I got my nifty new clicker last week and have done 2 sessions with Dexter so far. He's always been really quick to pick up new things so I figured he'd take to this really easily. Well, I soon found out it's as much about training me as it is him. I forgot about having to get used to the clicker and using it properly.
I ended up cutting both sessions pretty short because I was getting really frustrated with myself and him and if I get too frazzled he just shuts down and wont do anything for me...I don't blame him. So we went outside and played with his flirt pole for a while
So to be sure I've got this right: The whole point of the clicker is that at the very second that the dog does what you've asked, you click and treat, so then the dog views the sound as "yes, your doing the right thing, here comes your reward!" right?
So I figured I'd start out just clicking and treating, not asking anything of him. Then I asked him to do easy stuff he knows like sit and down, then click and treat when he did. I added more commands like come, rollover,and stand... all things he knows very well. Is this a good way to start off.
I couldn't really tell if he was getting that the sound means he did the right thing and treat is coming soon. At first, when I would click he would kind of look around like "what the heck was that". He seemed to get used to it but I still feel like he was not associating the click with the treat at all. I think I must have been doing something wrong, just don't know what.
Maybe I was expecting too much from him and I need to do more clicking and treating only with no commands?
I'm aware that 2 sessons is not much at all... and will keep up with it...I just want to know how to do this properly before I go any further. I don't want to screw it all up.
I know there are some clicker pros on here and any advice would be greatly appreciated!!