Verbal marker Vs Clicker

i just started training with a clicker a few weeks ago, on my 4 month old lhasa bichon mix. i didnt know where to find a clicker here in the philippines, so i use the cap of glass juice bottle. it makes a nice clicking sound. and it worked pretty well. she understood quite quickly what the clicker meant. and after a few sessions she already learned to sit, up(jump), down, stay, and touch.

before i used the "clicker" i actually made the clicking sound, just with my mouth. although it was simpler, both of your hands would be free. it was harder for the dog to understand that making that clicking or saying yes meant good things all the time. for clicker training to work, i do think that in the beginning, that sound you make would always have a reward right after. the problem with a verbal marker, or that clicking sound i made, was that these words or sounds are made by different people around the dog, and this is not always followed by a reward/praise.

unlike the clicker, the sound is peculiar, and only heard when we train. so she was able to pick up the connection after only a few clicks.

Blu said:

I can see the advantage of using a verbal marker like "Yes"
Timing should be more accurate, doesnt occupy a hand and you always have it with you.
Advantages that the clicker may have over the verbal marker?
Am trying to decide which to use so i can be consistent when i get my pup.
Please add to the advantage list of each, and which one you prefer.
Thank you for your help

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Timing might be more accurate with a clicker also. I know I'm FAR more exact with the timing with a clicker than I am with a verbal marker, especially for any behavior involving movement or that's to occur while moving. Targeting was much easier for me to get with the clicker. I find I can also teach him a movement with his body since he won't end a movement like that on the click (don't know why, but whatever!), like with the folding down. I could click the instant he begins the lean back into the down.

That said, I don't always use the clicker - I use my voice as well, especially if he's already nervous about something, like if he's investigating an object he's uncertain over, sometimes the click just makes him jump and get even more nervous, but if I say "good boy" he'll start sniffing it even more and interacting more and calm down. It's like my voice is what he'd rather hear in that situation *shrug*

Also, I've noticed that a lot of times if I use my voice, I can keep him going in the right track if I want him to keep going/doing what he's doing (or going). Click will tend to end the action with him (as I've read that's what it's meant to do). So if I don't want to lump, I'll click, but then I have a partial behavior. If I use my voice to encourage him, I can keep him going, then click then end result, while still giving him feedback along the way.

Otherwise, he's just fine with the clicker and it gets the point across in 90% of the time.

Like most things like this, I don't think it's an exclusive either/or. A lot of times, I use both - voice to say "keep it up" or "try again" and the click to say "Yay! You finished the task!" However, I'll say without a doubt that I'm glad I learned about clicker training and do have that way to make a communication with him.