Beagle Training - Clicker Training 101

Would you like to accelerate your beagle's obedience training, teach your beagle tricks faster or change some of your beagle's behaviors more efficiently? Then read on about this technology.


What is a clicker?

A clicker is a device that makes sounds and that you can use to train your beagle. If you apply proper clicker training, this technology can help accelerate the learning process or modify certain behaviors without having to resort to punishment. What you actually do is to make your beagle want to learn the commands and tricks or the new desired behavior.

How does it work?

Clicker training is a way of training your beagle to perform a desired action by marking the desired action with a sound and reinforcing it, thus making the behavior more likely to be repeated again in the future.

Steps to clicker training your beagle

The first step is to build the right connection in your beagle's brain. The connection you want to build is: "clicker sound equals reward; something good is on the way". How do you do it? You get a bag of treats and your good clicker and you click, pause, and treat your beagle. Sometimes in less than 15 minutes you can complete this step.

The second step is to teach your beagle a certain behavior or command by marking the behavior with the clicker every time your beagle displays that specific behavior that you desire and rewarding your beagle with a treat. The dog must be convinced it has achieved specifically what you had instructed. For example, you may try teaching the Beagle how to sit, come, or bring you the newspaper. The dog then learns to respond specifically to the sound of the clicker and, of course, to the reward that follows.

Repetition is the key to making the dog understand the behavioral response you expect. By clicking and rewarding your beagle every time they perform the desired behavior, you are helping them making powerful brain connections. Later on you can substitute treats with praise. The ultimate aim is that the sound of the clicker is enough reward for your beagle.

In step 3, you incorporate verbal commands. Following the adaptation stage of clicker training, verbal commands can be slowly initiated, especially when you are not carrying a clicker with you. The transition is possible by first using the clicker, repeating it with a verbal command, and then using the clicker again. Don't forget the reward.