Training Your Vizsla With A Clicker
by Andrew Cox
Filed under Dogs
Do you want to know how to clicker train your Vizsla fast?
I get it… there’s nothing worse than an ‘out of control’ dog. It took me 12 months to find relief.
Whatever kind of dog you have, clicker dog training is one of the most effective and impressive methods for controlling and dictating a dog’s behaviour when trying to teach them basic commands. It takes very little time to master clicker training and with a well operated clicker, you can teach your dog nearly anything.
Clicker Training – The Theory Behind It
The concept behind clicker training is that you are training the dog to link the sound of the clicker – a strong, pointed sound that they can hear from 20+ yards away – with a particular command you give. The point of the training is to mark particular desirable behavior and then reward it with the sound of the clicker.
Naturally clicker dog obedience training doesn’t commence with a clicker. You’ve got to first teach your dog the clicker is a reward for good behavior. This is often done with a bag of treats and an easy, 2 buck clicker from your local pet shop.
Should you follow this method?
* Your dog will link the clicker with ‘doing a good job’ and ‘receiving a treat’ only
* Verbal commands are given in a variety of situations – this can cause confusion in your dog’s mind and therefore verbal commands are often not as strong as a clicker response
Clicker Training – The Method
There are 3 very simple steps to train your dog to respond to a clicker.
Step 1. Ask for the behavior – ask your Vizsla to do something you want. It can be sitting, staying, lying down, or whatever other behaviours you are attempting to teach.
Step 2. After you’ve gotten them to perform their behaviour, mark it with a click.
Step 3. Give a reward.
It generally takes only 2 or 3 markings before your dog learns the connection between the behavior and the click.
Once the dog has done the behavior and received their reward, continue doing it to buttress the behavior as much as humanly possible. You don’t need to use treats ever single time. Praise and petting work just as well and can at last replace the behavior.
Clicker obedience training is effective because of the speed of the connection between behaviour and click in the dog’s mind. An oral command on the other hand can take a little longer to train.
Transitioning towards a Command
Once your Vizsla has associated the new behaviour with the click – it is time to transition to a command.
Step 1. Say the command Step 2. Click Step 3. Give a Reward
Your dog will quickly learn to associate all 3 steps.
Eventually, with good clicker dog training, a dog will respond to a verbal cue and praise for their action and then they will simply learn it. The need for treats or praise will be gone and the dog will simply know that the action pleases you.
As you might imagine, clicker training has a considerable number of applications. It can make training your Vizsla a lot easier. With a simple, sharp command, you can mark and reinforce nearly any behaviour.
The question is, can you alter your Vizsla’s bad behaviours for good? Yes you can! Download Andrew Cox’s free report on How To STOP Your Vizsla’s Obedience Problems For Good!, and learn how to become the APLHA dog. This article, Training Your Vizsla With A Clicker is available for free reprint.
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