Guess what finally arrived at the library yesterday! The 101 tricks book! Katie appears to be less than excited, but that’s because she didn’t get to see it until after her bedtime, when I finally arrived home from work.
I haven’t had time to study anything yet, but I have hope! Meanwhile, last Saturday I took Katie to our local pet store and purchased an inexpensive CLICKER! It’s really loud. And worse, Katie HATES HATES HATES the clicker. I sat on the floor with a bunch of treats and called her. Clicked when she came to me and attempted to give her a treat. The clicker caused her to back away, eyes wide. I tried again. She backed up further. Didn’t want anything to do with the clicker OR the treats OR me! I tried several times, tossing her the treats which she gulped down, but she wouldn’t come near me. Over the past 3 days we’ve tried a few times, but she still HATES the clicker. I’m not sure if this is normal and if I should keep trying to get her to come to associate it with treats.
Then I tried the free timing that Ludo explained by putting a large tin in the living room and seeing what she’d do with it. I didn’t use the clicker, it was scary enough for her to have something in the living room “THAT WASN’T THERE BEFORE MOM! 
IT DOESN’T BELONG THERE MOM! WHAT’S IT DOING IN MY LIVING ROOM MOM? I DON’T LIKE IT! NOT AT ALL! oh…there’s a treat on the top? Well…maybe…I’ll just take that treat off your hands, you know, just help myself to that tasty morsel… ” 
But that’s about all she would do. She wouldn’t have anything to do with it except to take a treat off the top and stare at it intently.
So far, our tricky t-day isn’t all that tricky is it! Well, we HAVE been working on “walking the board” in an attempt to get her over her fear of the dogwalk at agility. Not that we’ve been able to actually GO to agility class, but maybe someday. So, we practiced that a bit this week. 
We played with the frisbee as a treat in between working on our obedience skills, heeling, staying, standing and then running on the board. She’s almost at the point that I can say “Walk the board!” and she’ll go (almost) on her own and run the board. She stops though if I’m not running next to her, to make sure that’s what I really meant. 
She’s not quite ready to just run it herself. She has, however, on occassion, gone over and walked over the board all by herself without any direction at all from me. Then she looks at me and grins as if to say, “SEE? I can do this board thing..where’s my treat?”
Silly girl.
Change Is Hard 
July 21, 2009 at 5:24 am
That’s my FAVORITE trick book! I love all the photos.
Misty hates the regular clickers too. She runs and hides. Maybe you can return it, I wouldn’t push it if she hates it…I just read in a book (about fearful dogs) that if your dog is afraid of the clicker, you can try using a retractable pen (a much softer sound)! Never thought of that! I use an expensive electronic clicker that is impossible to find a replacement for right now! So, I may have to start carrying around a pen soon…
Katie looks very happy on the plank! Good trick!
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July 21, 2009 at 5:25 am
Hi
Sorry to hear that Katie hate the clicker!! But you can get a clicker which have a soft sound which is very good for the sensitive dogs!. Not all pet store have them – may be you have to look in another pet stores or buy one on the internet. Someone like this have a soft sound:
You can probably find one were you live :o)
Good luck with the training :o)
//Bente
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July 21, 2009 at 5:47 am
You can try putting the clicker in your pocket to muffle the sounds. Thats what i did with Miley when we first started. Diana
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July 21, 2009 at 6:03 am
Mom suspects that I would be afraid of the clicker too if she tried one out with me. And I am not doing well with free timing either! So Katie and I are a real pair!! LOL!
You could try teaching her some tricks just by luring and maybe that will increase her confidence for doing a lot of stuff!
Doesn’t Tuesday come around so fast? Where is the summer going?
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July 21, 2009 at 7:41 am
I hate the clicker too, my mom tried it when I was little and I ran outside and stood there barking at it. Mom also thought about it and says if you clicker train us, what happens if you are our and don’t have a clicker with you? She prefers words as she NEVER runs out of words !!!!
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July 21, 2009 at 9:15 am
When Mom took Dakota for obedience training, a lady with a corgi just used a smal stuffy with a squeaky noise – maybe that would work for you.
Tail wags, the OP Pack
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July 21, 2009 at 9:17 am
I think it’s a pretty common response from the Shelties to not like the loud metallic click of the old box clickers. I have several clickers and I usually use a much quieter one when I work with my Shelties. I like the idea of the pen click that Sara had! If you can’t find a click that she likes, you may just end up using a verbal marker of “yes” in place of the click. Have fun training!!!
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July 22, 2009 at 4:25 am
Training the trainer, we like that idea. Good luck, we are sure Katie will come around.
Essex & Deacon
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July 23, 2009 at 6:46 am
hehe you silly scaredy cat shelties, I a bit like that in class when they put out the hula hoops.
You can also use a clicker word if you like. You can say ‘yes’ I has a multi clicker that be quiet or loud depending on how you want it. It better to have just one word as it acts as a marker then. You can also buy little quiet clickers called bug clickers. Mum had bought some to send out in the tricky goody bags so maybe you had better win one. BOL.
We just got that book, not had a chance to have a proper look in it yet but I hear it very good!
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July 23, 2009 at 12:50 pm
(1) You might try this one; I think it’s quieter than the basic ones, plus the raised button is useful if you want to keep your hands free and use your foot.
(2) To *start* with, don’t try using the clicker as a reward for some action. Can’t entirely tell from your post whether you’re doing this, so I’ll go into details just in case. You need to “load” the clicker first. Since she’s shy about the clicker, start with absolutely the best treats in the world–meatballs, chicken, etc., not basic everyday treats. Next, click-treat, with the treat getting to her as fast as possible after you click. If she’s on the far side of the room, that’s OK, toss it to her as quickly as possible after you click. If she’s a distance away from you, you should probably be tossing the treat at the same time as the click so it gets to her immediately after she hears the click. Click-treat. Click-treat. Maybe 20 times in rapid succession (just enough time for her to swallow the treat before the next click). Then put it away. Do it again later in the day, 20 times. Next day, same thing. Keep it up until she’s starting to anticipate the treat when she hears the click. Don’t worry about whether she’s looking at you or moving towards you or anything. The idea is to associate the clicker with the treat before you can use the clicker as a reward marker. You might also do a verbal “yay!” or some cheery remark at the same time as the clicker (because she’s already shown that she’s worried about it; the treat alone might not be quite enough to resolve her fears).
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July 23, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Thanks everyone for all your help and advice! Katie and I will begin work today!
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