Clicking for three? Help please

[Casey Laurie]

I want to do this right this time.
I decided to give clicking another go...but how the heck do I click for multiple dogs without them getting confused? Do I give them each a different sequence of clicks, or just one click?

PS: Seperate training is not an option as there is no other room for the dogs to be contained in.

[Renee]

Casey-

If separate training is not an option, have you considered buying a clicker plus. http://www.clickertraining. com/store/ It is a electronic clicker that has 2 different volumes and 4 different sounds. The only thing that I don't like about it is that I think you loose a little bit of reliablilty when you use an electronic clicker over a manual clicker. Or another solution would be to purchase 3 different sounding clickers. You could use a traditional box clicker, and i-clicker (my favorite) and maybe a snapple cap or something that sounds like a clicker.

[Casey Laurie]

The Clicker+ seems really neat, but I'm afraid I would get confused and click the wrong sound for whichever dog I'm clicking. I don't see it as practical for my immediate purposes. I do have a baby gate again now, as my husband fixed the one that Lilly broke the other night so that should work. This time around is so much different from the last. I tried clicking with my dogs a couple of years ago and it just never really took. The dogs were too nervous about it. This time though they love it! In one day we've already improved the dog/dog relations and poor Lilly's obsession with my DH. Mostly the dog/dog relations.
No fights today AT ALL. :bunny:

http://www.purr3d.com/Lilly/happyhappy.jpg

PS: Skippy in a tube rocks!

[Renee]

Also-

One click = one treat......I'm not sure that you really want to use a sequence of clicks.....the reason you click is because you are "marking" a behavior at that particular instant of time. If you click more than once, the dog is not going to understand what exaxtly you are clicking for...

[Melissa Brunoehler]

Hi Casey~

I clicker train & have more than one dog, here's what I do-

When teaching a new behavior I work with only one dog at a time. The other dog is put somewhere else with a toy to keep him occupied. When first teaching a new behavior I use a regular clicker to click. Once the dog has learned the behavior I begin to incorporate tongue clicks. Now the dog knows what both the regular clicker & tongue click mean. (tongue clicks are really handy when you have your hands full)

Once each dog has the desired behavior on cue I'll work with both dogs together. When the 1st dog performs the behavior that I request I'll click with my tongue(because it's quieter) & give that dog a treat. I'll only use the regular clicker if both dogs are doing what they're supposed to be doing.

I hope this helps & makes sense

[Casey Laurie]

Thanks!

Now that we have the baby gate back in working order we can separate them for training. I decided to walk them seperately for now as well as it seems to be less stressful for all of us that way.

[Susan Bacon]

Melissa, I got involved in this thread because I was having the same questions Casey has. Like you, the trainer we have said to always crate one when learning new behaviors, but sometimes it's just not possible when they're together and I want to mark a reward for exceptional behavior. The tongue click is a great idea--often I find myself without my clicker too, so that's a great substitute. Thanks for the tips!

Casey, great picture btw!

Susan