Click!

The metal chair is small and the warehouse smells distinctly like dog.  And not in a good way.

Do I really need to be here?  I wonder.  But it’s too late to leave… I’m committed.

I look around at the other people.  Beside me is an older man with a wool cap, and in front and to the left is a mother and her six year old daughter.  There’s a middle-aged couple directly in front of me and a younger couple beside me.  The thing we all have in common is that we are dog owners.  And we’ve signed up to learn how to train them.

A slim woman with short hair and a hip pack stands at the front of the room.  At six o’clock on the dot she says, “Welcome to orientation.  My name is Becky and I’m a Certified Pet Trainer and a Certified Clicker Trainer. I have clicker-trained rats and chickens.”

I glanced around at the other humans, who look equally impressed.  

If this Becky can train a chicken, surely she can teach me to train my dog to stay.  

At this point you may be wondering what this “clicker” is that I’m talking about.  Let’s pause for a brief lesson in clickers.

And now, back to our story.

“Clicker training is a very effective method,” Becky tells us.  ”It’s fun for humans AND for dogs.”

She then announces that we’re going to play a game where we’ll learn the POWER of the clicker.  We’re supposed to pair up.  I choose Mr. Wool Cap to be my partner.

The game goes like this:

One person is the human, the other is the dog.  (For the first round I call human.)

The person who’s pretending to be a dog looks around and acts distracted.  Then, the person pretending to be a human says the dog’s name, and when the person pretending to be a dog makes eye contact, the person pretending to be a human CLICKS! and gives the person pretending to be a dog a treat.

It’s sort of like speed dating.  Only weirder.

When I get home, I google Clicker Training.  I want to be prepared for the first class with Bella.  

I learn that Clicker Training is a very effective method and has been used on a wide variety of animals.  Many movie animals are trained this way.

Here’s a selection of the animals that you can train with a clicker:

Yes, clicker training is an amazing, miraculous thing.

The things you can do!  The creatures you can train!

There’s just one question that plagues me as I hunch over my laptop….

Of course they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.  But I have to wonder.

Imagine the possibilities!

Oh, and Jay, if you’re reading this? When I say “dog” I mean fox.  Because you totally are.  *click*

***
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