In clicker training dogs, a low quality reinforcement or reward drastically affects the efficiency and speed of training

If you are a clicker dog trainer then you know how important the timing of the click or the rate of reinforcement parameters are to get the maximum out of your dog in less time, but did you know how crucial the quality of reinforcement or reward is? I have some easy to remember points about the quality of reinforcement and the wonders it can do in your clicker training venture.

1. By choosing better toys or a high quality treat, you can drastically improve the efficiency of your training.
2. Along with the timing, criteria, and rate of reinforcement, the quality of reinforcement can make or break your training efforts. So higher the quality of reinforcement, more efficient the training.

Crucial Crate Training Facts | How to Effectively Crate Train Your Dog or Puppy using Positive Reinforcement

It is very crucial to crate train your puppy/dog if you have to leave it un-attended - for certain duration esp. when your house is not doggy proof. Dogs are instinctively den animals, so training a dog to accept the crate as a secure resting place is not that difficult provided you never use the crate as means to punish your dog.

Different Type of crates

There mainly two types of crates available in stores – the wired crates and enclosed plastic crates the most common ones. Though crates come in different sizes and materials the most important thing that you must take care while buying a crate is that your dog can comfortably stand, lie down and turn around in it. A crate must neither be too big, nor too small for your dog. If it’s too big then the dog will start using one portion of it as its toilet.

If you are going to use the crate exclusively for potty training your dog, then aluminum wire crates are the best, as they are designed to collect the excrements of the dog and are easy to clean up. But if you want the crate to be just a resting place for your dog then the den like plastic crates are the best.

5 Useful Positive Reinforcement House and Potty Training Tips for Your Dog

If you have brought in a new puppy or dog home then the first thing that you must start working on is house training or potty training your puppy. It will take anywhere from few days to few weeks to fully house train your dog, but it may vary from dog to dog. Clicker training is the best training method to quickly and efficiently house train your pup. I have some useful tips for you to get started with the house training your dog that will make the entire process faster and easier for you.

How should you set realistic goals while clicker training your dog?

In the earlier post we saw the importance of timing in clicker training dogs. Along with the timing parameter, a good clicker trainer will always ensure that the goals that he set are realistic for the dog to achieve. A well experienced Clicker trainer would always carry out the training in different steps or difficulty levels. He would first start off with an easy goal for the dog and gradually steps up the difficulty levels when the training progresses.

This is a relevant video on Loose Leash Training

Did you know the importance of timing in clicker training dogs?

Timing of the click or the “conditioned reinforcer” is always emphasized repeatedly on any article related to clicker training. You can also say that clicker training is all about precision timing. “You get what you click – not what you want” says renowned animal trainer Bob Bailey . The clicking action in clicker training is like taking a snap immediately when your dog performs a desired behavior. So if you are late by even a second, you will end up reinforcing the wrong behavior in your dog. Total disaster !

Suppose you are teaching your dog to sit down using clicker training, you must click precisely when the dog’s bottom touches the ground and not when he has already sat down or when he’s standing. Then, if you are teaching your dog to stand up, you must click the dog immediately when the dog is in the standing posture and not when he’s lying down or when he has already stood up.

Learn these fundamental positive dog training methods for a healthier, happier and well behaved dog

Dog training has gone through a positive change over the past few years with people avoiding primitive and traditional training methods. Now more and more dog owners and trainers are turning to positive dog training methods like clicker training based on positive reinforcement; because they have realized that it is absolutely safe and at the same time highly effective and quicker than the traditional training methods - that were mostly based on unhealthy aversive techniques. Aversive training techniques only help you in suppressing unwanted behaviors in your dog resulting in other dangerous behavioral and health problems; where as positive reinforcement training methods completely remove them - for good.

To help you reap the miraculous benefits of positive dog training you must know these 6 fundamental concepts of behavioral psychology. Positive dog training is purely based on science and that’s why it is effective, safe and quicker – both for the dogs and trainers. Though Positive training methods like clicker training were in use already to train other animals, marine mammals and birds, its application in dog training is fairly recent. Clicker training in dogs was first introduced by Karen Pryor in the early 90s through a series of seminars.

5 Important Dog Training Terms and Abbreviations That You Must Know Before You Start Training Your Dog

Why shouldn’t you use Negative Reinforcement or Aversive Training Method to train your dog?

If you are planning to train your dog(s), it is very essential to get acquainted with technical terms and abbreviations used in dog training circles. And if you don’t plan to do the training part on your own, that’ OK, but it is still highly recommended to know these terms to get a better understanding of what your dog trainer is talking about.

