Clicker training for dogs...

[star197]

This is kind of an offshoot of "How to find a good trainer" in the General Horse section.

WB had mentioned tongue-in-cheek about clicker training...or rather clicker 'trainers'. I was wondering how well clicker training works for dogs...is it effective or more ooga-booga training?

We are dealing with fear aggression with Rex (7 mo German Shepherd) and have had several sessions with a dog behaviorist. She recently introduced clicker training to deal with aggression towards other dogs. I can see small amounts of progress, however, this is under very controlled circumstances.

I was wondering what experiences others have had with this.

[WashingtonBay]

Oh dear ;)

I think there may very well be valid 'science' behind the clicker. I've seen demonstrations of it for TV trick training, for example, by very good dog trainers.. and it's impressive to watch how quickly they can train a new skill with it.

But most of the local dog show people I know who use them are flakes of the highest order. :D And the only clicker horse trainer I know is very much in that category too.

So it may not be the clicker itself to blame, but it sure seems to attract a certain type.

[star197]

Oh I get the picture! ;)

I can see how a dog responds to the clicker, just by Rex's quick response or reaction. What I don't get is how it would work for a horse!?

[Petra]

I may not know enough about horse training, but I know plenty about dogs. Dogs learn on completely different principles than horses.
It really doesn't have to be a clicker...just a distinct and consistent way to let the dog know that you are happy with his action. People are not very good in being consistent with the way they speak to the dog. Clicker makes the training easier.
However horses learn by pressure relieve. Clicker doesn't make anything comfortable or uncomfortable for the horse. I cannot see how would someone train one with it. I'm almost positive that any horse will respond to relieve of pressure much better than to hearing a clicker sound.
I have never heard of clicker training for horses...funny how some people have the need to be "different".

[cheval]

We have dog agility at our barn on Friday nights. Solon likes to watch through the peep hole in his stall (freaks some of the people out because the other horses on the arena side watch too).

A lot of them use clickers and they sure seem to work like magic. I don't understand the theory behind it but the dogs respond. There was a lady that had a clicker trained horse that she brought to the barn once in awhile and the horse responded EXACTLY the same way the dogs did.

[Petra]

There was a lady that had a clicker trained horse that she brought to the barn once in awhile and the horse responded EXACTLY the same way the dogs did.

How interesting. I would imagine it would be hard to train the horse that way. But than what do I know...I don't know much about horse training. :)
I guess she really had to know what she is doing...I am happy to stick to the less complicated (at least to me) release of pressure way.

[cheval]

The horse did all sorts of stuff responding to the clicker training. Pretty amazing to watch.

Out of curiosity I googled clicker training for horses. Apparently it's a big deal. Here's one site that has a bunch of info.

http://theclickercenter.com/2004/index.php