Clicker Training & Showing (is clicker training suitable for a show dog?)

Hi everyone,

I have two dalmatians one 10 year old girl and one 8 week old girl, my mother was responsible for training my 10 year old (and she is wonderful in every respect!) however my mum passed away two years ago and so I cannot ask her opinion, so I have been researching the best possible means of training my pup before I take her to ringcraft (I'm hoping to show her). I like the sound of clicker training as I like the positive reforcement ideas, as this is particularly beneficial for Dalmatians! However, how will this effect my training with her for showing, as I cannot use the clicker in the ring?

Many thanks!

Lorna.

You don't have to use it in the ring

The idea is that you use the clicker to train, but once the dog is "trained" you don't have to keep using it for that particular behaviour.


With clicker training, you add the "cue" (command) once the behaviour is right, and the dog then learns to do what you want "on cue" and not because you have the clicker

A very good book is: Clicker Training for Dogs by Karen Pryor (some very good photos showing stages of training) and also, if you get into it, there is a book which I about clicker training for showing. I can't remember who it is by, it may even be Karen Pryor again, but it's about how to get your dog to gaze lovingly at the judge and how to get the correct gait, stack (if you need to) etc etc.

Clicker is fantastic because, you can mark the exact moment of the behaviour so you can get amazing accuracy with it which is why it's so popular with obedience people

Do ensure you know how to use it before you begin, and i'd also recommend getting at lest one good video as actually seeing it is very helpful.

Lots of luck

Hi sweetveronica there is some good information on clicker training here written by Dogwebber Alison one of our members

http://www.dogweb.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11324

Thank you, brilliant advice, I shall look at all the suggested pieces! Thanks again