Training, 7 min read

Clicker training in five minutes a day

By the PackDay team. Checked against the sources listed at the end.

A clicker is a small tool that tells your dog “yes, that one” at the exact moment they get something right. Five focused minutes a day is enough to teach your first three behaviours.

What a marker is and why it works

A marker is a short, distinct signal that means “that’s it, a reward is coming”. The clicker is the best known. A word like “yes” works too, and so can a short whistle blip.

The marker solves a timing problem. Your dog sits, and by the time you’ve found a treat they’ve stood up again. The click pinpoints the moment you liked. The treat follows a second or two later.

This is positive reinforcement: behaviour that earns something good is more likely to happen again. RSPCA Australia supports reward-based training as the most humane and effective way to train dogs, and says it does not involve aversive techniques, physical punishment or asserting dominance. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) recommends that only reward-based methods are used for all dog training. Its position statement names a clicker or verbal marker as a normal part of that work.

One honest note. A 2016 study comparing a clicker, a spoken word and food alone found dogs learned a new task equally well in all three groups. A 2020 review found conditioned reinforcers like the click do work, but said more research is needed. So the click isn’t magic. Its value is that it helps you be precise and consistent.

Charging the clicker

Before the click means anything, your dog needs to learn that it predicts food. This is called charging, or loading, the clicker.

1. Get 15 to 20 small treats and keep them out of sight, in a pouch or behind your back.
2. Click once, then give a treat straight away.
3. Wait a few seconds, varying the gap, then repeat.
4. Keep your hands still when you click. Reach for the treat only after the sound, so the click is the signal, not your hand.
5. After a couple of short rounds, click while your dog is looking elsewhere. If their head turns quickly towards you, the clicker is charged.

Timing: click, then treat

Click the instant the behaviour happens. Not a second later, and not while you’re reaching into your pocket. Then deliver the treat.

Two rules keep the click meaningful:

• Every click earns a treat. In a 2020 study, dogs that got food after only some clicks learned no faster than dogs rewarded every time, and showed a more pessimistic outlook in later testing.
• One click per behaviour. A string of clicks doesn’t mean “extra good”. It just blurs which moment you meant.

Treats and session length

Use tiny, soft treats your dog loves, small enough to swallow in a second. The RSPCA notes that favourite treats are often small pieces of meat or cheese. Take them out of your dog’s daily food so training doesn’t mean overfeeding.

Keep sessions short. The San Francisco SPCA suggests about five minutes, two or three times a day, for teaching a hand target. A Danish study found dogs that did a single short session learned better than dogs that did three sessions back to back. More practice in one go isn’t better. Short and regular wins.

End each session with something your dog already knows, so it finishes on a success, as the RSPCA advises.

Behaviour 1: name and eye contact

This is the foundation for everything else. Vets at UC Davis say a dog should know their name and make eye contact when they hear it before you start recall training.

1. Sit somewhere quiet with treats ready.
2. Say your dog’s name once, in a happy voice.
3. The moment their eyes meet yours, click, then treat.
4. If they don’t look, wait. Don’t repeat the name. Make a small kissy noise if you need to, and click as soon as they look.
5. Do five to ten repetitions, then stop.

Behaviour 2: sit

This follows the method Dogs Trust recommends.

1. Hold a treat at your dog’s nose.
2. Move it slowly up and back over their head. As their head rises, their bottom should go down.
3. Click the instant their bottom touches the floor, then give the treat.
4. After several easy wins, make the same hand movement with no treat in that hand. Click, then treat from your pouch.
5. Once your dog sits reliably to the hand signal, say “sit” once, then give the signal. Click and treat.
6. Over time, your dog will sit when they hear the word.

Never push your dog’s bottom down. Dogs Trust advises patience instead.

Behaviour 3: hand target

A hand target teaches your dog to touch their nose to your palm. Dogs Trust notes it helps with vet visits and grooming, and can turn your dog’s attention back to you around distractions.

1. Hold a flat, empty hand a few centimetres from your dog’s nose. Keep treats in your other hand behind your back.
2. When their nose touches your palm, click, then treat from the hidden hand.
3. Wait for your dog to come to your hand. Don’t move your hand to touch them, as the San Francisco SPCA points out.
4. When they touch reliably, say “touch” as you present your hand.
5. Start moving your hand a little left, right, higher and lower.

Using a verbal marker or whistle instead

You won’t always have a clicker in your hand. A verbal marker is always with you, and AVSAB lists it alongside the clicker.

• Pick a short word you don’t use in everyday chat, such as “yes” or “yip”.
• Charge it exactly as you would a clicker: word, then treat, 15 to 20 times.
• Say it the same way every time, in a clear, neutral tone.

A whistle works the same way. Use one short blip as your marker. If you also plan to use a whistle for recall, give that a different, longer pattern so the two never get confused.

Common mistakes

• Clicking to get attention. The click marks a behaviour. It isn’t “hey, look at me”. If you click to call your dog over, you’ve rewarded whatever they were doing at that moment.
• Clicking without treating. Every click is a promise. Breaking it weakens the signal and, as the 2020 study suggests, may not feel good for your dog.
• Sessions that run too long. If your dog starts wandering off, sniffing or getting sloppy, you’ve gone past their limit. Stop sooner next time.
• Repeating cues. Say “sit” once. If your dog doesn’t respond, help with the lure or make the task easier. If you say “sit, sit, sit”, your dog may learn that the cue is three words, or that the first two can be ignored.

Troubleshooting

Your dog flinches at the click. Some dogs find the sound startling. The Louisiana SPCA suggests muffling the clicker in a cloth or your pocket and unwrapping it gradually as your dog gets comfortable. You can also skip the clicker and use a soft verbal marker.

Your dog seems worried. The RSPCA lists yawning, lip licking, ears back and turning the head away among signs a dog is uncomfortable. If you see them, make the session easier and quieter.

Your dog stares at your treat hand. Keep treats in a pouch or behind your back, and keep your hands still until after the click.

Sources

• RSPCA Australia Knowledgebase: What is reward-based dog training and why does the RSPCA support it?
• RSPCA Australia Knowledgebase: What does my dog’s body language mean?
• American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior: Position statement on humane dog training (2021)
• Chiandetti et al., Applied Animal Behaviour Science (2016): Can clicker training facilitate conditioning in dogs?
• Pfaller-Sadovsky et al., Animals (2020): What’s in a click? The efficacy of conditioned reinforcement in applied animal training
• Cimarelli et al., Animal Cognition (2020): Partial rewarding during clicker training does not improve naïve dogs’ learning speed and induces a pessimistic-like affective state
• University of Copenhagen, Demant et al., Applied Animal Behaviour Science (2011): The effect of frequency and duration of training sessions on acquisition and long-term memory in dogs
• RSPCA UK: How to train your dog and top training tips
• San Francisco SPCA: Touch command
• Dogs Trust: Teach your dog to sit
• Dogs Trust: Train your dog to touch a target
• UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine: Recall training in dogs
• Louisiana SPCA: Charging the clicker