StarMark Clickers
Dog Training CLICKERS
Revolutionary in design and function the StarMark Clicker was designed to provide the next generation tool for clicker training. Small and easy to handle. Ergonomic design, with a hole to attach a chain. Raised button is easy to find and press. Only 2.5 inches small.
Shhhh! Listen. A quiet click. For classes or for sound sensitive animals it's the must have tool. And animals that have been trained with a classic box clicker completely understand the lighter sound of the new StarMark Clicker.
Timing is Everything. With the StarMark Clicker you won't miss a clickable moment because you fumbled trying to use your clicker. The StarMark has been designed to let you click no matter how you happen to grab hold of it. Upside down click, sideways click, right side up click. You can click with your thumb, with your palm, even your foot. And no more worries about clicking with your gloves on, if you suffer from arthritis or if you have long nails or large hands.
Right Sized. The StarMark Clicker is small enough to be hidden in your palm; not only does this make it wonderfully discreet, but you can click in that position! This means you never need fret about the clicker becoming a visual cue.
Balanced Clicking. The trigger has been engineered so that a small amount of pressure is all you need to click, but you aren't likely to click early or mistakenly either. Balance - something that a clicker trainer readily appreciates.
Everyone Can Click. The new StarMark Clicker is disabled friendly. Drop the clicker on the floor (it always lands in a clickable position) and you can click with your foot. Strap it to a wheel chair and click with your palm or chin.
What's a clicker?
A clicker is a small device that you can carry easily, attach to a jacket, or keep in a pocket. When you press on it, it makes a distinctive clicking sound.
You can click a clicker much faster than you can say "Good!" or any other praise word. I have experimented with making a clicking noise with my mouth, and have found that it's much slower than clicking a clicker. Since dogs can do a lot of different things in a short time period, the faster your click, the more likely you are to have indicated the exact behavior you wanted to reward.
I have often clicked a little too late to catch the behavior I wanted to indicate, though -- and I've learned that clicker training is a forgiving method. My goofs never seem to confuse the dog for long.
Recently, clicker trainers who work with Karen Pryor have come out with an improved clicker. It's smaller, quieter, easier to click, and easier for disabled people to use. I expect it will replace the other model over time. It's called the i-clicker and costs a bit more than the original type. I like it better in the pockets of my jeans too.
Clicker training is a relatively new method for working with dogs. Begun by dolphin trainer Karen Pryor, it has rapidly spread in popularity as its effectiveness has been proven -- with young puppies, with "problem dogs," with countless dogs in a great variety of situations. It's based solidly on scientific principles of how animals learn.
DOG CLICKER TRAINING
It is so much fun for both dogs and people that the training part just slips in!
Dog clicker training... gets the dog to figure out what you want, making it an enjoyable game.
This wonderful, cruelty-free method is revolutionizing dog training!
Are you using it yet? It's quite easy to learn at a basic level, and once you and your dog get the habit, it can be used for many enjoyable tricks as well as for all the essentials of training.
Want to know more? I've written an ebook called Seven Steps to Clicker Training Success with Your Dog, which you can get right away at no cost if you sign up for my free weekly newsletter. Find out more here.
Here's how you might do a short dog clicker training session (and short sessions work best for the dogs' learning):
You have a clicker in your hand, and some small treats in a pocket or nearby. You have chosen what you are going to train for this session... let's say it's "sit."
Your dog wanders over to see why something smells so good. He happens to lift his head up, and you click the clicker and give him a treat.
Now you've got his attention. Let's say he happens to sit. You immediately click and give him a large "jackpot" treat because he's done exactly what you want -- even though he didn't know you wanted it.
After some more rewards when he happens to do something that is either the behavior you want or part of it, he gets the idea that yummy treats come when he does certain things. He may offer you a variety of behaviors. Just reward the ones that you want.
If he doesn't sit because he is too excited by the treats, you could hold a treat over his head, so far back that he would sit (or even make a motion toward sitting) and then you could click that.
Once he definitely has the idea that sitting brings a treat (which could take more than one session), you can begin to use the word "sit" -- timing it so you say it just before you think he is about to sit. He still does the sitting because in his mind, sitting and treats are connected, but after he has heard the word 'sit" in that context enough times, he'll get the idea.
