HoAoOo Pet Training Clicker Review: Does This $5 2-Pack Actually Work for Puppy Training?

Introduction

I was sitting on my couch last Wednesday. I was trying to finish a blog post for this site. Then I heard it. That tiny crunch sound. I looked up. Luna was under the coffee table. Chewing on my brand new 100W USB-C cable. The one I paid $29 for two days prior.

Max was on his orthopedic dog bed right next to her. He lifted his head for half a second, glanced at the chaos, then put it back down. At 8 years old, with his creaky old joints, he’s way too tired to chase a crazy 8 month old puppy around the house. He did that enough when he was young, I guess.

Luna saw me staring. She grabbed that cable in her mouth, bolted for the couch, tail spinning like a helicopter. She thought it was a game. I yelled her name. She ran faster. That’s when I remembered. I had those two clickers I ordered two weeks prior. Sitting in my junk drawer, unopened.

Is a $5 Clicker Really All You Need for Puppy Training?

I’ll be honest. I only bought these to hit free shipping. I ordered that AOKLANT treat pouch I reviewed last month, and I was $4.99 short of the $25 minimum. So I tossed these HoAoOo clickers in my cart. I didn’t think they’d work. I always assumed cheap pet stuff was garbage. I pay $30 a bottle for Max’s joint supplements, for Christ’s sake. I thought you had to spend big to get something that works.I was so wrong.

After reading through hundreds of Amazon reviews for this clicker, I noticed a few really common themes that matched up perfectly with what I experienced myself.

A lot of people are impressed by how loud and crisp the click sound is. Multiple reviewers mentioned their dogs can hear it even when there’s a ton of background noise going on. That’s exactly what I noticed too. Last weekend I took Luna to the local dog park, there were kids screaming, other dogs barking, a lawnmower running two yards over. She still turned her head the second I pressed the clicker.

Another recurring thing I saw: even when the clicker wasn’t the right fit for their specific pet, people still admitted the clickers were surprisingly loud and sturdy for how cheap they are. I get that, not every tool works for every pet, right?

And so many people loved that it came with two clickers. A lot of folks who train their dog with their partner said it was perfect to have one each, no more passing a single clicker back and forth mid-training. Oh, that’s exactly what we did! My boyfriend took the black one, I took the blue one. We were both training Luna on the “drop it” command, so we didn’t have to pass the clicker back and forth. That was such a nice perk I didn’t even think about when I ordered.

If you want to check it out for yourself, you can find it here:

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What’s Inside the Box and First Impressions

The package showed up in a tiny plain envelope. I opened it, and there they were. Two clickers, one black, one bright blue. Each had that coiled spring wrist strap, and a little keyring clip. They fit perfectly in my palm, not too big, not too small. The button was huge, right in the center, easy to press.

I pressed it once, just to test. That sharp, clear metal click rang out. I was in my bedroom. Max, asleep in the living room, lifted his head immediately. I thought oh shit, that’s way louder than I expected. Did I just buy something that’s gonna scare the crap out of my dogs?

But Max just looked around, realized nothing was wrong, and went back to sleep. No flinching, no hiding. Just a little confused why I made a weird noise. I pressed it a few more times. The button was so soft. I didn’t have to squeeze hard or anything. My friend has a fancy $15 clicker, and the button is so stiff her finger hurts after 10 minutes of training. This one? I could press it all day and not get tired.

How to Actually Use This Clicker for Basic Obedience

I’d never used a clicker before. I watched a 10 minute YouTube video the night I opened them, just to get the basics. I had no clue what I was doing.

First step: teach Luna that click = treat. I pressed the button, then immediately shoved a piece of Zuke’s chicken treat in her mouth. Those are her favorite, the $12 a bag ones. I did that 5 times in a row. By the third one, she heard the click, and sat down automatically, waiting for the treat. I was shocked. She picked that up faster than she picked up her name.

Then I moved on to the thing I needed most: “drop it”. That command has been a nightmare for us. Luna loves stealing my socks, my cables, anything she can get her mouth on.

The steps were simple: Let her grab a toy. Say “drop it”. The second she let go of the toy, click. Then give her the treat.

But I messed up the first day. A lot. First, I clicked too late. She dropped the toy, then picked it back up again, and that’s when I clicked. She got so confused. She thought I was rewarding her for picking the toy back up. Then she started doing that on purpose.

Then I waited too long to give her the treat after clicking. I fumbled around in my treat pouch, trying to grab the chicken, and by the time I gave it to her, 2 seconds had passed. She thought the click meant she should lick the floor. Because that’s what she was doing when I gave her the treat. For a minute there, she just kept licking the carpet, staring at me, waiting for another click.

That’s the big mistake no one tells new people: timing is everything. Click the exact second they do the right thing. Then give the treat immediately. No delays. No exceptions.

My Story: Putting the HoAoOo Clicker to the Test

I trained for 10 minutes every morning, and 10 minutes every night. That’s it. No long sessions, no stress.

After two weeks? Luna’s “drop it” command works 80% of the time. 80%! Before, it was 0%. I’d yell, I’d chase her, I’d offer her better treats, nothing worked. Now? She steals my sock, I say “drop it”, she drops it, looks at me, waits for the click. I almost cried the first time it worked. No more chasing her around the house. No more ruined cables. Well, fewer ruined cables. She’s still a puppy.

I even used it with Max. His joints have been bad lately, so I’ve been trying to get him to stop charging the door when we go for walks. He used to bolt out the door, run as fast as he can to sniff the neighbor’s dog, and then he’d limp for the rest of the day.

