I love clicker training- nearly as much as my dogs do. To reduce it to the essentials:
First you teach the dog that the click ALWAYS signifies a reward. Food is quick and easy, and appreciated by most dogs, but if your dog is very much into toys then a quick game may be equally rewarding.
Second - you click the behaviour - or step on the way to behaviour, that you want, and TREAT. Click always means a treat, remember.
Third - when you are getting consistent behaviour, you only click and treat the best 50-60%. The knack is to reward often enough to keep the dog interested, without rewarding poor/sloppy responses.
I need more practice - my timing is not good, and I am not very good at recognising the right moment to start reducing the reward rate. I am still convinced it is a brilliant training method, though!
If you start by looking at anything by Karen Prior, you won't go far wrong.
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