subject: Potty Train Puppy Fast With The Help Of A Clicker [print this page] Getting your new puppy potty trained in a hurry is a priority for many pet owners in order to avoid messes and accidents in the home. If you have never heard of using a clicker to potty train puppy with ease, then you will be happy to learn that the use of a clicker will make training and housebreaking your pet considerably faster and easier than without one.
What is a clicker?
Clicker training tools are made out of plastic and contain a small metal strip. Just like their name suggests, they make a clicking sound when pressed. This unique training tool is available at your local pet store and is also useful in all aspects of training your dog.
How are clickers used most effectively in dog training?
Housebreaking your puppy can be done most effectively with rewards for the behavior your wish your dog to learn immediately after the behavior is performed. Typically you give a treat when the behavior you wish to train is done correctly as a reward for completing the behavior correctly. The combination of treats and the use of the clicker in conjunction will give balance to your overall training methods and doubly reward the behavior you want to teach.
Training with the Clicker for Housebreaking
To get your puppy potty trained, it is a good idea to put him on a lead when he goes outside to go potty. Once he has relieved himself, be generous with praise, click the clicker, and immediately offer a treat as a reward.
The click draws attention to the behavior just completed so that your dog knows which behavior was done correctly. Once the behavior has been identified, offer an immediate reward. The reward then becomes positive reinforcement for a correctly exhibited behavior.
The model described above is based on the well known operant conditioning model in psychology, whereby treats are used to reward the behavior you are trying to achieve. By tying the behavior you want, in this case going outside to the bathroom, to the both the click and a reward your puppy will know both what he is expected to do and how to do it.
Learning to potty train puppy is a relatively straight forward process. Using the clicker is actually an aid to draw attention to the behavior you want to teach, while the treats do the job of reinforcing positive behavior when it is completed correctly.
