[jDeanne26]

  :) Hello, I have just recently adopted an 8.5 week old golden retriever male puppy.  I want to begin training him pretty much right away.  I have bought a clicker and very small healthy treats for rewards.  Has anyone done clicker training with their dogs? If so, how did you find it? (pro's con's)  Also, if you have any other tips on training, walking on leashes or housebreaking don't hold back, I would love all the advice I can get!

[rex123]

Don't know much about clicker training but I have a few tips for walking on the leash and housebreaking. If you want a dog that walks well try a halti or even an anti-pull harness. When house training your dog its good to put there food and water up a few hours before bed to avoid accidents. Its also good for your dog to have his own sleeping place because he won't want to mess in it.

[linnealand]

I've also been curious about people's experiences with clicker training. I know everything I've read has been very supportive of it. There's a lot you can find on the original clicker training site (I can't remember the name of it now, but a quick Google search will get you there).

I've been extremely happy with two books on puppy ownership. The first is the puppy whisperer by paul owens. how to raise a dog you can live with is also excellent. I've read 6 so far, and those are really the best.

We got our pooch at 8 weeks. Using owens' methods, I taught our puppy to sit the second day we had him. The next day he learned lie down, and on the third day, he was walking like a champ with a leash. Now at 11 weeks, he responds very well to all kinds of little tricks from "belly up" to "jump" and "kisses." I never spend more than a couple of minutes per lesson, but I do them when I see that he'd be into it. If you do read the book, you'll find that owens is incredibly positive and thoughtful.

I do use food rewards, and they work so well that it's worth it! His favorite is turkey breast (not cold cuts), which I buy in a couple of 1/2 inch slices from the butcher and bake in the oven on a non-stick pan with no salt or oil. Then I cut it into little cubes and keep them in an open ziplock bag. I will also use cheese (not the fake stuff!) cut in cubes.

Because we live in an apartment in a big city, we have decided to train him using both wee-wee pads and the outdoors. I had gridlock brand pads shipped here from overseas, and I'm so glad I did! They're absolutely fantastic. We were set on crate training him from the beginning, but he was not having it on the first night, and since he has been so well behaved, we are letting him run pretty freely, even at night. The wee-wee pads attract puppies to pee on them, and he's pretty great with them. Some crate training is happening on the side.

We bought a couple of kongs because they have been so highly recommended by everybody and his mother, but he hasn't gone too wild about them. It might be because we didn't get the puppy sized ones.

Get lots and lots of different toys. It's better that your pup chews on those than on something else.

Big congratulations to you! We were choosing between getting a golden retriever and an english cocker (well, we also considered afghans until we took out our measuring tape) - they're really wonderful dogs.

I would love to hear updates from you on your puppy and clicker experiences! In the meantime, good luck!

[beebeecee]

I have been working with our dogs on clicker training started about 8 months ago and so far it's going really well, I'm by no means a "purist" though - I've always done the more traditional methods like luring the dog while saying the command, Rupert turned out fantasticly with those methods though a bit slow and unenthusiastic sometimes and I think that there are some shortcomings in clickertraining though I've honestly never tried the more advanced methods - like when dealing with aggression I still prefer a leash pop because when it's done correctly and with the right timing it doesn't have to be repeated and it's not abusive. I feel like with Rupert I missed out, he's already 8 and when I started training him as a pup we used exclusively food rewards - he's a fat slob but he'll do ANYTHING for food but it's pretty hard to get him into play mode which is unfortunate, I think that's also a downside to clickertraining, at least in my mind - that people(read *me*) use only food rewards and not other things. A good example is going outside - apparently for a well housebroken dog going outside to pee first thing in the morning is a huge major motivation, so asking for a simple sit before I open the door to go out and clicking the sit sent a huge message - I had been trying for more than a year to condition the dogs to sit still so I could open the door but in one day they "got the message" that sitting was what I wanted before I'd open the door and I didn't use treats - I just clicked then opened the door quickly.

I like clicker training for the simple reason that it's fun for the dog as well as for me. I can carry the clicker around with treats and whenever one of our dogs does something cute or goofy I can click and treat and capture that goofyness and it goes really well with other motivational methods/toys. We got 2 min pin pups 10 months ago and they've got a rediculus amount of prey/play drive but they're also oddly timid at times so for them playing with toys like the flirt pole and doing clickertraining is ideal - keeps everything fun and upbeat and doesn't give them a chance to dwell on their wierdness.

A flirt pole is a great, wonderful toy I can't give glowing enough reviews on - it's basically something you can make yourself with a 6-8foot length of 1/2inch pvc pipe that's got a bit of flex, a length of rope run through and hanging out the end of the pipe like a fishing pole then tie a rag or old sock on the end of the rope and turn in circles dragging the rag and occasionally flipping it into the air or abrubtly change directions. Doing backflips and running and darting at full speed builds eye/paw coordination AND I've never found anything that can tire a dog out so quickly - 5 mintues chasing after the flirt pole is literally like a 30 minute walk and it goes great with clicker training, our 10 month old female min pin is still young so she's not mature enough yet for it to be safe for us to go all out for long periods of time(long hard excersize on young dogs can ruin their joints for life) but she'll do ANYTHING if I've got the pole in one hand with the lure pinched in a finger ready to be released and the clicker in the other, so I click and flip - she catches, shakes the lure I say drop she drops and then I ask for something else or she does something on her own and we continue on that way... loads of fun. :)

Really though, in my opinion ANY training method can work wonderfully so long as you have open eyes and patience and compassion and humor.

My advice basically consists of this: Don't be afraid to use toys in addition to food, because they are one of the greatest motivators, create lots of little games between you and the pup - small rituals that are fun and appealing to you and feel natural, and really, just play play play!