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Dog Obedience Training Blog
A Clever Exercise To Try Tonight
April 2nd, 2010 by Chet
Your After Video Homework:
After you watch this video, please go try the exercise. Then report back to this blog post and leave me a comment about any mental revelations this exercise gave you. If you’re like me, doing this exercise gave me a deeper insight into how to communicate with dogs then almost anything else I’ve ever done.
And I’m curious to see if it has the same effect on you.
Can’t wait to read your feedback!
That was really cool! I’ve never thought of training from the dog’s point of view. It’s easy to get frustrated when they haven’t grasped the concepts after a couple of tries, but this puts a whole new spin on it. If it takes a human almost 10 minutes to get it, why would I think a dog would get it in five?
Thanks for sharing that! It gave me a good laugh for the day!
Shawna
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marie-noël Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 2:08 am
thanks it’s great fun. and it’s fun to work with dogs… that’s the approach I like… you make a good job showing that… I’ll do this exercice with my family and tell you later…
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Hi Chet,
I am unable to watch your video.
Instead of a screen with a button to start the video, I get a white area outlined with a black line and a little square in the upper left with three colored shapes in it.
How can I get it to work?
You have my attention with the title.
Thanks
Bob
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@ April 2nd, 2010 at 13:29What a priceless video! I actually read a bunch of clicker-training books and we did try this at home then. It sure is an eye-opener and offers a lot of insight!
I’m actually recommending having a clicker game instead of charades to my dog loving friends.
.-= DogMama´s last blog ..More Than Meets The Eye: Dog Language And Beyond Part I =-.
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@ April 2nd, 2010 at 13:51Chet,
That was fantastic. It made me realize that my dogs do not know what I am asking of them until I actually show them. Waaa wasss waaa waaa as I am talking to them. Great video and mind game. Thanks for sharing this with us.
S
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@ April 2nd, 2010 at 14:29This is nothing new Chet, dog behaviourists have been doing this for years.
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Chet Reply:
April 2nd, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Very true Sue, dog behaviorists have been doing this for years. But a lot of people who don’t study the science of animal learning theory have never heard of this exercise before; and it’s important that I share it with them.
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Susanne Reply:
January 19th, 2011 at 11:40 am
Jeez, Sue. You must be the only person here who doesn’t need to learn anything. Looks like the rest of us will just have to be educated and entertained without you. Good for you!
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Debbie Koop Reply:
August 9th, 2011 at 6:52 am
Those are the kind of Instructors I don’t care to learn from Susanne, if she is one. Sounds like she’s boasting her knowledge of at least,, “something….”
Take in all the knowledge you can gather out there. Just not from her. Chet never said it was “new.”
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Alisa Reply:
August 28th, 2011 at 9:57 am
That’s right Debbie, he never said it was new. Its new to me. I’ve been around all kinds of animals all of my life from hamsters to grizzly bears. I’ve done some training but I’m no expert.
I’m glad I saw this, now I understand better. I’m pretty patient already, but seeing that will make me even more so. I can’t wait to try it on my hubby!!
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Chet,
From the reply’s you got on this video, it seems very interesting.I cannot comment on it as I have not been able to open your last two videos.Can you help me with this problem?
Pierre
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@ April 2nd, 2010 at 15:39I never thought about dog training from the dogs perpective! No wonder my dog just sits there sometimes and looks at me like I crazy! I will be more patient with him now!
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@ April 2nd, 2010 at 16:26This was great to watch! I am a Equestrian Trainer and Instructor and used the same type of exercise to get my riders to understand how the “horse” feels about training….. we may think the horse understands what we want them to do; and when it dosn’t happen, the rider says “bad horse”….. but the truth of the matter is; the horse was still guessing! It’s not untill a true connection of “request to acction” happens, will the horse really understand. It also enabled the rider to give the “cue” in the right “time” of action, and only then dose the horse make the connection. Each person had to trade off as rider then “HORSE”. It was a real eye opener for each rider….. it’s not easy being the horse! and as in your exampel…it’s not easy being the dog.
