Training Clickers & Whistles for Dogs

How to Choose the Best Dog Harness, Collar, & Leash for Safe Walks

Find the best dog harness, collar or leash that suits your dog and will keep them comfortable and safe.

Updated on October 23rd, 2025

Easy Dog Training: Essential Tips for a Happy, Well-Behaved Dog

Training a dog takes time, understanding, patience and consistency. Understanding your training options and the dog training basics will help you--and your dog--be set up for success.

Updated on October 23rd, 2025

Dog Training Treats: How to Pick the Best for Your Dog's Success

Choosing the best dog training treat all depends on your dog's preference and what environment you will be training in. Take a look at these recommendations from Petco positive dog training experts.

Updated on October 23rd, 2025

Master "Find It": Teach Your Dog This Fun & Useful Trick at Home

Try this easy trick to teach your dog and see how much you can evolve the behavior over time into other fun games with your dog.

Updated on October 23rd, 2025

Stop Incessant Dog Barking: Proven Training for a Peaceful Home

Read information about dog training to understand and correct control your dog’s constant barking behavior.

Updated on October 23rd, 2025

What's the point of clicker training? Can I train my dog without it?

This is a great question! For training something easy like "sit", you're right that a clicker doesn't necessarily add much to the process. But for more complicated things, like training a dumbbell retrieve for obedience competition or teaching your dog to lie down on command at a distance from you, the clicker can be very useful. Basically, the click marks the specific behavior that you're going to reward. It doesn't matter so much when you're in position to reward instantly anyway - but for situations where you can't reward immediately (because the dog is far away, is holding something in his mouth, etc.) it makes a huge difference :) So use the clicker, or don't - it's really up to you, especially for basic obedience skills. But if you decide to branch out into more difficult or precise behaviors, it's worth looking into clicker training to make things easier.

How can I effectively clicker and heel train my dog at home?

I like to train with treats and a clicker. With a small dog have her sit by your side on the leash. Ask for the sit by holding a treat up above her nose and gently push her bottom down to sit. Immediately give the treat and praise Bella. When she knows sit then ask her to sit and click when she does. Then give the treat and praise. From the sit ask her to walk luring with a treat in front to get her to walk forward. I walk just a short way then have her sit, then walk again. Doing this at first without distractions makes it easier for her to learn what you are asking. If you have a friend with an older trained dog then I would go for walks with them so Bella can learn from that dog how to walk beside you. Make the training fun, give lots of praise and always treat for good behavior. In addition there are many excellent dog training books, check your library. Thanks for using Boop by Petco to help you care for Bella.

Best e-collar brands & how to condition for puppy chewing/recall?

Sport dog is a good brand with several levels of correction. This will not be effective for chewing unless you are always there to correct her. If she chews when you are not home there is no way to know or enforce or correct this. For any training you have to ask them to perform something they know, such as sit. If they do not do it you push the button. If they do well then you reward them. Keep them on a leash while training. When you ask them to come, you pull the leash. If there is no interest then you correct them. They will learn to associate the two things together quickly to respond

Should I use a shock collar for dog training? Expert opinion.

Shock collars, bark collars, and clicker training are all acceptable ways of training pets. The down side is they are ineffective if not done properly. They are great modalities in the correct hands that know how to implement them and do it correctly to where the dog understands what is being asked of them. Consulting a behavioral/trainer that is experienced is the best way to achieve positive results.

How to train a large puppy to stop jumping, biting, and pulling?

Training a disobedient large breed dog with bad habits can certainly be happy. However, in the end, the use of positive reinforcement will always reign supreme. Depending on what motivates Roscoe most will need to be what you choose to make Roscoe want to listen. I think this is a perfect case for clicker training. A clicker is a device that makes a clicking noise when you press down on it. Basically you want to first teach Roscoe that the click is associated with something good happening, which is called "charging" or "priming" the clicker. Once Roscoe understands that the clicking noise is associated with food or treats, you will be able to use this tool to your advantage. You should carry the clicker with you at all times and make sure to use it any time you are rewarding Roscoe. In terms of the jumping and mouthiness, you need to be very careful not to inadvertently reward inappropriate behavior. I realize that that gut reaction to something jumping or biting at you is to y