I am not saying that my dogs would win any prizes for obedience, but on the whole they do tend to comply with my requests and hence we have a fairly harmonious relationship.

This does not mean, however, that there is no room for improvement, so I was delighted recently to accept an invitation from Marie Kemp, of the Canine Care Company, and canine coach Nicky Walker to a clicker training workshop for Beginners.

For those not familiar with this method, clicker training is based on the handler using a small mechanical, noise-making device or “clicker” during training, at the precise moment that the animal responds with the appropriate behaviour, ie the clicker is used as a bridge to identify correct behaviour, which is then followed immediately by a reward.

It is, of course, important at this point to use the best reward your dog could possibly wish for. With my Cavaliers, for example, it is relatively straight forward as they would do anything for food, but some dogs are just not food orientated. Dogs such as little Lottie, a Bichon Frise at our workshop, for whom no manner of treats held any excitement. Hot dogs, cheese, an assortment of biscuits all had no interest for her at all, but she did love her blue, “tuggie” rope, so that became her reward.

Originating in the US more than 30 years ago, clicker training has been used successfully involving a number of species, including dolphins and horses.

It is now growing rapidly in the UK but why, I asked, was a clicker used to mark correct behaviour as opposed to a word? In answer, our trainer, Vikki Wong explained that research has shown that the unique “click” sound registers more effectively and more quickly than the spoken word, on the part of the animal’s brain that deals with reward. A click is both consistent and unemotional, whereas with a word, our tone of voice might not necessarily reflect the true meaning.

Personally, I have used the word “yes” when training my dogs, followed by a treat and that, I understand, is acceptable, as long as the word is not emotional and does not have any other connotation for the animal.

Over the past 30 years, much research has been invested in the development of this training method and there are clickers available of differing strengths, some with an adjustable volume control to cater for dogs sensitive to noise.

But this workshop was only a beginning to clicker training, a starting point to condition the dogs to the concept that click equals reward. Initially, we were advised to work on just one instruction during a session, which should last only minutes, starting with possibly two and gradually working up to 10 minutes.

We were also advised to indicate the start of each session with something like “Are you ready?” so the dog will grow accustomed to knowing that it is now time to focus. Likewise, indicate the end of the session with something appropriate, for example “okay”, so your dog knows that work is finished, time to chill.

All in all, I enjoyed a productive morning spent in very good company.

The workshop was not only informative, but provided me with the opportunity to meet lots of happy, waggy-tailed students and also to chat with like-minded owners.

The dogs were a diverse, mixed-age group and included Hatchi, a handsome, young Labrador who was loving life and so eager to please. Louis, an equally exuberant Cockerpoo, alongside Lottie, a rescued Bichon Frise. Saskia, a Japanese Akita, was a little wary initially, but she did settle and worked very well.

Then we had Lenny, the Staffordshire bull terrier who was everybody’s friend and just “so happy to be”. Four-year-old Oscar, a dignified wirehaired fox terrier, kept himself to himself and then there was Ben, another rescue, of mixed parentage, with unmistakable Rhodesian Ridgeback ancestry.

All had very different personalities, with differing in-bred traits, but all appeared to take something positive away from the session and if they are anything like me, will be eagerly awaiting the next.