Obedience training has come a long way since the days of choke chains and leash corrections. Traditional dog training relied heavily on “showing the dog who is boss”, and being the “Alpha dog” at any cost, even if it meant subjecting the dog to heavy-handed techniques. Happily, a few pioneers in the world of animal behaviorism changed the course of dog training. Now dog trainers teach the art of understanding dogs instead of just controlling them.

Clicker Training, the Good Dog! Obedience Training method, relies on the science of operant conditioning (remember BF Skinner from college Psych 101?), and allows the dog to truly be a part of the training process. The handler and dog work harmoniously to achieve training goals instead of the dog being forced or dominated into submission.

The clicker, a matchbook sized plastic toy, serves as a marker to clearly communicate to your dog when he has performed the action that will pay off with a food reward. The sound of the click is far more precise than verbal praise, therefore your dog has a clear understanding of exactly why he gets his reward. As your dog masters the commands, the precise click is no longer needed to communicate “that’s it!” At that point the clicker can be weaned and put away.

Clicker training is easy for both handler and dog to learn, and results are impressively speedy. The final product is a dog that is eager to respond to the basic obedience voice commands.