Thanks,
Cathy
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@ April 2nd, 2010 at 16:59good point
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@ April 2nd, 2010 at 18:03that was cool now i know how a dog fills sometime it made me laught but it made me understand it better on train
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@ April 2nd, 2010 at 18:08Please i also were unable to open this video. Where else can I access it?
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russ Reply:
April 6th, 2010 at 3:14 am
for some of the people who cant open the videos, just update your flash player, it’s free , type in flashplayer and click down load , no more problems…
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Thomas Stewart Reply:
April 18th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
thanks Chet this was great
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Great point, it’s amazing that the dogs get this it goes to show you how smart they are
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@ April 4th, 2010 at 12:07Hi Chet, Thanks for showing me that dogs must get really frustrated at times, especially when learning a new behavior. They want to do what we want but aren’t sure what we want. I liked you giving more clicks for doing exactly or close to exactly what you wanted, that really made sense.
I really felt for that woman, how embarrassing. I need to be more creative in leading my dogs into the behavior I want. Thanks again!
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@ April 4th, 2010 at 19:53Chet,
I’ve used the clicker on both our dogs, and it works wonders.
I’m going to play this video for my wife, after which I’ll give her clicks every time she speaks softly to (instead of shouting at) our 7 year-old daughter! Thanks!
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Sylvia Reply:
April 9th, 2010 at 5:27 am
Hope you have learned the art of sleeping with your eyes open, Dave ….
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That was great!! It was a learning at its best along with some good laughs.
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@ April 5th, 2010 at 17:51I have 2 Cairn Terriers, and they learned how to sit within a couple of minutes, without the clicker, and without touching them. I just held the treat slightly above their nose, said sit, and pointed my one finger down.
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karen Reply:
May 20th, 2011 at 11:29 am
Con grats! when I try to hold a treat abouve my chi’s nose she just turns around in circles. she rarely sits….she lays down indtead. it I touch her bottom she will sit thought so I think she is gettint the idea but I do havfe to touch her
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Sharon Reply:
August 22nd, 2011 at 6:52 am
Many years ago I did the same thing with my Shepherds – but I trained my new shepherd pup with clickers (not using them any more, but they did their job … will use them for new “tricks,” though) – she sits, down, play “dead,” go there, bring that here, fetch, leave it, back, “wave,” circle, spin and come. Never touched her (except to give her an enthusiastic “pat on the back”) to achieve any of these. The key to clickers is the immediacy and of the “reward” and the universal application to so many behaviours.
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Hi Chet,
That was fantastic and entertaining. WOW! What an eye opener for us to see, that are training our dog. To switch places with what the dog maybe going through, was great insight. Thank YOU for doing this so the we can realize how difficult it can be for a dog to figure out what’s expected from them by trading places!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SUPER GREAT AS USUAL CHET, THANKS AGAIN
Mary Lou
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@ April 5th, 2010 at 22:45chet,got a scenerio,my dog is very well trained by me and your videos,but the neighbors dog walker gets her very excited(happy)well, now the neighbors dogs got old and put down,she now asked me to walk my dog,for the love of the dog, not money,my dog,goes ballistic everyday, just before pick up time waiting on her, hard for me to settle her down,trouble is, she encourages my dog to jump up on her and do the hug and kiss thing,she replies gratefully..i thought i trained my dog not to do this,(hence dirty clothes)question is;should i train the dog walker?or work on my dog more? came home one afternoon,cases of dog food on my front porch,dog treats by the bag fulls,a new coller around her neck,not sure if i step up to the plate and tell her to quit doing this, if i end up doing this, do you think,i’ll end up with a horses head in my bed,my dog does’nt jump up on me ,but i’m worried if she starts to think it’s ok to do this to other people, hence, mail person,delivery people,little kids, what’s your take on this;i want to be nice, but how far should i let this go?
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russ Reply:
April 6th, 2010 at 3:45 am
oh by the way, great video,i’ve always thought that way, a dog is easier in my mind to train than a human, keep up the good work chet..
