Clicker Training for Obedience

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Scent discrimination is one of the "advanced" obedience exercises, but it is actually one of the easiest to train. Why? You are working with the dog's single most acute sense: smell. Although the word is politically charged, in behavioral terms "discrimination" simply means a choice made on the basis of established criteria. In the case of scent articles, that criterion is the handler's scent ("find the one that smells like me").

While I have read all the great reviews, this book still managed to exceed my high expectations. "Clicker Training for Obedience" provides clear, concise instructions. If you are even remotely interested in clicker training, you MUST buy this book. I have seen not only great success with my dog, but also a dog that looks forward to training. I cannot say enough good things about the "Clicker Training for Obedience".

In this breakthrough book, Morgan Spector shows you how and why to use clicker training, the technology of operant conditioning and positive reinforcement, to train your dog. Whether you're starting off with a new puppy or headed for the Obedience ring, these step-by-step instructions will work for you. Morgan answers all the familiar questions about clicker training: "Why can't I just use my voice?" "What if the dog doesn't obey?" "When can I get rid of the food?"

From Chapter 2 of Clicker Training for Obedience. Many trainers who dip their toes into the waters of operant conditioning still reserve for themselves the option of "making" the dog do an exercise at some point in the training process. The theory, expressed in different ways, boils down to the notion that "the dog must know that it doesn't have any choice but to obey when I give a command." In response, I pose two questions: