# Toys for clicker training?



## miller123 (Aug 13, 2011)

So i have clicker trained miller, with food, but, when we agility train, im worried about giving him to many treats. So i was wondering if i could use a combo of treats and toys with the clicker, or should i just use treats? He has gotten better at not demanding the treats, and only gets one after two or three runs of the puppy course i made, so can i use toys with the clicker to, or will this confuze him? Thanks!


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

I think it would only work if he is motivated by something like playing with, or tugging on the toy.


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## miller123 (Aug 13, 2011)

oh he is, VERY, but he is very vocal when he plays LOL


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

miller123 said:


> So i have clicker trained miller, with food, but, when we agility train, im worried about giving him to many treats. So i was wondering if i could use a combo of treats and toys with the clicker, or should i just use treats? He has gotten better at not demanding the treats, and only gets one after two or three runs of the puppy course i made, so can i use toys with the clicker to, or will this confuze him? Thanks!


If you are only giving him one treat after two or three RUNS un the agility course (even a puppy one) you are probably not rewarding him enough. You need to build value in him paying attention to YOU. And I'm not sure how you are using a clicker, if you are only giving treats after a run. Every click needs to be followed by a treat, otherwise the click becomes meaningless. This is the biggest reason that most agility trainers don't use clickers past the beginning stage of introducing the obstacles. "Click" means behavior complete, so the dog stops running.

You can ABSOLUTELY use toys as a reward for agility work, after a run, after a sequence, or even after a single obstacle, depending on where the dog is in training. But a toy reward isn't really useful in clicker training, because it can't be used quickly enough after the click or often enough to be meaningful in this context.


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## miller123 (Aug 13, 2011)

the 'course' is really only a 1" jump and a tunnle, and i rarley use the clicker with this course, because he has been doing this one for awhile LOL


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

miller123 said:


> the 'course' is really only a 1" jump and a tunnle, and i rarley use the clicker with this course, because he has been doing this one for awhile LOL


OK, that's a fine "sequence" for a puppy... and playing with him with a tug toy at the end of this sequence would be absolutely appropriate!

Just wanted to make sure you know that if you click, you HAVE to reward. (even if you click by mistake, or click a "wrong" response) Otherwise you are undermining the force of the clicker.


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## Atticus (May 17, 2011)

In addition to Karen's good info. Don't feel you need to use the clicker all the time! The clicker is used to teach a behavior, once a dog has a behavior you don't use it anymore. People get confused because you reward after a click but really just a reward (treat or toy) is fine! I rarely used a clicker in my agility training (and I used to teach beginner agility) because with luring and rewards it didn't seem necessary. As things got more advanced I did click for speed training on poles. Clickers mark the behavior you want, if the dog knows what to do no need for it just reward!


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