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Jessica Reply:
March 16th, 2011 at 3:05 am
Hi, I’d be tempted to be nice about it but explain to the person that you don’t want your dog jumping on people as it is not polite behaviour, at the end of the day, its your dog, and people should respect how you feel about how it should act. (Like a dog and not a manic animal)
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Chet,
I have a shelty and she is very smart. but like all dogs she is stuborn
I liked your video It makes you think when you are training. I really have a problem wit Barking when someone comes in the house this only happens when I am at home. sometimes I am not at home and she stay’s with my doughter and her family. she does not bark when she stays with them. I have tried every thing with her maybe I can try what is on the video and see if that works.
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@ April 6th, 2010 at 04:51Hi Chet,
I was really impressed with the way you showed the training from the dogs point of view by using a human!!! an excellent way of getting the message across, I will certainly be trying this with my GSD puppies. Well done Chet.
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@ April 6th, 2010 at 07:29Greetings, Chet-
Animals on planet Earth are better off because of you. Once again, you have given us insite into the minds of others and helped us become better humans for our dogs.
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@ April 6th, 2010 at 07:33Chet Watched it was very entertaining,my labs archi and ralph found it really funny as well.I have never used clicker training myself on any of my dogs,is it an american choice of tool.
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Chet Reply:
April 6th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Nope, the clickers are used all over the world.
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Not really impressive. It was not a learning experience. My wife already does these!
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Chet Reply:
April 6th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Art,
Not all of us can be as advanced as your wife
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Ashlee Reply:
February 12th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Chet,
If there was a ‘like’ button, I would totally ‘like’ your comment to this rude person above:)
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W0LF Reply:
July 31st, 2011 at 11:15 pm
I think Art forgot to ring the SARCASM bell. I am sure it was meant as humor ya’ll. As in, my wife already does these things. And he didn’t have to use a clicker to effect it.
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Well done Chet! A picture is worth a 1,000 words. We are so much easier to train with the help of video’s such as this.
CLICK—-more please.
Thanks,
Pat
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@ April 6th, 2010 at 16:32Interesting video. I don’t know anything about clicker training, just using treats or petting or praise as rewards. So this was thought provoking to me. Especially since I am such a visual learner seeing you try to train a human helped me see how hard it must be for an animal to get what we want. Fortunately my lab is VERY smart and catches on quickly. Unfortunately he has also done more to train me than me him because of his smartness. Ha
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@ April 6th, 2010 at 20:10its an ok video. i have two problems. one is i can’t get that clicker thing in ireland and two is i can’t get my dogs to stop eating wood. they are evening chewing away on their own dogs box. HELP!!!!
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Caroline Reply:
February 3rd, 2011 at 3:12 am
I am also in Ireland, Galway to be exact, I got my clicker in petworld in Terryland shopping centre…cant help with chewing though have the same problem, i try to distract her with her toys, sometimes that helps, but not always.
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Kathy Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 5:18 am
You might try putting a foul smelling (or tasting) liquid on the wood, such as tabasco. (I am in Texas, and we have lots of the hot and spicy foods available here. I am not sure what is available where you are, though) Even a bitter tasting liquid, or even dish soap, may help. Once the dog has that yucky taste in his mouth, he may think again before tasting the wood again.
Just my pennies’ worth… Have a great day, Ya’ll!
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Marion Reply:
June 26th, 2011 at 10:11 am
I have had the same problem. I sprayed the areas with Tabasco and it worked great. However the tabasco also made ugly red stains on the wood!
karen Reply:
May 20th, 2011 at 11:38 am
try going on line. I an in us but have brought p websited all over the world. I got my clicker at “PETSMART” or you might try PETCO hope it helps.
ps even a child toy that clicks would work
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Jennifer Reply:
February 7th, 2012 at 7:24 am
I click my tongue. It works great!
