[attackofthepugdog]

I don't know of any way to tell if my 6 year old pug Dudley knows what the click of the clicker means. Is there any way to tell? Also, I'd like some tips to help me get started with clicker training.

[poo m]

Kick him. Then wait a few minutes and say good boy and click the clicker. He'll learn to associate the good boy part with the clicker after awhile.

[kaga]

i have alot of dogs and ive never clicker trained them but i think that if your pug is six then yourve probably used a diffrent method of training with him so im not sure how well hed take to a newer method its probably best to start when theyre stil pupies like i said i dont clicker train my dogs but it seems logical that you would have to show your dog what each series of clicks mean and keep doing it untill he responds the way you want him to, if he is voice trained you could click the command then say it and keep giving him treats after he performs the disired trick untill he doese the trick after the clicks alone

[Bob G]

When he looks at you eagerly instead of just curious as to what the noise is. I wouldn't worry about it. If you're taking an actual class, I would pretty much guarantee he knows what the click means by the end of the first class. If you're doing it on your own, several good bouts of click-treats on the first day will do the trick. Dogs learn about food pretty quickly.By the way, I wouldn't use the 'when the dog comes to you looking for a treat' as a guideline. The goal is to make the click a sign that the dog's done well (i.e. - he's done something he's about to be rewarded for). You're going to use it for a lot more than 'come here and get a treat'. You're going to use it for 'sit', which means sit there and NO, DON'T COME OVER HERE! You're going to use it for 'stay' which means stay where you're at and NO, DON'T COME OVER HERE!, etc.You also don't use it just to get their attention (after you've 'loaded' the clicker by associating the clicker with treats during the first session). I've seen a few fall into that habit where, say, the dog's barking and not paying any attention to the owner, so the owner clicks the clicker (which immediately gets the dog's attention) and then tells the dog to lay down or sit. The problem is that the owner has already rewarded the dog for barking and ignoring the owner. The dog won't care - learning that trick is as easy as learning to sit.