Category: Getting Started ¤
  Author: Amy Straughan ¤
   Title: More on Muffling the Clicker ¤

You can also muffle the sharpness of the clicker by stacking adhesive on
the little dimple on the metal part of the clicker until you get a sound
that is barely audible. Click from a distance, and use exceptional treats
and reinforcers. Click discretely when you are having a good time with the
dog to help desensitize the suddenness of it, click whenever things are
going well and happy. Be careful not to push the clicker at the dog when
you click. Instead click from behind your back, in your pocket as others
suggested, and close to your belt buckle.  The more your dog hears the
clicker from a distance, then over time and when possible to be successful,
and associates it with only exciting things, the more your dog will learn
to enjoy the meaning of it. Hang in there. I have a client who is
thunderstorm nervous, and left the room and hid in the bathroom when we
first used the clicker. We muffled it, they did what I suggested above, and
a week later, the dog is sitting with us while we train the puppies, in
hopes he also will receive a stray treat or pat.

Amy Straughan
 
Gary/D. Amelia Straughan 
Hope, IN 47246