One Trick Dog/clicker Training And Need Help!

[carnivoraa]

Hello, I am new here and would love some advice.

My dog is about 11 months old and I have had him since he was 3 mos old. So far he can do 'sit' 'down' 'stay' 'roll over' and 'bang'. 'Bang' is a trick where he lays on his side with his head on the ground and plays dead. He can't do them perfectly on command but he can.

Unfortunately this was all done via luring with no clicker. So I started to introduce the clicker today.

When I'm in the house he is always really close to me, so when I would call his name if he looked at me I would click and give him a treat. The problem is IMMEDIATELY right when I give him the treat he slides over on his side and does the 'bang' trick.

Right now I'm trying to train him to 'stand' and 'heel'.

So I would recall (click when he comes) and treat him. He comes to my side and before I can tell him anything else he already falls over and 'bangs' because he wants his next treat!

He doesn't follow my 'lure' anymore when I'm trying to get him to stand. The second I pull the treat out he's already on his side and waiting for the treat!

So my question is should I go back to 'sit' 'down' and 'stay' so he can do them on perfect verbal cue?

When I have tried this he just does the 'bang' trick ALL the time!

So I'm basically ready to start over and would love any advice.

 

[Pawbla]

He's just associating the treat to the trick. So when he sees a treat, he'll do a bang. Are you always using the same treats? If you are, just using something different might do the trick.
Also the clicker doesn't necessarily replace the luring. But shaping is cooler for more complex tricks.

However I'd suggest not moving on until he's 100% on the other tricks and teaching him the idea of the clicker with the commands he already knows. Does he wait for his treat while on sit/down? If so, you might want to teach the use of the clicker with that one. Usually people just click and treat regardless of the activity the dog is doing when they're teaching him that "clicker means food", though.

Also don't give him the treat if he's not in position. If he does a bang, ask him again for a sit. Don't give him the treat until he's in the position you asked for initially.

 

[Caiti]

I agree with Pawbia, he associated training with 'bang' (adorable trick by the way ).

I would start by working on the other tricks he already sort of knows, like sit, down and stay. Be very strict when you ask for them, have a clear voice when you say the command. If he does the trick, click, give him a treat and lots of praise. Make a big deal out of it. If he does 'bang', ignore it. Don't even look at him. Don't even show him the treat. Just ask him for the trick again. Repeat this with one trick, sit for example, until he gets the hang of it. Eventually, you should notice a decrease in the amount of 'bang's he does.

It will take a lot of patience, but you really need to drive home that doing bang on command does not bring a reward. If he ever does a trick when you don't ask him too, bang or not, just ignore it. Don't say anything, don't laugh, don't look at him, don't show the treat. Calmly ask for another trick. Don't ask for bang for a little while, maybe a couple of weeks, while you work on this. Then, when he stops offering bang without you asking and the problem seems gone, bring it back.

Hope this helps! Remember, patience is key.

 

[Dogster]

Looks like someone has a favourite trick!!

I agree with Pawbla and Caiti, when you're training your dog, don't ask for bang, and if he does it, ignore it. It may be that he doesn't know what you're asking him to do, so he just does bang, to get a treat. Reward heavily for a sit or down. Be patient, it may take a while. Keep us posted!!

 

[threenorns]

dandy always tries to "cheap" his way into a treat by doing "peekaboo" - this was a trick that was a serious source of frustration (i'm not good with explaining the subtle stuff) and he didn't actually "get it" until i'd given up and moved on to backward leg weaves, at which point not only did he start doing it perfectly but, as usual, added his own cue (if i wink, the eye i wink is the paw he peekaboos with and i'm not kidding, that's all him bec i never even thought of it).

my question is, why are you using the clicker if you've been getting good results without it?

i use the clicker, sure, but seriously, if i can't find it, i honestly don't care.

clickers are great if it works for you and your dog but if it doesn't, just forget it. it's not the be-all and end-all.