Clicker training, to me, means you end up giving the dog way too many treats. You want your dog to respond to you not because it is motivated by getting a treat, but because it wants to be pleasing to you.

Dogs are pack animals. They love to follow a leader. Be the leader.

I don’t want to go on a long rant, so I won’t. The best thing is to research your breed and see what works best for that particular breed.

Find out what cocker spaniels were bred for in the first place and that will give you a good idea of their behaviour and why they respond in certain ways.

The 3 most important things: discipline, exercise, and lovin’

I a firm belliever in using a prong collar for training. They are, contrary to how they look, VERY humane, and very effective.

Sorry for the long comment.

As you can tell, I miss my dog.

Regards,

Mark

@Aaron - He wasn’t bought from a pet store, he is moving within the family :) Our daughter is under strict instructions to not mention puppy and Christmas in the same conversation :)

@Mark - Why do you not like clicker training? I guess everyone has to find a style and technique that suits. I just don’t like the idea of screaming and shouting and dogs which is all I see in fields and parks where I live.

Good luck with your puppy. Looks like a real nice dog.

I love dogs. I recently raised a very hyper Yellow Lab from 7 weeks old until she was 18 months. My ex-girlfriend got “custody” of her when we split up, but, alas, that is another story…

If you are looking for any tips - feel free. We went through some pretty intense obedience and agility training that really worked wonders.

BTW, I am not a big fan of clicker training, just my opinion.

Regards,

Mark

The policy made sense; people are fickle. It’s always a shame when a dog gets tossed out with the rest of the Christmas presents…

I like the method because
(a) it works, even with tiny puppies — even with cats and chickens, believe it or not!
(b) it helps to create a great bond between dog and handler, and
(c) dogs think it’s a great game, trying to figure out what behaviour will earn the “click-and-treat” reward… so you end up with a dog who obeys because he wants to, not from fear of punishment.

See, dogs have no concept of “bad” — they’re just dogs. So punishment simply doesn’t work in the long term…

oh, now, see… you got me started off on my hobby horse! If you google for “Karen Pryor” it’ll set you right — she’s the one who really formalized “clicker training” as a system for use with domestic animals, and there’s good free reading on her website.

@John - Benji is coming from and going to good homes, the rest is up to us ;)

@Jen - Thanks Jen :) Is clicker training the name of a technique?

Can’t resist adding my 0.02 on dog training — 2 words: “clicker training”! One of my dogs is a retired racing greyhound who just earned a perfect score at his first Rally Obedience match, darned near miraculous, and entirely due to the power of gentle,, positive, reward-based training. Think “behaviour modification” a la B.F. Skinner…

The temperament of any dog goes back to the breeding, much work is done by the breeder before a mating is done, looking into the sire and dams background.

My wife and I have had and bred cockers for over 25 years and have yet not had a NASTY one.

Like children they need training when they are young, I have seen more NASTY children than COCKER SPANIELS.