Hi. And, scared of the clicker.

[aotearoa]

Hi all.

 

My names Ivan, I'm in Auckland, New Zealand.

 

First post having recently been coerced by my daughter into adopting a blue heeler / kelpie boy. Ohhh boy. Kahu is his name. Talk about turn my home upside down and terrorise the cat. Born on 13 October so 11-12 weeks old. This is him a month or so ago, grown a lot since then:

 

Just a brief poser - has anyone had a puppy scared of a clicker, and if so how did you successfully with it? Is it just a matter of time or are there some good tips for success? Admittedly I only introduced it this morning for an hour or so and I don't think it's all that loud, but he isn't happy with it at all. It's my "square one" start point so hoping things will flow on from there, in time.

 

Kind regards!

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello and welcome to the forums!

Kahu is a beautiful name!

 

There are several ways around using a clicker if your dog finds its sound aversive. You can replace its sound with a verbal marker (yes!) or any virtually any other short word that is used exclusively for the purpose. You can also use a sound made with your mouth as long as you can easily make it often and keep it consistent.

 

However, studies have found that clicker provide cutting edge precision and some advantages over sounds produced by us. So if you want to use the clicker, you can try the following:

 

-You can try to keep the clicker inside a pocket. The pocket will help muffle the sound and make it less intimidating towards sensitive dogs.

-Another trick of the trade is to put several layers of tape on the clicker, again, for the purpose of muffling the sound. The keyword here is going gradually, therefore, as the dog learns that the click brings marvelous treats, you can start peeling off a layer of tape so to allow the dog to get step-by- step used to the clicking sound.

-For severely noise sensitive dogs, you can use a retractable pen that clicks.

-Use high value treats to create strong positive associations especially during the charging process.

[aotearoa]

Thanks Adrienne - tape to muffle the clicker and canine cuisine of the highest snacking order will be on my shopping list for today.