Melissa Alexander’s Clicker Training Guide: Expert Review & Insights

My go-to recommendation book for clicker training is “” by Melissa Alexander. I did not discover the book until I was further into clicker training. It would have saved me time and some trial and error if I had read it beforehand.

The author is the moderator for a clicker training forum and compiled some of the mostly commonly asked questions and answers about clicker training in this book. The book covers a lot of technical ground while providing clear and concise answers (in a Q&A format). It also has an index and cross-references other sections of the book.

This is not a step-by-step how to teach your dog how to wave with a clicker kind of book (personally, I prefer video for that type of thing). It’s more about providing you with the knowledge behind how clicker training works, why it works and how to be a more efficient clicker trainer. And I like how it’s not just for beginners, clicker trainers of various levels can benefit from this book.

Some of my favorite questions and answers:

• Will I have to use the  and forever?
• What do I do if my dog intentionally disobeys a known command?
• How do I add distance/duration to a behavior?
• How do I train against distractions?
• How long will it take to train my dog?
• What is management? How do I “set my dog up for success?”

Do you have any favorite training books? Mr. N ready to demonstrate his clicker training skills at the non-profit fair

Welcome to First Monday’s Positive Pet Training Blog Hop hosted by Cascadian Nomads, Tenacious Little Terrier and Rubicon Days. Please share your responsible pet owner positive pet training tips by linking a blog post or leaving a comment below. Any positive reinforcement training posts or comments are also always welcome. The Positive Pet Training Blog Hop goes all week long. Our next hop will begin Monday, June 1st and continues for a week. The June theme is multiple pet training.

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