Clicker Training

Clicker training is a very useful tecnique when it comes to training animals, or just trying to get them to do a trick. It's used in animal shelters, in your own homes, and many other places as well. Clicker training is even used in the veterinary field.

If you are a veterinarian and are traveling, the animal or animals you are hauling may be nervous and scared. When animals are nervous or scared they tend to be really antsy and they don't focus very well. In order to calm them down and to get them to pay attention you can use clicker training. You can have them focus on touching an object and every time they touch it, you click right away and give them a treat to maybe ease the nerves.


If you have to take your animal to the vets office and they have to be poked and proded then doing clicker training is a great thing to do. It gets their mind off of what the vet is doing. They just need to focus on your hand (which is holding a very tasty treat) and wait until the vet is done doing what needs to be done. Then, as a reward, your pet gets his treat. It helps the vet a lot and also your time there is not so nerve racking, and there is less of a chance that the vet will be bit.

For personal use in your own home you can also use clicker training. It can actually be fun to see your pets' results. For example, people have clicker trained their cats to run through tunnels, and to open a small door in order to get the treat. Another lady had a mule that wouldn't go into a wash stall. She used clicker training to make it go in. Every step he took got a click and a treat. Eventually the mule went into the stall with no problem and no hesitation what so ever. It all just takes practice.