OK - I have had dogs all my life (never clicker trained before) and have always had very obedient, well trained dogs (though I say so myself! ) - and, I guess, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it', right? Well no, I thought I'd give clicker training a go with Izi. She took to it very well but I think I'm doing something wrong. As soon as I get either the clicker or the treats out, she starts offering me all these behaviours - sit, down, touch, tap, etc. I'm not sure she actually knows the commands! Do you teach one behaviour at a time and add the word and only move on to the next thing once the dog is consistent with the word?

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lol i think thats pretty common , i think its because they enjoy it so much they get over excited.

strictly speaking they shouldnt do it and if you ask for something and then she offers you a whole bunch of other stuff then yes its likely she doesnt know what that word means.

if its just at the beginning of a session tho, before youve properly started i wouldnt worry too much.

Do you teach one behaviour at a time and add the word and only move on to the next thing once the dog is consistent with the word?

yes , or at least consistent with a hand sign , even if thats just a temporary sign. thats how i do it .
i think its ok to do more than one at once if they are very different ie down and paw but i wouldnt work two similar ones like paw and wave at the same time.

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That's pretty common...I think as long as there's no clicking and treating when the dog just "offers" behaviours it's not a problem.

Naomi x

Ollie does that, he gets so excited when the clicker comes out. I don't reward a behaviour unless I've asked for it and its the correct one.

For example, if I ask for wave (a paw in the air), sometimes he'll get so excited about it all, he'll do a stand on his back legs with both paws in the air. so I wait until he's back on the ground and then ask again, and usually he does the correct action, and then I click and reward.

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It shows she's a thinker!

I can go out in the garden and have a watering can placed near me.. I'll just ask Louie what he's going to do.. when I first did it, he touched it.. then he progressed to knocking it over, then picking it up, then to fetching it.. I did 5 clicks for each behaviour - didn't put any words to it. Then when he realised that wasn't working anymore - he progressed until he got a click..

They love it! And it's a frustration I don't mind my dogs experiencing They have to work out what gets the click and thinkers learn quicker than those who have to be told - although they do throw all these behaviours at you.. that's why clicker training is silent at first

My older two don't get the clicker, Sadie just knows I have food - even though trying to pair the two - she doesn't care..

Benjie - never understood it.. so I'm just using "good" for him - as I train him in the house and the other two elsewhere I don't want them to get annoyed hearing the clicker..

With Louie - the twirl for example - I lured him and clicked any point of this twirl for about 10 times.. then I lured him but would only click the ending so he'd twirl but get the click at the end - 10 times. Then I added the command to it.. still luring.. now if I get food out all I do is ask for twirl and click the end

This is what our trainer has written on clicker training:
http://www.cadelac.co.uk/clicker.html

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Thanks everyone. Soooo, should I go back and train one thing at a time, making sure she consistently understands the commands before moving on?

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Breed for a useful dog and you often get a beautiful, useful dog... breed only for a beautiful dog and you are on your own in the useful department.

I tend to teach over a period of days - so yes, one thing at a time until she knows the commands, then you can sequence them, although she will probably offer you what she's just learnt even when your asking for something different... but thats what's got her the treats before.. Louie offers me the most perfect close heel when I ask him for a front.. he's sloppy when I ask him for a close heel though

I also taught him to march (no movement yet) but if he gets bored when we're listening in class he'll give me a left paw and a right paw - and it's always at the back of my leg too - painful.. but he's gotten treats for it and it shows he's eager to work..

You'll both understand soon - the thing is she'll probably understand before you do..

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YOU ARE DOING AN AWESOME JOB TO GET YOUR DOG LIKE THAT, AND YOUR DOG IS GOOD!

Nothing wrong with a dog that is offering behaviours. This is what we call an ACTIVE DOG. This is VERY GOOD.

I teach my puppies (8 weeks old) up to/over 10 things in one training session: sit/down/stand/recall/place/heeling/under legs/over legs/hand touch/short stays/retrieves etc. +++ ALL in one training session.

As soon as a behaviour is SOLID with hand signals/body motions, I put CUES a moment before.

Make sure your CUE (voice command) is given just a split second BEFORE your (PHYSICAL COMMAND) e.g. hand up/hand down, etc.

Knowing the command (for me) is a dog that will USE PURELY VOICE COMMAND ONLY, regardless of my body motions AND has generalised places, that he/she must sit wherever he/she is.

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