clicker timing

[GSD Woman]

I'm teaching a group class for my dog club.
The training director told one of my students to try using a clicker. This is an older man with a young, very submission, border collie. His wife is a friend of mine and has been trying to help him with a multiprong approach.

Yesterday in class the man was using a clicker. His timing was waay off. I told him to not use the clicker since the timing was wrong. He does better with praise and reward.

Has anyone else had a student with this problem?

 

[CorvusCorax]

A lot of people think they need to use the clicker to get the dog's attention, is that the issue? Bad timing is bad timing so I don't understand why one marker (praise - my marker word is YEP) is working and the other (clicker) is not. I do have people with poor timing but the issue is the same whether it is a clicker or a verbal mark. Is it a physical/dexterity issue?
For me the mark is more important, that's the signal that the reward is coming. The delivery of the reward can come more slowly.

 

[ArklePig]

I have absolutely shite timing with the clicker, it's a dexterity thing as it's one more thing to hold between a lead and treats with arthritic hands. I was all fumbly, didnt last long. Incidentally it was before I knew I had arthritis so thought I was just being a butter fingers. I changed to just saying 'good' and it's much much better. Is he struggling with the sequence of events or is he just not doing what you tell him to do?

 

[GSD Woman]

He's waiting to long to click. He's much better with his verbal markers and praise.
This is the first dog he's trained. His wife is experienced. I finally had her come out on the floor to help him with timing and walking quickly enough.
I had 7 other students, 4 on the training floor at a time, so I couldn't dedicate all of my time to him.
Teri, the wife said she'll try and come to the last 2 class to help with him.
Eons ago, I had a dog rupture a cruciate and I tried verbal marker vs clicker to shape getting into a square made of a single layer of PCV.
My timing with my voice was far more accurate.

 

[satinbaze]

A few years ago at one of the pet dog training classes I helped out the group was clicker training the dog to look at you. One older gentleman with a border terrier had such bad timing what he actually trained was the dog to turn its head away

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Ime a physical clicker is just an added layer of equipment that is as likely to impede the process as not. What is wrong with a click of the tongue, if there has to be a click rather than a word?

 

[Teaselmeg]

At the behaviour classes I help with, one of us used the clicker whilst the owner fed the reward, so they could get the hang of observing the dog and basically having someone tell them when the good stuff that needed to be rewarded was happening. The penny dropped much quicker this way. I like the clicker as it takes away any emotion that may come from the handler's voice.

There are lots of different clickers now that make it easier to hold a clicker and the lead and reward, I use one that is a ring with the button on the inside of my hand.

 

[CorvusCorax]

At the behaviour classes I help with, one of us used the clicker whilst the owner fed the reward, so they could get the hang of observing the dog and basically having someone tell them when the good stuff that needed to be rewarded was happening. The penny dropped much quicker this way. I like the clicker as it takes away any emotion that may come from the handler's voice.

There are lots of different clickers now that make it easier to hold a clicker and the lead and reward, I use one that is a ring with the button on the inside of my hand.

Yep I always get someone else competent to operate my clicker for me if I am working on something in particular. This is also why I prefer to train one person/dog at a time. Group lessons are a very human thing but it is not always the best thing for the dog IMO, unless there are multiple trainers to watch everyone.

 

[GSD Woman]

At the behaviour classes I help with, one of us used the clicker whilst the owner fed the reward, so they could get the hang of observing the dog and basically having someone tell them when the good stuff that needed to be rewarded was happening. The penny dropped much quicker this way. I like the clicker as it takes away any emotion that may come from the handler's voice.

I like the idea of someone helping by the clicking at the appropriate time. This is a small class on 8 students and I'm pretty much on my own. My assistant is the husband of an older woman in the class. He pretty much opens the gate to the ring and vacuums the floor after class. Over the years I've learned to to pay quick attention to all the students. Once I had to fly across the floor to stop a GSD from grabbing a dachshund. After that I learned to break up my classes into groups for heeling and such.