Clicker training is a science-based way to communicate with your pet that has been used since the 1940’s, beginning with BF Skinner and operant conditioning, who discovered that using a clicker created the promptness and precision required to enhance cognitive connections for speedy learning. Following his lead, two of students, Marian and Keller Breland started and ran one of the most successful animal training businesses in the 40s and 50s using clicker training.
They started the first scientifically trained dolphin shows at Marine Studios (now Marineland) in Florida in 1955, and in their career trained many animal species, including pigs, and parrots, crows, albatross, lions, giraffes, and elephants. Clicker training uses a sound—a click—to mark good behavior and tell your dog when he does something right. It is a method that uses positive reinforcement such as a food treat, along with a clicker to precisely mark the behavior being reinforced. When training a new behavior, the clicker helps your dog quickly identify the precise behavior that results in the treat.
Many dog trainers believe that clicker training is the most humane and effective way to shape any new behavior in dogs as well as extinguish existing behavior problems.There are many resources available to begin clicker training with your dog and here are a few great ones: Reaching the Animal Mind: Clicker Training and What It Teaches Us About All Animals by Karen Pryor; Click & Train Your Dog by Mary Ray; and Clicker Training for Obedience: Shaping Top Performance--positively by Morgan Spector.
In order to begin your clicker training journey, you must first have the best tools: a clicker and a treat pouch to carry treats. We offer both items in one product! WOOFHOOF’s Click Draw is an exceptional product for those new to clicker training as well as the pros! It is a treat pouch with an integrated clicker so you are only using one hand to click and reward.