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Excellent video, Chet. It’s good to put ourselves in our dog’s place sometimes and try and see the world through his eyes. I am constantly amazed at how smart my dogs are. When I watched the video I though about the ways I try to teach them and am astounded at how they do manage to interpret so many of my confused commands, and somehow come up with the desired response. I’m looking forward to more of these presentations.
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@ April 9th, 2010 at 05:36Chet,
What a good example of a life lesson. I’m a cancer survivor and this video gives “never give up” a whole new meaning. Seeing the human as a dog made me think about “do to others as you…” This gave me great insight into my dog’s learning capacity. He’s a mastiff/boxer mix. Smart as a whip! Question. Do they make clickers for children? Just kidding. Sorta.
Thanks,
Elizabeth
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@ April 12th, 2010 at 06:12Great video..Made me realize that my dog has a lot to put up with – me!!
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@ April 15th, 2010 at 06:29How great was that video, it reminded me of a game we played as children called hot and cold. I loved the idea of clicker training and a friend has helped me to train my 10 yr old goldy when she was younger to dance. The biggest problem my dogs have is me i click to late or not faster enough. Thank you for sending me these videos they are priceless ellie
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@ April 16th, 2010 at 15:18Hey Chet, I have read several books on clicker training, but I am more of a visual learner and this makes it soak in better. Thanks, I will try this with some of mine asap. Lynn
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@ April 26th, 2010 at 15:31CLICK, CLICK! Love the video! Do more. My bulldog is great because we use the clicker training you teach. By the way, there is a clicker for kids: when they do a specific thing you want, tell them “I love you all the time, no matter what, and when you remember to_____, it makes me so proud to be your mom.”
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karen Reply:
May 20th, 2011 at 11:43 am
just the clicker doesn’t work it has to be connected to a treat! that goes for children too. Just saying, “I love you!” doean’t work thay ned to be shown that you really do as well.
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We do this with all our new people attending dog training with their dogs on the first night. It really clicks with people. Glad you shared this video!
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@ May 9th, 2010 at 20:16That was a very insightful way to help me stop and think about how I want to present my training to my dogs. I love the way you provoked us to be aware of how this process is for our dogs! This vidio was awesome and I look forward to continuing with the clicker training with my dogs, only more effectively. Thank you so much for sharing this!
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@ May 20th, 2010 at 06:50Aloha Chet ~
I learned a lot about behaviors/communication. Behaviors and communication in any relationship…with pets/people and people/people!!! What I saw and learned was that your participant (in place of our dog) was anxious, eager to learn, want to please and trying very had to get it right!!! After several tries when both were able to “read” each other’s signals, the correct behaviour is reach and achieved!!! Yah!!! I believe that is what we, in any relationship with one another have to do as well.
Thank you, Chet. You’re an amazing teacher.
Mahalo,
Roberta
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@ October 13th, 2010 at 17:49This is very exciting. It proves that my puppy learns faster than humans.
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@ October 23rd, 2010 at 09:12I thought this was very good using a person instaid of a dog cause it takes the quess work out of what you exspect your dog to do and how long it will take four the dog to learn it, and I love this clicker as a teaching tool cause it causes no harm too the dog or your self thank you Robert Worthen.
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@ December 2nd, 2010 at 11:35What a poor teacher I am! So glad I watched your video.
Made me think our pup must be rather clever to be able to follow my commands.
My pup deserves better. Yvonne
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@ December 9th, 2010 at 00:03Dear Chet, thans for the video, but it doesn’t play on my computer. I get the regular black screen with a start button that usually appears before a video starts but it never does.
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@ January 1st, 2011 at 05:08very good , eye opening,moved to an higher level of understanding thanks great videos….
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@ January 12th, 2011 at 09:32Thanks!! Now I know whay my dog goes beserck sometimes and goes through all of her tricks in a row when she gets frustrated learning something new and just wants the treat!!! Sfar I have taught her how to sit, lay down, speak, shake, tap a stick, ring a bell to go out, roll over, high five, go to her mat and wave(!) using your methods. Laurelei is a 9 month old Beagle, she is very smart and of course, food oriented!
