Or at least, we’ll see if the click really makes a difference. I truly thnk it does. I use other markers, such as a mouth click for instance. But I’ve always observed that they seem to learn quicker when the clicker is involved.

Why is the clicker so important? Because it’s a very distinct sound that you don’t hear all the time. And you can usually click faster than you can say “good boy”.

So today I had an “aha” moment — at least, I hope I did. Lola is sometimes reactive around dogs when she’s on a leash. She’s perfectly fine off-leash, and sometimes she’s fine on-leash, too. But more often than not she starts pulling, growling, and barking when she sees another dog — whether that dog is walking, or behind a fence; whether the dog is perfectly calm or barking & growling itself.

We’ve been working with her for months — trying to get her to sit or down, watch us, and walk calmly past other dogs. With varying degrees of success. Sometimes I get so frustrated with her I’m ashamed to say I’ve yanked on the leash. And sometimes she’s great.

She knows all the commands I’m asking her to do, but it finally dawned on me today that in a highly distracting environment like a dog barking at her, maybe she doesn’t know exactly what I want. If I ask her to sit, but the treat comes several seconds later after she’s already jump up again . . . just what was she getting treated for?

It’s hard to juggle treats, leash, poop bags, and a clicker, of course. But recently I’ve taken to having my clicker on the outside of my treat bag, in easy reach. My treat bag has a place where you can clip something on, and I’ve clipped the clicker on.

So today, when she became reactive, I clicked & treated her for stopping when I asked. I clicked & treated her when she was walkiing calmly past barking dogs. We’ll see how it goes.

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