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By Root 371 0

clicker, used to try to click the food and feed the clicker to her dog! It takes some time to get used to the clicker, but don’t worry, it will quickly become so easy to use that you won’t even have to think about it. If you were using a regular box-type clicker, you might often pick it up facing the wrong way, and when you try to click it nothing will happen because you will be pressing on the non-flexible end of the metal tongue. This is especially frustrating when you quickly grab the clicker from your pocket and then miss clicking a great behavior because the clicker is facing the wrong way in your hand. You can, however, tell if the clicker is facing the right way in your hand without looking at it by very slightly depressing the tongue without actually clicking it—if it does not have any give you know you need to face it the other way. In no time at all it becomes second nature to feel for that spring of the metal tongue so you know you are holding it correctly.

You Rang?

Awesome Name Recognition

The first thing I teach any dog after powering up the clicker is name recognition. I want my dog to get really excited when he hears his name. Name recognition is not the same as a recall. A recall means “come to me” but a dog’s name means “be alert, because we are going to do something now.” The majority of my dogs’ lives are spent just being a dog—hanging out, sleeping, chewing a bone. When I say a name, that dog knows that he is “on duty” and I have his full attention. Also, when you think about it, all the words that we use as a cue for behaviors, like “sit,” “stay,” and “down,” are words that we use every day in conversation. By teaching our dogs their name, we create a “qualifier” word. That is to say, if you are talking to someone and you say, “I fell down,” your dog understands that no action is required on his part. If you say, “Fluffy, down,” Fluffy understands that it is time for him to actually lie down.

If you have multiple dogs, names mean “What comes next (sit, come, roll over, etc.,) applies to you, Fluffy, and you, Spike and Spot, can chill out until I address you directly.” For instance, if you have three dogs in your back yard and want to take just one of them out through a gate, you have two options. Option one is to put a leash on the dog you want to take out and open the gate a crack. If you are lucky, all three dogs will press their noses to the crack, and you can start shoving with your feet at the two that you want to remain. If you have small dogs you might actually be able to lift them up with your foot and toss them a good distance away. Next, open the gate and hope that the dog you want to go through does so quickly, before the other two can recover and storm the gate. If you are skinny and fast, you might be able to slip through the gate after him and turn around in time to start shoving the other two with your feet as you close the gate on your ankle. Cursing is optional. If you are not skinny and fast, you can use your body as sort of a plug to block the opening as you move through in a crouched position, while continuing to kick backwards with your feet as you move through. Option two is to teach your dogs to wait inside the yard until you call them out by name—you won’t get a cardio-vascular work out as you would with option one, but it is much easier. My dogs will line up in a sit-stay on one side of a gate and I can say, “Nicky, stay. Ruby, stay. Augie, come.” Without name recognition, this would be impossible.

It is easiest to start powering up your dog’s name right after 20 reps of just clicking and treating. He is going to be staring at you at that point, anyway, so you can take advantage of that and pair his name with the click. While the dog is looking at you, say his name, click and treat. Do that 10-20 times in a row. After three days of this, you will be very gratified to see how fast your dog’s head swivels around when he hears his name. Congratulations—your dog knows his name.

Now that you have taken the first step and trained your dog to realize that his name is of significance,