For today’s dog training and animal behavior tidbit we answer the often asked question, “What is a clicker and how do you use it in dog training?”

If you prefer to read about what a clicker is, and how to use it when training your dog, below is a lightly edited transcript of the video.

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Hi, thanks for joining us. I’m Terrie Hayward from Positive Animal Wellness and today we’re going to talk about a question that I often get asked which is, “What is a clicker and how do you use it in dog training?”

For those of you that are not familiar with a clicker, a clicker is a small device that makes a consistent and repeatable sound. This is called a box clicker and on the back, it has a little bit of metal and when I push my thumb into one part of it, it makes a clicking type of a sound. There are other clickers that look similar maybe with rounded corners, maybe with a little bump instead of the box design, but they’re all set up to do the same thing.

Basically, clickers are a marker and a marker is a communication device. They allow us to communicate with an animal and explain, when you hear this noise it means that the thing you just did was what has now earned you access to something you find reinforcing.

A marker allows us to pinpoint a behavior that we’d like to highlight and then what we need to do is make sure we pair our marker with something the animal, the individual learner, finds reinforcing. That’s key because otherwise, a clicker on its own is just a plastic box. But if the animal understands that every single time you make this “click” noise it means something good is on the way to them–then they start to look out for that noise. The animal realizes the thing I just did earns the click–let me do that more often because it means I now have a road or path to access something I like.

In particular, clickers are handy because they are a unique sound in the environment, they carry no emotion, and it sounds the same no matter who uses the clicker. However, in addition to a clicker you can also use a verbal marker. Sometimes people use the word “yes” or the word “good.” Remember, a verbal marker is always paired with something the dog finds reinforcing.

Additionally, you can use another type of auditory marker. You may have seen the use of a whistle with marine mammals. We can use whistles with dogs too, again, always pairing our marker–whether it’s a clicker, a verbal marker, or an auditory marker–with a reinforcer. We can even use visual or tactile markers. I frequently work with deaf dogs and so this “closed fist, open fist, closed fist” is my visual clicker. Just like my auditory clicker anytime I make that sound or make this “starfish” hand gesture I always pair it with something that my learner finds reinforcing.

When it comes to training your dog, I hope that you’ll consider using a clicker and doing some clicker training. Whether it’s with your clicker, with a verbal marker, or with a visual marker to better communicate your with your animal.

Thanks so much for joining me!