I love clicker training! I've had great success with using it for all three of my dogs' obedience behaviors, and for some behavioral modification as well (I'm using Click to Calm with Willow but we're not very far yet).
What I like about clicker training is that my reflex for hitting that button is faster than my reflex for saying "Good" or "Yes", so I have a better chance of having good timing when I train. I also like that the click is a neutral sound, uninfluenced by my current mood, stress level, or anything else, so it always gives the dog the same signal. And, I can hand the clicker off to anyone else and they can train my dogs, and they'll understand the click no matter who is giving it.
I've found clicker training to work well on all different types of dogs, as long as you have a good background in dog training theory you can achieve many things with the clicker. It's been great for my fearful, shy dog (Bandit), my reactive, outgoing and pushy dog (Willow), and my hyperactive, puppylike, has-no-manners dog (Jasper). It's a great method that can be adapted to any dog's needs.
Adding the cue later DOES seem counterintuitive at first, but believe me, it's a great way to make sure you're naming the behavior you actually want, instead of what the dog is offering at first. For instance - say you're teaching your dog to sit, and your goal is a FAST response with a square butt-on-floor posture. Your dog is giving you a slow reaction, sitting lopsidedly with her feet splayed out to the side. If you already named THAT "Sit", it's hard to change. But if not, and you waited until she'd perfected the "Sit" to name it, you get that perfect response you're looking for every time.
At least, that's my understanding of it. Am I making sense? It's hard to explain, but it's a great concept even though it seems bizarre at first.
What I like about clicker training is that my reflex for hitting that button is faster than my reflex for saying "Good" or "Yes", so I have a better chance of having good timing when I train. I also like that the click is a neutral sound, uninfluenced by my current mood, stress level, or anything else, so it always gives the dog the same signal. And, I can hand the clicker off to anyone else and they can train my dogs, and they'll understand the click no matter who is giving it.
I've found clicker training to work well on all different types of dogs, as long as you have a good background in dog training theory you can achieve many things with the clicker. It's been great for my fearful, shy dog (Bandit), my reactive, outgoing and pushy dog (Willow), and my hyperactive, puppylike, has-no-manners dog (Jasper). It's a great method that can be adapted to any dog's needs.
Adding the cue later DOES seem counterintuitive at first, but believe me, it's a great way to make sure you're naming the behavior you actually want, instead of what the dog is offering at first. For instance - say you're teaching your dog to sit, and your goal is a FAST response with a square butt-on-floor posture. Your dog is giving you a slow reaction, sitting lopsidedly with her feet splayed out to the side. If you already named THAT "Sit", it's hard to change. But if not, and you waited until she'd perfected the "Sit" to name it, you get that perfect response you're looking for every time.
At least, that's my understanding of it. Am I making sense? It's hard to explain, but it's a great concept even though it seems bizarre at first.