I must confess that I was a person who had no idea about what positive reinforcement dog training was all about – or what kind of training method is the safest; and subjected my dogs – solely due to ignorance - to those unhealthy negative reinforcement training methods that I remorsefully repent with all my heart now. So I really don’t want any genuine dog lover out there to repent for their irreversible and ignorant actions later on in their lives, that can put their dog's health at risk.

5 Major ill effects of mixing positive reinforcement training and aversive method while training your dog?

Though these two training methods are entirely contradictory, most people use both the methods to train their dogs – of course unknowingly. But if you want a dog that is calm, relaxed, content, healthy and happy through out its life time, then you must never do the mixing thing or to be more precise, you must never use punishment methods to train your dog. The punishment or aversive training method has been disproved and debunked by international animal organizations and is considered to be dangerous for your dog. You can check out the following link for more information about that.

Why is dominance theory outdated?

Did you know that traditional dog training methods can make your dog aggressive or stressed?

You must be aware that there are mainly two types of dog training methods. One making use of the aversive method or negative reinforcement method or traditional method and the other one based on positive reinforcement like Clicker Training. You can train your dog using any of these methods and both are effective too, there’s no doubt about that, but with the traditional training method you can risk your dog’s mental and physical health. You will understand how only when you know the basic difference between both these methods.

Traditional Training Method

In the traditional training method trainers use aversive or correction methods or negative reinforcement while teaching a behavior or technique and then praise him for getting it right. Here the trainer is forcing the dog to offer a desired behavior and he corrects it every time the dog makes a mistake e.g. shouting, yelling or leash-popping and so on. Here the dog is offering a behavior just to avoid an unpleasant situation (a.k.a. negative reinforcement). And some breeds work hard to calm their trainers down. Eventually the dog develops a fear towards training sessions and the trainer which then gives way to stress and other health problems. Some dogs go into a total shut down.

How To End The Leash Pulling Behavior In Your Dog Using Clicker Training?

Are you one of those dog owners who find it unmanageable to walk your dog? Is s/he terribly distracted and pulls on his leash like crazy while walking him on the sidewalks? Then you are not alone, there are thousands of dog owners like you around the globe who go through this ordeal everyday.

How to get rid of resource guarding in your dog using clicker training method?

Gone are the days when you have to foolishly pretend to be the dog’s pack leader or alpha dog in order to be dominant. This dominance theory has been debunked and proven to be false especially when positive reinforcement training gave faster, effective results in a shorter duration.

How can you train your dog to accept a new baby in your home with positive reinforcement training?

In the earlier posts I discussed 4 different types of dog behavior problems and how to get around them effectively. The first problem that we discussed was how to effectively crate train your dog, then we saw how to tackle the grooming phobia, and then the barking problem while seeing other dogs or strangers and then prior to this post I discussed the phobia in dogs for other dogs and people.

With positive reinforcement training you can get rid of your dog's fear for strangers and other dogs

We have seen 3 dog behavior problems till now in the last 3 posts. The first one was how to get around the barking problem while alone in a crate, then we saw how to tackle the grooming phobia and in the previous post we saw how to get around the barking problem while walking with positive reinforcement training or clicker training. There is no such behavior problem in dogs that cannot be corrected with positive reinforcement training.

Why is your dog barking at other dogs while you are walking him?

In the earlier posts we saw 2 dog behavior issues. The first one was how to crate train your dog effectively and in the second post we saw how to get rid of your dog's grooming phobia. In this post we will see the next  behavior problem i.e. 'My dog is barking at other dogs while taking it for a walk' as a continuation to my earlier post 'Positive reinforcement training to tackle all the nagging dog behavior problems ' and how to get rid of it.

Is your dog scared of being groomed, bathed or clipped ?

My Friend's Lab Jimmy

In the earlier post I tried to give you a brief idea about what positive reinforcement training is all about and how to crate train your dog using that training method. In this post I will cover the next behavior issue as a continuation of my earlier post - Positive reinforcement training to tackle all the nagging dog behavior problems. I would urge you to please read that post before you continue with this one.

The behavior problem that I am going to discuss here is "Grooming Phobia in Dogs"

Positive reinforcement training to tackle all the nagging dog behavior problems

What is positive reinforcement training?

My Lab Diego

May be you already know what positive reinforcement is, but I am sure there are people who have heard this term an awful number of times but still don't know how it actually works, so this is for them. If you know it, you can simply ignore it.There may be a lot of technical definitions for positive reinforcement as it is part of operant conditioning in psychology, but I don't want to sound technical here. I want to keep things simple for you.