01/05/2020
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How often do you train wordlessly? .
Think about all the times throughout the day we use our voices—to our dogs, to each other, on the phone, hearing more voices in movies and social media, etc. Unless you have perfect tonal accuracy, I can guarantee you that relying solely on your voice causes miscommunication with your dog; likely more than you think. .
The simpler, the better. Kalani is a dog who is VERY stimulated by vocal reassurance and physical touch. For dogs like her (for ALL dogs, really), the clicker is a game-changing tool. Think about how much inflection we carry in our words. And how often our verbal markers turn from “Good” or “Yes” to “Gooood job, very nice, good girl!” or “Yes! Great job, yes, good!” therefore destroying the clarity of the original marker. .
A clicker is always the same. A clicker allows clearer communication, and clearer handling. I can stop focusing so much on what I’m saying and how, and more on what I’m DOING. .
Dogs rely on body language. Humans are selfish. We believe that because we run our mouths with self-declared important information, every species must recognize and understand and respond to it. But to dogs, how you position yourself, how you present your food, how you tug and how you play, is far more important than what you say. Your dog will learn to ABSORB the presented information, not drown it out while waiting for something they can actually internalize. .
Now, this isn’t to say I don’t use my voice with my dogs—I verbally praise and talk at them all day! But I try to incorporate as many silent training sessions as I can. And if I HAVE to speak, I limit it to “name” and “command,” and otherwise let my body, and my clicker, do the talking. Try a couple wordless sessions; experiment with how they alter your training clarity and your dog’s attention. If done properly, I promise the impact will be vastly beneficial.