Help with clicker training

Betty is starting dog training classes,she is enrolled to start in january...but i wanted to try some basics with her, so got a clicker and clicker training book...and ive tried to associate the clicker with the treat as needed...but she still doesnt seem to associate the click with the treat yet...ie she 'knows' i have the treats (i tried to hide them from her sight)and if she is looking when i click she gets one...but if i click when she isnt looking she doesnt 'turn to get the reward...but i still give her the treat. i read in the book and online and it says generally after 10 clicks/treats they get the idea.....but she has had 1/2 a block of cheese ...in teenie tiny peices! is it because of the type of dog she is?(DDB)shud i carry on???? what can i do to make it work?

she is a very well behaved dog...walks nicely on a lead, is socialble with other dogs/pets..but she has never had any formal training from any previous owners...she is 5 years old....i would love for her to be able to work towards her bronze GDCS next year!

Mmmm bit confused by your post, but i think you are saying that you sometimes click when she isn't looking and therefore she doesn't get a treat? If so, that is where you are going wrong.

The click marks the behaviour so every time you click, she must get a treat! . If you are clicking her for looking at you then you click when she looks at you and then you give her a treat.

If you are clicking and only treating sometimes she will never get the idea.

oppppsss yes i agree my post is a bit confusing!

She does get the treat everytime i click...i have to put the treat under her nose if she hasnt being 'waiting 'for a treat...ie she was doing something else when i clicked.

she does doesnt seem to get the idea...and im not sure what we are doing wrong!

Not sure why you are clicking when she is doing something else?

i would start again, and click her when she sits. Ask her to sit, then click and treat straight away. Then do that for a few times, they ask her to lie down and click when she does it and then treat. Stick with things she knows how to do for a while until she has built up the association.

its the association that we havent acheived yet ...she doesnt know any training commands yet...ie sit/down/stay...its the begining we are stuck on...

I'm really confused sorry. I pressumed when you said that she was really well behaved that that included knowing how to sit on command. I didn't realise where you were starting.

So she doesn't know the word sit?

I understand that you need to build the association up, but she won't do this if you are clicking randomly whether she is looking at you or not. ....which it sounds like you are doing from your post, but i am confused.

rather than hiding the food, get her attention with it then move it up over her eye line over her head (slowly) , and she should plonk her bum on the floor, then you click and treat....keep doing that for a while. Gradually she should start to sit quicker, and when she is doing it regualrly you say "sit" when she sits.

Sometimes you don't always see an obvious recognition of them recognising the click, until you move on to more free shaping and they show you that they have realised what you are clicking for and do the action purposefully.

Hope that helps....

You won't always have to have food in your hand but initially it can help to lure them into doing things. Once they get the hang of the lure, get the food out of you hand (to a pocket or a tub) and do the same action. Then click and treat when she sits.....she will then learn that it doesn't matter if she can't see a treat in your hand because they magically apear when she does what you wanted.

thankyou...we will keep trying!

Yeah i am sure you will get there in the end. We have had DDB's in class who took to clicker training as well as the other breeds, so i don't think it is her breed. She may not have been used to thinking much in her last home, so that can be hard sometimes for them to start using their brains. I think luring her into positions would be good for now.....give her a bit of a clue. Keep up with the clicking and treating and she will get there. It really is a great way of training and i wouldn't be without it.

I normaly start them by... throwing a handful of food on the floor.. sort of spread out.. just before they go to eat a bit I click, after a few times of doing this they get the idea that just after the click a bit of food goes in there mouth.

I then move on to clicking and throwing food... eg the dog comes and looks at you... you click and throw the food on the floor.... it goes and eats the food... then normaly comes back and looks at you... you click the dog for coming back and looking at you... then throw another bit,...

if you want I can do a short vid tomorow and post it for you showing how I do the first stages of clicker work?