A neighbour has given me her clicker as she said her dog didn't respond to it. But she had no instruction with it. How do they work?? (sorry if that sounds daft, I just don't want to do it wrong)

Google Karen Pryor clicker training and knock yourself out! If you get the hang of it you won't look back. Clicker training is the reason I have been able to teach a four month old puppy so much...

Clicker training is great! I have used it with Obi and he has responded well to it.
To start off with, just get your dog and a handful of treats, and click the clicker and give a treat straight away. Soon the dog will get that click=a treat.
Then at that stage you can start training with it, train something you haven't taught before, so not 'sit' or 'paw' if they know that already.
As soon as the dog starts doing the behaviour you want, click and treat, the click acts like a 'marker' so he knows that what he was doing at exactly the time you clicked was what you wanted. You need good timing
Hmm, sorry, probably not explained that very well I'd also say get a Karen Pryor book, I started with 'Clicker Training For Dogs' which was quite good.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clicker-Training-D...22869351&sr=8-3
Good luck and happy clicking
XXX

I'm a big fan of the principle of clicker training, esp the free shaping. I can give you a little demo next week

This covers the basics
canisclicker training

You give them an email address and they send you a link to a new activity for the day, you get 7 in a row and then get them periodically after. It should give you a few things to work on whilst waiting for your book to arrive and it's free

Try it when you get a book - you will love it - and the dog cannot loose - all mine do it to varying degrees and love the 'game' of clicker - it also builds confidence in nervous dogs to be able to 'try' new things without any threat of 'punishment'. Hilda and I clicker now, she has just learnt to roll over in 1 day which is great for her confidence. I have clickers everywhere and wear one round my neck with my whistle in case I see something I like and wish to 'shape' into a behaviour - of course that means treats everywhere too!!
Stanley is my clicker king - he will learn anything with clicker - rings the doorbell, helps me peg out the washing, left and right directional cues for agility etc etc. Has been a godsend for him as he was a very very difficult dog but clicker mentally motivates and stimulates an tires them out!!!!

http://www.clickersolutions.com

great site for problem solving stuff

First off you need to charge the clicker.
sit in a quiet room with just heidi, the other two dogs need to be out of hearing and sight.

You stand and say nothing.
Click and throw the treat away from you.
click and treat from your hand
You want her to not anticipate where the treat is going to be, so randomly do both.

As to the amount of time, it depends, most dogs will get it within 2-3 sessions (roughly 50-100 small bits of treats per session)

You will know when you do a session and the dog begins to offer behaviours, ie paw, sitting, standing, watching you, etc.hope that helps?

The best place to get books, etc on clicker training is www.learningaboutdogs.com

They are one of the best imo.

I have just read this post and now have a Karen Pryor Book on order!
Hope it gets here quick as i am so impatient

Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question, I've ordered the clicker training book but what are the best treats to give, i'm thinking something small as you probably go through a lot of treats. Thank you

something the dog is likely to work for.

I give sausages, cheese (very rarely), black pudding, liver cake, sardine cake, tuna cake- it depends also on the criteria level.

So if its in the house, will be sausage, garden cheese or tuna cake, and so on till they get the ultimate treat- which to my two is black pudding or liver cake.

welcome to the world of clicker training!!! you will never look back i promise! i just love clicker training, esp 'free shaping'. sam just loves it too (who wouldnt given all those tasty rewards!!). it has definately turned him into a more confident dog, who isnt afraid to offer behaviours, instead of always being told what to do. it has helped with attention, tricks, agility, HTM. also it is very tiring for the dogs as it mentally stimulates them, so is good when its chucking it down outside!

I've managed to teach Charlie sit and down with the clicker and thought we'd try some easy free shaping so he could learn how it works and then we can move on to some other tasks. The clicker is well charged and always has his full attention.

I got the clicker out, he watched and then when he realised sitting watching wasn't going to get him the treat he put his paw on my hand in a "come on" gesture. Hey presto our first free shaping worked on giving me a paw. Well he's too bloomin clever, every time I now have something he wants he offers me his paw. I was stood at the kitchen side today making sandwiches when I got prodded gently in the back of my knee, yep you guessed it, it was Mr Clever with his paw! He was sat so nicely with it held up against the back of my knees.

I'm really impressed as I've always taught commands with a lure before. He learnt to sit and down whenever he knew the clicker was out in a premature version of free shaping but I honhestly can't believe how quickly he got the hang of it. The sky is the new limit!