a cooperative, pressure-less learning process that you can start very early. I like it for place training to a sleeping area or crate in the house most specifically, but other obedience commands are easily taught to, such as the proper heel position and walking at heel/not pulling while on a lead. It's a good way to bond with them and fun to watch them pick it up and process what you are asking them to do. If you teach a dog a few commands using a clicker, I believe it improves a dog's ability to process and learn later on in training. Other trainers'methods, like Koehler, Bailey, Tarrant, Wehle, etc all work too, but some commands just fit well with the clicker in my opinion.

My e-collar transmitter button has a little clicking sound when I press it. That is as close as I get to clicking. Seems to work pretty well though. The dogs are doing good with it. Could be that the button has a little dust/dirt in it though.

Some of the trainers that laughed at it in the past, are now using it as PART of their training program. As long as its not going to hurt the dog, I like to keep an open mind, and try something before I judge it.
I'd asked the breeder for more information on it, and how he incorporates it in his training program. Also why he believes its helped training his dogs, over the other methods alone.

I wouldn't throw my check cord, and ecollar away, but I'd still like to know more about it.

My comment earlier should have read "the clicker is the LEAST effective method of operant conditioning". The fact of the matter is that the basis behind it is good but it is very limited and has very little meaning to the dog. The clicker is a marker, plain and simple. It is the same as saying "Good" or whatever else you want to say. Timing is what is most important in marking wanted behaviors. Most people that have no experience are not able to do this properly and end up marking unwanted behaviors instead. There is no emotion, no change in tone or volume, and no physical contact or tangible reward. Most people that use a clicker don't even understand it or they would realize that them being a cheerleader for the dog is what is eliciting the response and not the clicker. Don't believe it, go out and train a dog without saying a word, giving any body language, and without touching the dog. Click away and the result will not be the same. Next throw the clicker in the trash and do everything you were doing with the clicker and you will see the same result. It's got nothing to do with the clicker people!!!!! Clickers click and trainers train.

This,,, I only use a clicker on my puppies for some basic stuff.

Angie

Yep. Just a marker. We used it when teaching puppy obedience, but haven't used it since our pup was about 5 months old.

I use it. Most of my training begins with it as a precise marking tool for shaping desired behavior and reinforcing behavior. When done right, it is the most powerfull training tool I use.

Done properly you don't teach commands with a clicker. You teach and shape behavior. Other than the click training is often silent. If it is a behavior that will use a command, the command is taught only after the behavior is learned or shaped. Most of my clicker training is silent other than the click. With a clicker I can create a desired behavior within a behavior because I can mark the behavior in the fraction of a second. It is a science or training theory that has been refined since the 1930s. For a dog life is about consequences. Something good or something bad happens as a consequence after a behavior. Positive reinforcement is not much different than negative reinforcement training such as force fetch. The dog rather than figuring out a desired behavior in an instant moment makes pressure go away instead figures out that a desired behavior marked in an instant moment makes something good happen. Both are operant conditioning.
By using the latter I create a more enthusiastic problem solving dog. Then after the lifestyle or behavior is created, I can put a command on it if it is something that requires a command, then polish it with negative reinforcement if need be.
Most people though that do not study training theory or don't follow a training program don't understand it and train by enforcement such as the nick with an e collar or pop on the nose for bad behavior. And I do use that too for situatuons such as avoidance training where the dog gets popped at the sight, scent, or sound of a rattlesnake, skunk, to not engage hogs, etc. The clicker is just another tool. It does not have to be the only tool. With a clicker though, I could teach a cat to retrieve.

Sniper care to elaborate how you use the clicker?

Dog lays down on its own, you click and treat within about two seconds. It will soon start offering the behavior on its own and then you can add a command.

I also use it in the beginning of fetch training.

You really need to read up on it or ask your breeder as it's a lot to go over and understand.

Force fetch is not negative reinforcement it is positive reinforcement because you are adding to not taking away. The clicker is not positive reinforcement either because it doesn't compel or add to the behavior it simply marks it.

There is a fine line between some of the training theorys and names for them. Positive, negative, classic, etc. Don't get to caught up on when one training method or theory becomes another. The dog don't care what it's called. It's not for everyone or every dog, but it works for me. With positive and clicker training methods only, I put a retriever and pointer title, Prize One NA, and a five point major on Dash in about one years time.

My first rounds with a clicker with Dash as actual training sessions was used to introduce him to my other dog and as an introduction to water. Using water as an example. This first round of short training sessions over a couple days was just a fun excercise I came up with. I used a kiddy pool of water in the back yard. No verbal commands, treats out of view hidden in my pocket. I sat in a chair next to the pool. And turned Dash loose in the yard.

Every time Dash got near the pool, click, treat. (I think this would actually be considered capturing behavior at first) Then as he figured that out it was not until he would get very close to the pool to get the click. Then he had to touch the rim of the pool before I would click.

When I progressed to making him have to touch the water before he could get a click. You could see a lightbulb go on over his head. Him wanting that treat at that point of training, he was touching that rim of the pool over and over visibly getting frustrated with nothing happening. I just sat there ignoring him. Then that first time he touched the water with his paw and I clicked, the bright look he made was priceless. He had figured it out. After that moment he was more quick to find the behavior needed to get the click each time. I was able to quickly progress to all four feet in the pool to get a click and moved on. He has been like a nutria rat ever since. Could I have just thrown him in the pool? Sure, but I would not have gotten the same enthusiasm and problem solving.

Also, I do not always give the reinforcing treat or praise immediately after the click. The click is what identifies the desired behavior to the dog, not the treat. Treats also are sometimes replaced with simple praise. And often the reinforcer with the last click in a training session would simply be playtime with me rather than treat or praise. Unlike a simple praise "good boy" alone, by introducing the clicker the person training is able to time the mark for the behavior perfectly. A verbal "good boy" only marks the entire task or misses it completely. Eventually I reduce the reinforcer to only a chance. Then with the behavior learned, the clicker and treat is removed completely to only a command with occasional verbal praise. Or like with the water introduction or when I used it to change behavior between my two dogs so they would not kill each other, I just move on to the next goal.

Off the cuff, I think that would be a good example of operant conditioning. Once conditioned to the clicker, you would be surprised at just how fast and how well a behavior can be taught, captured, shaped, ect.

Some good videos on it are with willow creek kennels.
http://www.willowcreekkennels.net/german-shorthairs/willow-creek-dog-training-videos/

Sniper thank you for that explanation. It "clicked" for me.