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@ January 16th, 2011 at 16:12Very interesting. I had heard of clicker-training in the past but did not really know how it worked. I hope to get a clicker and try this out on my little Yorkie (who I might add is smarter than me, I think) She is the most loveable little dog in the world but has had no training and it is time to change this. I want everyone to love her as much as I do but right now she has a few “bad” habits. She is a smart little devil, and I believe she will be quick learner, providing yours truly can learn how to use the clicker properly.
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@ January 30th, 2011 at 11:14Interesting.
When you clicked with Kim, as you would your dog, are you suppose to give a treat very time you clicked at her, or do you wait until she is seated ? I would think after she has sat. But I want to make sure from the start.
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jessica Reply:
March 17th, 2011 at 11:08 am
Every time she does something even remotely close to what you want you should click and treat. then when seated give here a jackpot of treats.
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OH MY GOSH!!! lol That is sooo funny! I am going to try this here in a little bit with my 7 year old… I just purchased the hands off dog training for me and my 4 month old German Shepherd and i’m having the worst time training her!! NOW I KNOW WHY!!! lol I’m doing it ALL WRONG!! lol I started using the clicker but just a few times with Bella before i got the program so she knows if i click she gets a treat but she pretty much just begs me for a treat lol I have not quit figured out how to focus on just one thing.. however … we have master the “SIT” command! GO TO BED and that’s it! lol now i need to teach her… down, stay, leave it, drop it, off, etc… BUT going to try this game with my 7 year old first and i’m going to record it too because i know how funny this will be!! lol THANKS CHET!!!
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@ April 7th, 2011 at 11:06Dear Chet,
I enjoyed the video and it really makes you stop and think; I took a moment kissed my bulldog and promised to take my time and make sure I am giving proper instruction. Our training will be much better from this point on now that I will look at things from his side of the training!!
Thank you,
Dawn
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@ April 14th, 2011 at 21:16When I watched this my dog was in the room, and he is already clicker trained & he kept looking at the computer funny when ever he heard the “click” sound.
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@ May 4th, 2011 at 13:35Hey Chet!
but I couldn’t help but think of you and your dog training.. I would give anything to have dogs that listened like that man’s dogs! Lucky..
This video was really interesting. I also found it hilarious! The whole time, before you brought the “student” out, I thought it was going to be parrots! I’m sure you probably talked about training parrots later, but I never would have guessed a human!
I have some problems with my dog. How do I keep her from constantly getting up on our wooden porch chairs that sit outside? Thanks anyone who will answer. Oh, and I have a couple more questions, just to throw them out there. Sorry for the trouble. Lots of times, whenever I try to get my dog to lay down, she almost always(or eventually) rolls over onto her back! How can I fix this? Thanks! And one more! Just one! How can I get my dog, Kyra, to listen and obey? She almost always ignores me! It is getting very frustrating.
I have a little story, about obedience actually. Just the other day, my folks and I were at a festival. A man walked by and then cut through the grass to a crowd on the other side. With him, a young German Shepard, and what looked like a black German Shepard puppy. Both were on NO leashes, and they never strayed from his side, especially the Shepard. The pup went four or five feet from him sometimes, but the man said something to him quietly, and the pup fell back next to his heel again. Oh, i was jealous!
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@ June 15th, 2011 at 05:14Chet,THANKS!!!!!!!
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@ June 15th, 2011 at 08:54Evrything , I see , that You doing with the dogs are simple, and at the same time clever. As this video. Thank You for sharing with us all , that You know.
Dana
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@ June 26th, 2011 at 23:22Awesome video. Thank you so much for sharing this. I just bought your training program for my 2 fifteen week old golden retrievers (brothers) and I can’t wait to start the training, but I think I will try the exercise first on my husband when he gets home from work and then I will let him watch your video himself and have him try it on one of the kids…
Thank you again for the video.
