How to Use a Clicker to House Train a Dog

Not too long ago I was over at a friend's house. She was telling me that she could not housetrain her dog and that her dog was starting to bite her. A few minutes later I understood why her dog was having problems and biting her. Another friend came into the house and her dog became very excited. Her dog peed and she immediately picked up her dog and very firmly smacked her dog and threw her in the crate. My friend said, "No matter how much I smack her she still goes in the house."

Her dog was starting to bite her because she was smacking the dog a lot. Any living creature can only handle so much punishment before they start to lash out. The problem with housetraining is that it is not a behavior problem; it's a location problem. We just need to teach our dogs the proper location. This is done by clearly communicating to your dog.

My question was - if what you're doing is not working why do you keep doing the same thing. We all know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

A clicker is such a great training tool because it helps you pinpoint the behavior you are trying to teach. When you first start using a clicker you need to teach your dog that the sound of the clicker is followed by a treat. This is called classical conditioning. You click and then give a treat. You do this over and over until your dog hears the sound of the click and expects a treat. When you first start using the clicker you don't ask your dog to do any command. You just click and treat over and over. Within a short period of time your dog will know the sound of the clicker.

Once your dog understands the sound of the clicker you can start to use it to shape behavior. You have a tool that lets your dog know that they are being rewarded for doing a certain behavior. It really is an amazing training tool. A lot of dogs get confused about housetraining because they are not rewarded for going in the right place or they don't understand that they are getting the reward for going.

Now you can start to use the clicker to teach your dog where to go. The first step is to manage your dog's behavior. When you can't watch your dog you should put your dog in a crate. Most dogs won't go in the crate. When can't watch your dog keep a close eye on your dog. If your dog shows any signs of going quickly bring your dog outside.

Bring your dog outside on leash. It's important that your dog is on leash. You need to be close to your dog to properly communicate to him. As your dog is walking around sniffing the ground getting ready to go start saying, "Get busy," "Get busy," and wait until your dog goes. As soon as your dog starts to go don't say anything.

The second your dog is finished going click and treat your dog. Do this every time you bring your dog out. The important point to remember is that you need to be really consistent. You have to make sure that you are there every time your dog goes outside and you have to make sure you don't give your dog the opportunity to go in the house.