Dog Trainers and Positive Training

It's Not the Dog, Silly

The clicker also imparts valuable information to the trainer. When we try to mark the behavior with words, such as the ever-popular “good dog,” it's hard to tell whether or not we're late in marking the behavior.

With the clicker, we can easily tell when we're late, which will help us to then fix our timing. If we have been continuously late with our verbal “good dog,” then we can pretty much assume that our dogs are confused and probably not “getting it.” Then we wrongly think that our dogs are stupid when, in fact, we were the ones who weren't clear.

Positive training takes the onus off of the dog and puts it squarely where it belongs—on us. The dog is never wrong. Really. We're the teachers. We're the ones in the driver's seat. When we make a wrong turn and get lost, we can't blame the person next to us because we were the ones holding the wheel. (Unless, of course, it was your spouse telling you to make the wrong turn.)

A few correct repetitions do not a learned behavior make. And if the dog does a wrong behavior, so what? We all make mistakes or do stupid things—even when we know better. I'm allergic to certain foods, but I eat them anyway. And I sometimes say stupid things (insert foot in mouth).

Clicker training is all about a change of mental attitude. Clicker trainers have learned to use their brains to train specific behaviors, rather than use pain to elicit those same behaviors. The result? Happier dogs, happier trainers, better relationships, and fewer behavioral problems.