Cues are the words or sounds that you attach to certain desired behaviors, also called commands. For example, sit, come, stay, down, and so on, are all cues that you will tag on to those corresponding behaviors. You will add the cue once you’re sure that the pup has mastered a behavior and that he’s certain of what you want. If you’re doing clicker training right, before long your pup will associate the sight of the clicker with a behavior that you’ve been reinforcing. For example, if you bring out the clicker and your pup sits down right away, waiting for that click and reward, you know that he has mastered “sit.” Now’s the time to put the name “sit” (the cue) to the behavior of sitting. Don’t rush adding the cue, or you’ll confuse the pup. Once the puppy understands sit, you can move on to another behavior, and eventually, another cue. Always say the cue clearly so that you distinguish the word from any others.

            Once a dog is reliably offering a behavior, take the behavior elsewhere. If you’ve been training mostly in the living room, take the behavior to the bedroom, the yard, the sidewalk, the car, and so on. You don’t want the dog to think that the behavior is specific to a certain area. If the pup is reluctant to perform the behavior in a different place or if the behavior is sloppy, start clicking and treating for each and every good performance of the behavior. It’s okay to go “back to basics” at any time.