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Clicker training can be used to teach many tricks as well as useful behaviours. As you learn about the tools that will help you to teach a new behaviour, give thought to how you can use them to get the behaviour that you want.
LURING Use food luring with caution. While this is a relatively simple way to start off a new behaviour, you will have the problem of getting rid of the lure at a future point. This is not always easy. Placing the emphasis on food has drawbacks as well as advantages.
TARGETING Using a target as a lure is probably a better starting point than using food. The use of your hand or better still a target stick will enable you to focus your dogs attention on the objective that you have in mind.
SHAPING This is the art and science of training! Breaking down the training objective into small increments. Using these small increments to build the whole behaviour by rewarding progressive stages along the way. Plan your criteria on paper before you start but be flexible and be prepared for your dog to show you alternative routes and to make "quantum leaps" towards the training goal. Do not stay at one criterion too long. If you do, the dog tends to view this stage as the finished product rather than an early stage of something else!
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