# Loud Clicker



## Jason L (Mar 20, 2009)

Quick question: does it make a difference how loud a clicker is - to a dog that is? 

I have a click stik that produces a very soft sound but is very comfortable to use and a big old clunky Petco clicker that makes a really loud sound (but you really need to press down hard on it to work). Sometimes when I am working with Obie outside I wonder if he can hear that soft click from click stik ... but then I thought it's probably not a good idea to have a clicker for outside work and an clikcer for inside training. It might confuse the dog (not to mention make me look crazy!)


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

I don't think the loudness of the click will make a difference - dogs have amazing hearing! Much more sensitive than ours, and I would say that the consistency of the click is important, and I think that you are probably right that having two clicker sounds for different situations may cause problems down the road. If you want to be able to use either clicker, I would mix up their use inside-outside so there is not set training pattern associated with them.

If your dog isn't responding to the soft clicker when outside, it is more likely only because he is distracted by all the other noises when outside - not so much that he can't hear it. Work him in a less distracting outside environment at first, and work your way up to more distractions.


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## DancingCavy (Feb 19, 2001)

I agree, intensity of sound doesn't matter. Unless you have a sound-sensitive dog. Then I would recommend using a softer clicker. 

I use an iClick with Risa (a softer-sounding clicker) but, when we did a demo at Clicker Expo, the person working with Risa used a box clicker (a louder clicker). Risa had no problems associating the click of the box clicker with a correctly performed behavior. 

Once a dog understands the concept of the clicker, the noise of it tends to become very salient (ie, they pay attention to it). However, there are still times where they are too distracted or focused on something else where they might not hear it. But that doesn't have much to do with the choice of clicker.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

I personally don't care for the sound of the loud clicker so even though I agree most dogs could do with either one, I prefer the softer one. I feel like my dogs prefer it too, but I guess I could be imagining it. My absolute favorite clicker is a little pink plastic bug children's toy.


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## Kayla's Dad (Jul 2, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: pupresqI personally don't care for the sound of the loud clicker so even though I agree most dogs could do with either one, I prefer the softer one.


Same here. I use the IClick as my primary clicker. Works better in class especially when others are not using a clicker at all. Also have the click stick-used it more for targeting exercises or responses. One of the first times I used the IClick at class, it was an agility class and we were warming up doing some exercises before class started. The instructor was watching for a moment and then came over to ask what I was doing with Kayla. She couldn't hear the clicker, but could see from Kayla's response that I was doing something to mark her success in the behavior without saying anything.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

As long as they can hear it, and you've trained the sound to mark a behavior so they expect their reward, I think either clicker will work just fine.

These dogs of ours are pretty smart when we've laid the foundation work with consistant training.


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