Harley has graduated her second puppy class and is now starting home obedience basics. In this class we start using a clicker - yay! I am really excited to work with her. I have a question though - DH and I are often in different parts of the house. I am in my office working or in the bedroom just reading or chilling and he may be working on some pc board thingy or watching Youtube in the lounge. Harley goes between the two of us. Do we each get a clicker? Because there are opportunities for us to do small snippits of training with her together and apart. If we both get clickers, which makes the most sense to me, do we get the exact same ones? We get a clicker as part of our course, which starts on Saturday.
Oh that's an interesting question, I really don't know the answer sorry. Although I can't see a problem if you both have the opportunity to do training. I'm not sure what you will be training together though. I'm addicted to clicker training but OH isn't allowed a clicker or whistle , sounds a bit mean I know but he just isn't that interested. Regarding which clickers to get I personally like the Karen Pryor ones that I can wear like a bracelet with the clicker in the palm of my hand. When I did a clicker training course we were provided with one that was a little box. The click always sounded a little sharp for me and wasn't that convenient to use. Hope that helps a little.
Get five clickers. Scrub that, get ten. There is a clicker-stealing goblin at work. These are the ones I have: https://www.traininglines.co.uk/dogsline-push-button-dog-training-finger-clicker.html (out of stock, but you can get them on Amazon and I'm sure other places). They're my favourite clicker. Having said that, they don't need to be the same. It's not like whistles.
Oh yes, I realised I could only find 2 so I've just bought a pack of 8 all different colours really pleased one is pink. Wondering do I need a new whistle and lanyard as I've only got 3.
You can't have enough clickers (or whistles for that matter). All my coat pockets and treat bags that have room & my training bag have clickers in them. They are lying around the kitchen..the living room..I don't actually use them very often, just for training new behaviours, but I'd panic if I knew I didn't have one. Yes,
Ooooohhhh, a pink one...Harley has all things pink. I could definitely have a pink one. Thank you for the answers so far. As far as training together, I mean that sometimes if I am bored with what we are watching I will move to a different area of the lounge and do some simple stuff with Harley. If we only had one clicker it would then be occupying the same space as us. We aren't training for anything serious at all, but we agree that Harley needs consistency so clicker training it will be for both of us. Also, DH does the classes with her and I do most of the during the week stuff. She is such a bright girl that I haven't found her confused by us doing this. This is a family thing. I am rather introverted and prefer one on one interaction, so the classes are a bit much for me, whereas DH has lots of fun with her. I am there to take photos and cheerlead. I will watch for the clicker stealing goblin, I believe my sock snatching creature is single and may be dating, I would hate for them to get together Actually if they had a child it would look like a marbled Bengal. Our oldest cat is such a thief.
Thank god it's not just me! I have three clickers within reach in the kitchen, one attached permanently to my training bag, one in the pocket of my favourite dog walking coat and one in the car. Some days I can't find any of them and accuse the rest of the household of theft. Knowing that its goblins has put my mind at rest. Don't get me started on whistles either, there are four hanging on hooks by the back door but I get upset if I can't find my favourite. I have more put away in the drawer, including a very expensive leather lanyard that I have promised my self I will use if I ever get one of my bonkers dogs to compete. I'm peartree and I'm clicker and whistle addicted!! Lol
I would think the most imoprtant thing is that they are used correctly, and that you and OH are doing the same thing, clicking at the right time, clicking for the same purpose in the same activity (If you follow my meaning)
At my house OH does not have a clicker and ours are hidden. A quote from him is "she doesn't want to do all this training, she just wants to be a dog"
David has a whistle and a clicker, so do I as we share Charlie's training. BUT I do train David first If one of us had trained Charlie alone they would have gone stark raving MAD x
As long as you are both trained touse the clicker, and don't try to use them at the same time, there should be no problem. Oh and of course that the dog understands that a click is good and leads to a tasty reward. I remember one practical training course I attended where we literally passed the training of the dogs around the group without any problems I should mention that it was only one dog at a time so we could watch each other and provide feedback
@Harley Quinn I also have a pink whistle with a pink lanyard. I also have blue and green whistles with matching lanyards. Thinking about it I may ask for a new one for my birthday. I think it's lovely sharing the training. I'm quite introverted too so I understand completely, I have surprised myself by gaining confidence having a dog by my side. Our dogs give us so much in so many ways. I think you'll love clicker training, Mabel has learnt so much as I'm sure Harley will.
I went through a few clickers until I found one I liked. I didn't like the tinny sound of the box type ones. With another one the button would easily become stuck when you pressed it, which was very annoying. The third one was really loud - made me jump, never mind the dog! Like Goldilocks, I finally found one that was juuuuust right, bought a bunch, and keep them in various pockets and locations. Occasionally I'll lean against a counter or bend over or something and accidentally depress the clicker in my pocket - then feel really guilty if the dog looks up and I don't have a treat to hand.
We survived class one, and except for Harley being distractable, as usual, she responded very well to the clicker. Here she is, displaying the grace and elegance in the sit position: And the more advanced, careful placement and calculation needed, sit on dad's foot position - not to be tried by inexperienced pups
