EASY ALTERNATIVE TO THE CLICKER

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ESKAYJAY
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2016 8:58 pm

EASY ALTERNATIVE TO THE CLICKER

Post by ESKAYJAY »

I recently had a very great experience with a "Positively" trainer regarding re-housebreaking my two adult female Pomeranians. I had had them 6 months. Both were raised by breeders and neither one had any general dog training. Both were occasionally going on the floor, but it got much worse after several days of rain - which is rare, here in Arizona. Despite taking them out VERY often and cleaning their favorite spots lots of times, the problem persisted. So I sought help from a certified trainer and found one from this website's recommended list - Thank you!

Weeks before the trainer arrived, I had tried to gently introduce the sound of the clicker from inside my pocket and behind my back first, with lots of treats and happy voice. The older one is very sensitive to sounds and really freaked out and hid, the younger one kind of fed off of her negative reaction. They even ran away from the soft click of a retractable pen too! [This dog even runs and hides whenever she hears just even the first click when I clip my own nails!] The trainer also tried to introduce and use the clicker and got the same reaction. So she suggested using the word "yes" instead, and that seemed to bring positive reactions from both dogs.

But as I read more and practiced the techniques the trainer taught me, I thought about how she had explained that the sound of the training clicker registers more quickly with the dog's brain than vocal cues do. So I pondered that awhile and wondered if I used another sound that was as close to the clicker as possible, if that would be as effective for training.

So I introduced a sort of loud "cluck" sound on the roof of my mouth with my tongue instead of the vocal "yes". After a little "cluck & treat" conditioning, their little heads quickly popped up the second I clucked and they came a runnin' for their "pay"! They reacted well and took to it VERY quickly - even better than I expected. The cluck sound carries across the yard well and seems to be less distracting or confusing to them than the verbal cue when they are at some distance away going potty outside. And I like that this sound is way more readily available than a clicker would be. It also seems to help me use the correct timing, as I was shown by the trainer too. If some folks have trouble making the "cluck" sound I described, you can replace it with the tongue click sound that folks use to make a horse move ahead.

I hope this helps someone out there with their sound sensitive pups!
skj, Arizona
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: EASY ALTERNATIVE TO THE CLICKER

Post by Erica »

Good thinking! I hope you and your pups continue to have fun with your clucker. ;)
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
AlbertQuin
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2016 2:06 pm

Re: EASY ALTERNATIVE TO THE CLICKER

Post by AlbertQuin »

Yeah, that's great thing! :D
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