Introducing clicker training to a verbal marker trained dog

[zd262]

Hi everyone!

Bubba has been doing great with his verbal marker training, all everyday behaviors and even his recall is greatly improved. But his loose leash walking is horrendous even though we've been working on it for 8 months and have tried front clip harnesses and a prong. Part of it is his age I know and he's really scent focused right now since he's unneutered and 11 months old. Regardless, I'm ready to try a new technique and use a clicker instead of his verbal marker to see if that makes a difference.

Advice on introducing the clicker to a dog who is used to a verbal marker?

And anything I should know about combining both techniques in the future?

Thank you!

[Snowshoe]

We used clickers in the very first puppy class but then introduced a verbal marker too (YES) for times when the clicker wasn't handy. We loaded both to start and had no problems. I can't see why going the other direction would be any different. Maybe mark easy things the dog already knows thoroughly, like SIT, to start?

[Annette47]

As Snowshoe says, it shouldn’t be difficult to transition, but since both techniques essentially do the same thing, I’m not sure I would expect a big difference.

[zd262]

Don't say that Annette! I'm hoping for a miracle!!

I also think that it will help as we start to learn more precise movements.

Thanks for the help both of you! I wasn't anticipating any problems, but wanted to make sure there wasn't anything I was overlooking.