Betsy is guilty in this respect as well!

We have a saying now---don't click cute-----at least not untill you think it through!

I have a jumping Fizz through not thinking!

rune

I'm off to a clicker training seminar on Sunday and can't wait. I've done a bit but don't want to suddenly find out we've been doing it all wrong so we've held back! I'm counting the days....
What we have done, Bailiie seems to thrive on it so we can't wait. Roll on Sunday

Haha..I challenge you!

I love it, it's so unambiguous. You can hear the cogs spinning in their heads as they figure out what you want.

'dont click for cute' so so true!! and think about the tricks! Mia won a compatition for her drumming trick - but now paw drumming is offered as an attention seeking trick - very very annoying!! (and cute)

Well, betsy is on the way to learning 5 more tricks as of this evening.

- 'Rewind' (go around me but backwards, she loves it!)
- 'Back up' (Backwards though middle of legs)
- '360' (Do a circle radomely backwards)
- Bow (Does what it says on the tin)
- Cop cop (paws on feet when walking)
- Through (go through middle of legs, or step over tiny circle made with legs (very low, ground level) )

Oh wait..thats 6 lol.

I love watching her cogs go as you said....!

This is all still very new to us but already Bailiie loves the clicker and the training that goes with it, but, she gets that excited, she yaps in quite a high pitch bark. I'm trying to ignore her and be patient as I know that she just wants to do things but how do I stop the barking? Any ideas anyone, or advice on what I can do about it? I don't want to be clicking at the wrong time and encouraging this silly noise! It's very piercing after a while

You have to be very careful, do not reinforce the barking by playing the clicker game.

If she barks, then give her a time out for 3o seconds.

Barking usually occurs if the dog is frustrated, so you may be going too fast for her and she may be confused.

I think it helps if you have a specific plan re your goal, how long you are going to train for, and contingency plans.

Most people IME train for too long which can result in over arousal, frustration and then some unwanted fallout.

An egg timer is a wonderful piece of kit.........

You MAY be clicking too late.

Have you practised timing WITHOUT the dog? I used to do it with TV programmes for a certain word or gesture.

(Obviously the bonus with this method is you can treat yourself, maltesers are good)

HTH

Thank you for the reply SB.
The barking usually starts as soon as the clicker is taken out of the cupboard and I have the treats out. Maybe she is barking because she knows she'll get treats? This is why I thought it may be down to excitement as opposed to frustration.
Yesterday, I suspect she could have been a little frustrated but that's because we probably did it for too long; I got an egg timer app today for my phone and we used it tonight and just did 11 minutes and it was much better. The only thing was, once the timer had finished, it sounded like there was a chicken in my living room and Bailiie kept looking at the phone to see where the noise was coming from! But it was a great idea, so thank you
The barking did start again tonight but I suppose was far less due to the amount of time we spent training.
I do have a goal and that's exactly what we are working towards - I'd like Bailiie to stand on a book with all four paws on the book. We did try clicking without the dogs on Sunday at the seminar so I think I'm ok with when I click although I know I did it wrong a couple of times yesterday but I'm new to it and it's all new for us both so practise makes perfect. The idea I was trying yesterday went wrong as I clicked the wrong thing, so rather than try to rectify, I put things away and started on something else and that was easier and better - we were both more focused!
I like the idea of maltesers for clicking myself....
It's very easy to use lots of treats isn't it? Just working for 11 minutes tonight was much better as I was able to use Bailiie's kibble - it was almost tea time - she's been on a bit of a weight loss programme for the last couple of months and just reached her target weight - the last thing I want is for her to put all her weight back on (which will probably happen if we do it for too long as I'd feel bad about using all her tea and give her extra treats no matter how small!.... )
Onwards and forwards and I'll keep practising but certainly not clicking for noise - she has to be quiet, or no click! She got that tonight