subject: Does It Help Clicker Training Your Rottweiler? [print this page] Does It Help Clicker Training Your Rottweiler?
Whatever type of dog you have, clicker training is one of the most efficient and great techniques for controlling and dictating your rottweilers behaviour when trying to coach them vital commands. It takes a relatively short period of time to master clicker training and with a well operated clicker, you can train your rottweiler virtually anything.
How Clicker Training Works
The notion with clicker training is that you're teaching your rottweiler to connect the sound of the clicker - a clear, sharp sound that they can hear from 20+ yards away - with a particular command you give. The goal of the training is to tag particular desirable behaviour and then reinforcement it with the sound of the clicker.
Of course clicker dog training does not start with a clicker. You must first coach your rottweiler that the clicker is a reinforcement for obedient behaviour. This can be done with a bag of treats and a straight forward, two dollar clicker from your local pet shop.
It is crucial that you use a clicker in this example for several reasons. To begin with, your rottweiler will in no way hear that clicker for any reason other than to tell them they did a great job and that a treat is on the way. A word or verbal command might be given in other situations and the association in their head is not quite as powerful because of it.
How Clicker Training Is Done
When you begin training your rottwweiler to react to a clicker, there are three exceedingly simple but effective steps. First, you should start with their behaviour - convincing your rottweiler do something that you want. It may be sitting, speaking, rolling over, or whatever other skills you're trying to train. Once you have them performing that behaviour, punctuate it with the clicker and a reward.
It commonly only takes two or three markings before your rottweiler knows what the behaviour they did was and starts repeating it whenever you use the clicker. Clicker training works well because they will straight away respond, allowing you to reward them and in no time instil it in their minds. A verbal command will take a bit more time to get through to them.
Once your rottweiler has performed the behaviour and got their reward, keep on doing it to reinforce the behaviour as often as possible. You do not have to use treats on every single occasion. Praise and petting work just as effectively and can in due course replace the behaviour.
Transitioning To An instruction
Once your rottweiler has learned the behaviour well, clicker training will lead you to a spoken instruction that can be applied anywhere, even when you are without a clicker. Whenever you are about to use the clicker, say the instruction and then click, followed by the reward. Your rottweiler will rapidly learn to link all three.
In due course, with good clicker training, your rottweiler will respond to a verbal cue and be praised for his actions and then they will effortlessly learn it. The need for treats or praise will be gone and your rottweiler will merely know that the action pleases you.
As you might guess, clicker training has a considerable number of applications. It can make training your rottweiler so much easier in numerous ways. With a clear, firm, sharp instruction, you can mark and reinforce pretty much any behaviour.