Cindy
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@ July 19th, 2011 at 09:45I JUST WATCHED THE VIDEO AND MY DOG CAME RUNNING INTO THE ROOM WHEN SHE HEARD THE CLICKS. SHE JUMPED ON MY LAP, THEN JUMPED OFF. EVERYTIME U CLICKED THE CLICKER SHE WOULD COME RUNNING AND SIT ON MY LAP. SHE FINALLY JUST STAYED SITTING ON MY LAP AND LISTENED TO THE CLICKS COMING FROM THE SPEAKERS.
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@ July 20th, 2011 at 18:50Great video, eye opening and hilarious. I would like to train my McNab to click everytime my husband actually puts his dishes into the dishwasher!!
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@ July 23rd, 2011 at 08:57Excellent video. I have a 2 year old Borador (Spirit is his name) and when I am capable of explaining to him what I want, the results are amazing.
Spirit & I are making excellent progress and I am blessed that he is in my life. I got him when he was 6 days old, his mother was a registered border collie and his daddy was a registered lab. His mom died giving birth to 6 pups.
I raised him on the bottle with the plan to give him away when he got a little bigger—–That will never happen, Spirit is an excellent dog, kind with other animals, calm gentle attitude, sweet disposition, good energy and smart as a whip.
My friend is a retired trainer for Police Dogs & has told me several times that Spirit is not the problem, I am! How true. Interesting how it works—-The more I learn, the smarter he gets. Keep up your good work, you are excellent!
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@ August 4th, 2011 at 10:39We ‘say’ we love our pets, wives, jobs, aspirations, lives: How often do we regularly access the information available about those ‘topics’ we claim to cherish most, and how often do we exercise those informations? Isn’t true love the best proof of investment in success?
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@ August 5th, 2011 at 14:49That was a great exercise. It not only show how to use the clicker, but the psychology behind the exercise and how confuse will be the pet at the beginning. Until he get it.
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@ August 5th, 2011 at 22:14When I get these video’s to watch I never get any aound to go with it so I can’t tell what you are saying. It is very frustrating because I would like to hear it.
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@ August 6th, 2011 at 20:03Sounds like a fun game. I think I will have to try it with my dog.
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@ August 9th, 2011 at 12:44Hi Chet,
What a great video! I never used the clicker for my dogs, but can see how useful it would be. Time and repetition is the key. Thanks for the knowledge and entertainment.
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@ August 10th, 2011 at 07:10I am getting a puppy in September….and I want to start teaching her correctly from the beginning….I have never used a clicker, but now that I know where to get one, I will buy one and start practicing my timing.
I am very interested in doing the correct method from the beginning rather than try to correct bad behavior later.
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@ August 18th, 2011 at 05:39hi everyone, great demo, I have another cool method of getting a point across to my dog, ie., for instance if my dog cann’t grasp what I am trying to get her to learn after a few minutes I employ my wife as if I was training her. The dog (chloe a boston) watches as my wife wins the treat everytime I ask her to do the behaviour., once my dog sees this she kind of gets jealous she didn’t get the treat and starts trying everything that my wife is doing. I give my wife hi praises with a treat, she pretends to eat it and we do it 4 or 5 times, once my dog makes the move I switch over to the dog only. Try it you might be surprised. You got to hand it to chet he can really cause you to understand the dynamics of dog clicker training. I should do a video of this type in post it on youtube. thanks for reading, any comments are welcome to my email face2friend at gmail dot com.
chris
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@ August 18th, 2011 at 06:21Good exercise!
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@ August 19th, 2011 at 13:48Wow! What a great exercise! I hadn’t thought of it like this. I am currently working with my 13 week old Goldendoodle and have VERY recently come across your site. I immediately ran by Petsmart and picked up a Clicker. This gives me a whole new insite… and also helps with my frustration in knowing exactly how to lead him to do what I am wanting. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
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@ August 25th, 2011 at 10:59Hi Chet
This is a really good way of teaching people patience when training their dog! I thought the most interesting part of this example is that the lady clearly didn’t get the moment of clarity, i.e. realising you wanted her to put her hands up, in the first exercise but she clearly did get sitting down in the second.
