Training the new puppy question...

For anyone who has used the clicker training method versus just using your voice to get your message across, which worked better for you and does anyone have any training tips for me? I have watched a few Zak George videos on Youtube and I think I understand the basics of clicker training but any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated since it seems that training will be a long process with a stubborn Pug, lol.

The idea behind clicker training is that you start with the clicker, and then once the dog has learned the behaviors and does them reliably, you wean them off it. It is a long process, though, and I can tell you from experience, that it really never should end (as I stopped working it and one of my boys isn't as well trained.)

I used to train (I worked at a dog school) with the clicker method, so I wholeheartedly support it. It's faster than anything--it lets the dog know that millisecond that s/he has done it correctly and a reward is coming. It was all positive reinforcement based, which it should be.

As you begin to wean off the clicker on a learned behavior, you give the rewards on a completely irregular basis, so the dog doesn't expect one each time--but this is after the behavior is ingrained.

While you can certainly do some of it on your own (and you must, for practice), I highly recommend getting in a good positive reinforcement-based clicker puppy class. It's invaluable for pet and owner, for training and socialization.

I use both, a clicker and a verbal marker. I tend to use a clicker only for teaching very specific behaviors, but you can use them for virtually anything. I don't bother with it for things like sit or down....unless I'm working with a *very* bouncy silly puppy who's all over the place doing a million things, ideally you want to give the reward while they're in the position you're asking for.

"kikopup" has a lot of good videos on youtube too.