How my father-in-law introduced me to clicker training… and then walked away from it
My father-in-law introduced me to clicker training. He was deep into it—started in the early 2000s, went to seminars, devoured books, and lived by the principles of positive reinforcement. He used it with his kids, his coworkers, even tried it on his wife (word of caution: never click at your spouse, no matter how clever you think it is).
He was all in.
At one point, he made a bet with a coworker at Boeing that he could clicker train a wild bluejay to fly through a hula hoop. This was back in the VHS days, so he set up a tripod in the backyard and started the process: peanuts, patience, click-treat-repeat.
It actually worked. The bluejay showed up daily. Eventually, it brought a second bluejay. Then they brought their goslings. My father-in-law was clicker training an entire family of wild birds.
Then came the disaster.
He had two dogs at the time—a dachshund and a beagle. One day, the dachshund discovered the goslings in the yard. It did what dachshunds do: hunted. The dog proudly ran through the backyard with a gosling flopping in her mouth. The beagle barked and chased her. The bluejays divebombed the dogs. His teenage daughter cried and tried to stop the chaos. His wife ran out screaming. And he just stood there, stunned.
He’d taught those birds to trust him. And it ended in a complete mess.
He packed away the clicker that day and never touched it again.
That was years ago. Now he’s retired, has two more dachshunds (neither trained, both chaotic), and hasn’t shown the slightest interest in going back to training. But I wish he would. Clicker training has changed the way I interact with my pets—and honestly, even how I parent Stella and Greyson. Fiona, my English bulldog, practically struts when she hears that click. Sandy, our St. Bernard, picked it up in days. Even Luna and Echo, our Sphynx cats, know how to high-five.
The tools are simple. The results are real.
If you’re curious—or want to try it out for yourself—here’s what I recommend:
Place marker for “go to mat” training
Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor — this one changed everything for both of us
You never know what will get someone back into something they used to love. But sometimes just seeing it work again—without the chaos—can open the door.