My favourite bit about clicker training is when I know that Ellie, our German Shepherd X rescue dog, has understood what I am asking her to do. She suddenly gets it and consistantly repeats the behaviour. Some things just take a little more time and persistance than others.
Thanks – I’m going to clicker train my husband to get the iron out….
Kate
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@ August 26th, 2011 at 02:44I have been doing this for a while with people that come to our foundation agility class at dog club. They all have to bring a clicker and I let them work in pairs. One is the trainer, one the dog and I tell the ones that are the dogs to try not to think like a human! I show them first with one of them and then they give it a go. They all think it’s great fun and it gives them a much better insight to what clicker training is and how it works.
Matilda, New Zealand
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@ August 28th, 2011 at 03:02Love the video, excellent illustration!! When I watched the video something hit me square in the face…an AH HA moment.
I am a corporate trainer and use something VERY similar to this in presentations and training about giving feedback and coaching. It’s called yeahs and boos. Basically we do the same thing, bring someone in and try to get them to “do” something (pick up a pen etc..) first with only boos. It takes forever, if they even get it. Next we bring in someone else and use yeahs and boos. Task accomplished in a fraction of the time. The point being they reach the goal much quicker with both types of feedback, especially positive and letting them know when they are doing something right (reminds me of the game we played as kids “you’re getting warmer, ah cooling off, warmer, ah man your burning up….”)
I guess what I’m saying is I have taught that class dozens of times and still fell into being inconsistent in my personal life with my puppy. Then we both get frustrated. Definitely not her fault but mine. I have used the clicker but not that much. I’m putting it on a string around my neck and who cares if I smell like jerky treats all the time, my dog will be well behaved Thank you again!! I would love to see one of your live demonstrations. Do you come to Texas?
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@ September 14th, 2011 at 07:24wow. from the dogs point of view.
i don’t have a clicker but i will try thinking from my dog’s point of view when next i try to train her on something new.
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@ October 11th, 2011 at 10:51i get it now, i was expecting too much from my puppy, to much information for him.
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@ November 2nd, 2011 at 12:55Dear Chet,
I can get the video to work but I can barely hear what you are saying. After reading some of the comments, I am dying to know what this is about. It’s not my computer because I have no trouble hearing anything on my computer. Perhaps you can send it in some other way. Thank you,Alma
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@ November 2nd, 2011 at 17:21This really shows how each command we expect our puppies to do can be very confusing and frustrating.
I can see how easy it would be for the puppy to misread our body language when trying to express our desires if we had no immediate sign of their success for them.
It also demonstrates how excited they are when they finally figure out exactly what we want them to do; they in turn after doing such a great thing, gets a reward, Puppy thinks,”Wow, I am wonderful and she is proud of me,let’s do this again!”
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@ November 3rd, 2011 at 19:18OMG! Really made me think how frustrated the dog must be…the dog truly has no idea what you want and has to guess alot. This was an awesome example. You are truly gifted and I love your hands-off training program I purchased from you. So easily explained and I receive awesome results on training my dogs.
Thank you!
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@ November 14th, 2011 at 17:40Thanks Chet – this finally opened my eyes and hopefully start a whole new phase in training our puppy. Thank you so much!
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@ December 1st, 2011 at 23:06I couldn’t help but laugh. I haven’t tried this yet, but I get it. The other day I was wondering what it was like to be on all fours, so I tried it. I spent part of my afternoon on all fours,trying to see the things I could smell on the counter, go around tight corners in my place, and just generally experience it from my dog’s persepective.I did try this when my kids were little, but it isn’t the same. I don’t have hands and arms and fingers when I pretend to be a dog. I did not like bumping my nose/face on everything. This was the lady in the videos first try to earn clicks, but he definetly had her attention (that’s a good start). I have been training my dog since puppy (14 months now) and sometimes if he gets a little confused (especially when he really wants that treat NOW) he will run through quite a few of the tricks he knows,I beleive because he doesn’t want to wait for the command, and hopes he hits the right one I was thinking of. I am working on getting him to wait, not guess what I want. But it is funny when he knows I have a treat in my hand and he starts doing things I haven’t asked him yet. He will usually start with the last thing he did at our last session and work his way through a few things until I stop laughing and tell him wait, I haven’t said anything yet. Just like the lady in the video, not knowing what was expected of her, then guessing until she got it right.Then the light bulb goes on.
