Clicker Training Trivia Quiz

Answer: A small plastic box with a metal tongue that makes a clicking noise when pressed

The earliest clickers were children's toys, made of metal or plastic, with a tongue that made a clicking noise when pressed. They were often made in animal shapes, most commonly frogs. Sometimes they were called "crickets." The first clickers I ever bought were plastic and shaped like snowmen! Nowadays, clickers are made expressly for use in animal training.

Answer: As an event marker for the dog

The clicker serves to "mark" exactly what behavior the animal is being rewarded for. See below for how this is trained.

Answer: Something the dog enjoys

The click lets the dog know that "that behavior was what I wanted, your reward is coming!"

Answer: Click and then reward the dog. Do this multiple times

By pairing the click and the reward (usually food,) you teach the dog that the click means "something good is coming." For most dogs, 10-20 repetitions is enough to teach them this.

Answer: The rate of that behavior will increase

Because the click signals a reward, the rewarded behavior will increase. However, it's also important to know that the click signals the end of the behavior- that the reward is coming. So, for example, if you click sits, the number of sits will soon begin to increase. However, every time you click one sit, that sit is over, and the dog may get up to get his treat.

Answer: Anything that the dog is physically capable of doing

If the dog can do it, you can train it with a clicker.

Answer: Clicking for closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior, without luring the dog in any way

When free shaping, you wait for the dog to emit a behavior that is close to what you desire, then you click. You then click behaviors that are closer and closer to what you want. The advantage to this is that there are no prompts to fade. The disadvantage is that it cannot be used easily for complex behaviors. It's great for easy behaviors like "sit."

Answer: False

This is one of the biggest myths about clicker training. Clicker trainers generally do not use positive punishment- adding a punishing stimulus that decreases a behavior to a dog's environment, like a jerk on a choke collar. But they do use negative punishment- removal of something in the environment that decreases behavior.

For example, if the dog jumps up, the trainer may leave the room, thereby denying attention to the dog.

Answer: All of these

Dogs hear our voices all the time, and thus often ignore them! The clicker is a unique stimulus that has no other meaning to the dog. In addition, people can click faster than they can say "Good dog!"

Answer: False

Dogs have very good hearing- they have no trouble distinguishing which click is theirs!