A second clicker?

[Caro]

I wish, but if you are using a clicker around Cadbury he will learn the sound no matter whether its his or not. When we do Dancing many people use clickers and its very distracting to Deska who has a tendancy to run off and beg to whoever is clicking - as far as he is concerned a click is a click and there is always potential for food when there is a click.

 

[Calliesmom]

love the video- where can we get the treat machine?

 

[Toffee's Mom]

LOOOVE the video
My god, you're a pro!!!!

 

[Ania]

The machine, ie treat dispenser is called a MannersMinder. I bought mine on line. I know CleanRun sells them. They are around $100, but well worth it. I use it for all sorts of things - treating them when I am in another room, any distance work in agility and obedience especially long sits and downs, etc., being quiet in a crate at a seminar (I put it on top of the metal crate so the treats just fall into the crate)...

 

[Justicemom]

OK, so during class my trainer explained that dogs learn their 'own' clicker, so they don't respond to other clicks going on in the class. That makes sense. Cadbury never responds to any clicker but mine.

Then I had a thought - if I use the same clicker with Merlin, will I be confusing Cadbury?

If I click Merlin for a sit, then surely Cadbury will think I have clicked whatever he was doing? And of course you should never click and not treat as that confuses the dog as to the clickers meaning.

So, should I buy a different clicker for sheltie pup, so that he has a different 'click'?

Or am I over-thinking this? (as usual!)

Bock doesn't care, anything that sounds like a clicker thats good enough for him. We introduced the clicker as soon as their ears opened when Diva came back to the box to feed them. A clicker has a very powerful connection with him. The key is him focusing on me and he has learned that in puppy class only I count and cookies come from me. We were walking though Petsmart one evening and someone clicked their puppy and you never saw a Tri puppy head swing so fast.

I never thought of this...it's an interesting idea.

I know that I have trouble when working with one dog and just using my voice. For instance, when I was teaching Lexi sit, Bentley would come up and sit. I wasn't talking to him--but do I reward because how does he know that?

Honestly, I just started training separately for behaviors the puppy didn't know, and rewarding them both when they both did it correctly.

The clicker makes that much harder because of the shaping aspect...I hope others have some answers for you!

I always put the dogs I am not working with in a kennel or the other room. My dogs climb over themselves to train with me and either voice or clicker I would never get anything done if I left them all out. Especially with Diva and Justice aka Pushy 1 and Pushy 2, around.

 

[labgirl]

Thank you for all the ideas and advice, that has really helped. Ania I love the vid and the idea of having one lying down while the other works, but the click applying to both. I think that is something I would like to eventually achieve, though initially they will be trained separately.

Its more Cadbury I worry about than anything, I don't want him to start ignoring the clicker - he can get very sulky if he thinks he isn't being treated for doing something right.

Funnily enough I have never had an issue with Cadbury responding to any clicker other than mine. He will work for someone else with a different clicker if they first say his name and have him look at them, but otherwise he is all eyes on me. As soon as the clicker is out he just focuses on me and the rest of the world fades.

I do laugh sometimes though because when he does something he then looks pointedly at the clicker as if to say "You are going to click that, right?"

 

[Calliesmom]

The machine, ie treat dispenser is called a MannersMinder. I bought mine on line. I know CleanRun sells them. They are around $100, but well worth it. I use it for all sorts of things - treating them when I am in another room, any distance work in agility and obedience especially long sits and downs, etc., being quiet in a crate at a seminar (I put it on top of the metal crate so the treats just fall into the crate)...

thanks- that's going on the wish list

 

[k9kreationz]

You got a ton of answers, but I thought I'd share this too.

My trainers hand out all the same type of clickers. So the noises are all the same. I'd say most dogs, if they're paying attention to you, they'll only respond to your clicker. I know Koji would look sometimes, but he'd focus on me. Maybe cuz I had the food. lol.

So, this leads me to believe that dogs pay attention to the clicker that their trainer is using...not necessarily because of the sound, but because they're the ones training them.

I also agree to train them separately. That way you don't click for things you didn't mean to.

 

[Ania]

You will not believe this. This past week, I met a dog trainer that trains animals for movies - all with a clicker exclusively through shaping (so no luring at all) (she actually went to one of Bob Bailey's workshops where they had to teach chickens tricks with a clicker! and she is the first trainer to put a 'dog tricks training' title on a cat! yes a cat!) ((I'm soooooo excited. She is going to give me a private lesson on tricks)) But, I digress, anyway, I asked her about this topic. She trains multiple, and I mean up to 20 dogs at once, with ONE clicker. She says that the dogs will know when they are working and when they are not and so one clicker is fine. She says she has not ever found a need to use multiple clickers. That is good to know.

 

[labgirl]

So, this leads me to believe that dogs pay attention to the clicker that their trainer is using...not necessarily because of the sound, but because they're the ones training them.

That's what I am starting to think.

She trains multiple, and I mean up to 20 dogs at once, with ONE clicker. She says that the dogs will know when they are working and when they are not and so one clicker is fine. She says she has not ever found a need to use multiple clickers. That is good to know.

Well there is the answer! Though I was looking forward to having lots of different coloured clickers