Clicker training is a scientfically proven way of training animals. It was developed in the 1940 s by students of the famous psychologist, Dr. BF Skinner.

Since then, clicker training, or operant conditioning as it is more appropriately named, has been used to sucessfully train thousands of animals of all species.

Clicker training is used at Sea World to train killer whales, dolphins, sea lions, parrots, otters, and many other species.

Clicker training has been used to help autistic children learn to communicate better.

Clicker training is based on a simple idea : that a unique sound ( such as a Click, whistle or verbal cue ) can be paired with a reward. The animal learns that the sound, in our case, a click, means it is going to be rewarded. Then, the animal learns that it can "make" the click and reward occur by performing certain behaviors. This gives trainers a very effective, efficient and humane way to communicate with animals.

The clicker is used to tell the animal that it has done something correctly and will be rewarded. It is most useful for teaching the animal new behaviors. Once the animal learns a behavior, it is no longer necessary to always use the clicker or even the reward.

So don't be afraid that you will always need to have a clicker on you to work with your animal. It is a training and communication tool.

This short video gives a description of clicker training

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC367wKGi4M