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@ December 5th, 2011 at 11:28As a trainer I have seen this game played many times…HOWEVER..everytime I have seen it, trainers have played both parts so naturally the behaviors are learned quickly. My hat is off to Chet for using someone who was (excuse the term) clueless. This better demonstrates the level of understanding that a dog might have when learning a new behavior. It raised my eyebrows and I think I owe my wonderful maltese an apology for some frustration I’m sure I have caused her. *on my way to get the treats.
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@ December 5th, 2011 at 13:49I have already realized that there is a “language barrier” with my schnockerr.
(schnauzer-cocker). She sits and looks me in the eye and makes various sounds and tilts her head to wait for a response. Unfortunately I do not speak schnocker and she does not know much English! This video was a fun way to really see how it is for her!
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@ December 14th, 2011 at 08:56We tried the clicker game and it was insightful. We felt kind of stupid but definitely understand the concept. It should be challenging when we start the training with the puppy. It’s true that the dog has no idea what you want it to do. Hopefully, we’ll start soon.
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leah Reply:
December 16th, 2011 at 5:56 am
i cannot find a clicker- do not live in your country- i cannot click my fingers- am a pensioner- what can i use instead of a clicker? love your mail;- thank you
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Minette Reply:
December 16th, 2011 at 9:00 am
Try ordering online. sometimes you can find toys that click at toy stores.
Essentially you are looking for something with a constant, meaning the same, noise all of the time. The noise shouldn’t change, it should always be the same and it shouldn’t be so loud as to scare your dog.
Then just pair the noise with the treat!
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Debbie Reply:
December 29th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
I am slightly handicapped and can’t use a clicker so I use the word “yes” in place of a “click”. You just need to practice it until you can say it exactly the same every time. Even when you get excited, you must say it the same way each time. Works like a charm!
Minette Reply:
December 29th, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Excellent!
I use my voice AND a clicker at the same time in the beginning so that I don’t have to worry if I leave my clicker at home!
a chet it was a real good video, but before i saw this video i was wondering if i coul use some thing else like a whisel but i saw a publish reply from Debbie on December,29 at 2:05 pm saying she just say ‘yes’ the same way . P.S can i use the whisel cause it hard to fine a clicker were i live
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@ January 3rd, 2012 at 20:18I’ve seen this kind of demonstration several times before (using a human to demonstrate the principle), and in each case the results were far quicker… This is not to imply that this particular woman is slow or less-than-smart, but it does give some food for thought. Maybe it’s a good illustration of the phenomenon of variability, and it’s possible that being up on the stage, being watched and laughed at (even if in a good-natured way) could have slowed her response. In any case, I’d say that it’s important not to get discouraged if your dog doesn’t seem to be as quick as another dog, or to give up if the desired results don’t come as quickly as you think they should–anyone who has been involved in dog training knows how common this is!
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@ January 11th, 2012 at 11:45My 3-y-o shih-tzu is a sweet darling while staying home with us. The only problem with her is the uncontrollable aggressiveness(barking, leash pulling, jumping..) toward other doggies while walking outside of the house. How do I apply your “clicking” technique to correct it?
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@ January 16th, 2012 at 15:30Sorry, the video had no sound. I can not respond.
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@ January 20th, 2012 at 15:15Chet-
I think you just proved how much smarter dogs are than humans!! LOL!!! Love getting all of your videos and updates on dog training. I am working with my young boxer 6 mos old. He can sit, stay, roll over and heel indoors…still working on outdoors though….long process. We are beginning boundary training with bright flagging tape. Wish me luck!
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@ February 1st, 2012 at 06:09