Now, when we walk, if he stays slow, stays next to me, I click and give him a treat. Last week we went to the lake, like he loves. He walked half a mile, slow and steady, and he didn’t limp once. Before, he could barely do a quarter mile before he got sore. It’s small, but it means a lot to me.

The One Thing Nobody Warned Me About

Okay, this is the part that no product description, no tutorial, no review mentioned. And it almost ruined my first week of training.

The wrist strap. I thought it was great! I could strap it to my wrist, free up my hands to hold the leash, grab treats, whatever. Perfect, right?

Wrong. So wrong. The button is so sensitive, that if you so much as bump that clicker against anything, it clicks.

The first day I wore the wrist strap, I misclicked 7 times. 7.

I bent down to pick up a treat Luna dropped. My arm pressed the clicker against my leg. Click. Luna stopped dead, looked up at me, waiting for her treat. I had nothing. I just stood there, like an idiot. She stared at me for a second, then laid down, and refused to train for 5 minutes. She looked so betrayed. Like I lied to her.

Another time, I scratched my head. The clicker hit my temple. Click. Max turned around, like “Where’s my treat, human?”

I couldn’t believe it. No one told me that wearing the wrist strap would turn me into a walking misclick machine. I almost gave up on the whole thing, until I took the wrist strap off. I just held the clicker in my hand. And just like that, no more misclicks. Problem solved. But man, that was a rough first day.

What I Liked and What I Didn’t Like

Let’s break this down, plain and simple.

The Good

• Unbeatable price. $4.99 for two clickers? That’s less than a soda and a bag of chips at the gas station. Brand name clickers cost $15 for one. This is perfect if you’re just testing clicker training and don’t want to drop a ton of cash first.
• Perfect click sound. It’s loud enough to cut through park noise, but not so loud it scares your dog. That crisp metal sound is exactly what you need for training.
• Two pack means no sharing. If you have a partner that helps train, or two dogs like me, this is perfect. No more passing the clicker back and forth mid-session.
• It’s durable. I’ve pressed this thing probably 500 times in two weeks. No sticking button, no rust, no weird wear. I was worried cheap stuff would break in a week, but this is holding up great.

The Not-So-Good

• Easy to misclick if you wear the wrist strap. Like I said, I had 7 misclicks the first day. This is totally fine if you plan to hold the clicker in your hand the whole time, but if you want to wear it on your wrist to free up your hands, you might run into issues.
• It’s not a magic fix. A lot of people buy this and think it’ll fix their dog’s bad behavior overnight. It won’t. You have to put in the work, train consistently. A few reviewers mentioned it didn’t work out for them, and I bet that’s why. This is great for people who can spare 10 minutes a day to train, not if you want a quick fix.
• The wrist strap is stiff at first. It took me a couple days to stretch it out so it didn’t dig into my wrist. Not a big deal, but something I noticed.

Is This Clicker Right for Your Dog?

Let’s figure this out, so you don’t waste your money:

• If you’re a new puppy parent, testing out training for the first time? Yes, 100%. This is cheap enough that if you decide clicker training isn’t for you, you didn’t waste much. And it works great for basic commands like sit, come, drop it.
• If you have multiple pets, or multiple people training? Yes. The two pack is perfect. Some reviewers even used theirs to train smaller pets like cats, which is so cool.
• If you have a super sound-sensitive dog? Maybe not. The click is pretty loud. If your dog runs and hides when you clap, this might be too much for them. But for most dogs, it’s totally fine.
• If you’re a professional trainer? Probably not. You need something that can handle hundreds of clicks a day, every day. This is great for regular pet owners, but if you train dogs for a living, you’ll want something heavier duty.

Common Questions About This Clicker

Can I use these clickers to train other pets besides dogs?

Absolutely. The product description says it works for cats, birds, even chickens, and I saw that first hand in the reviews. Some verified reviewers mentioned they used these to train their cats and already saw progress pretty quickly. My friend used hers to train her rabbit to use a litter box, and it worked too. The whole point of a clicker is the consistent sound, so it works for any animal that can hear.

Will the click sound damage my dog’s ears?

I was worried about this at first, because the click is pretty loud. But I noticed Max, who has super sensitive ears, never had any issue with it. Plenty of reviewers also said the sound isn’t harsh or startling for their dogs. As long as you don’t press it right next to your dog’s ear, it’s totally fine. It’s not loud enough to hurt their hearing, just loud enough to get their attention.

Do I have to give a treat every single time I click?

At first, yes. You need to build that association: click = reward. Once your dog gets that, you can start mixing it up. Sometimes you can give them a pat, or a game of fetch, instead of a treat. You don’t have to do treats forever.

How to Make Clicker Training Work (Even if You’re a Beginner)

I learned a lot these past two weeks, so here’s a few tips I wish I knew before I started:

1. Don’t click too much. I was so excited the first day, I clicked every little thing Luna did. She sat, click. She looked at me, click. She didn’t bite the couch, click. By the end of the day, she was totally numb to the sound. Only click for the exact behavior you’re training, and keep sessions short, 10 minutes max.
2. You don’t have to use treats forever. Once your dog knows the command really well, you can start fading the treats. I do every third click: one time treat, two times just praise. Now she doesn’t expect a treat every single time.
3. Know when to retire the clicker. Once your dog has the command down pat, like Luna’s sit command, she’s been doing it perfectly for a month, you don’t need the clicker anymore. Switch to a verbal cue like “good!” to replace it. The clicker is just a training tool, not something you need to carry around forever.
4. Never click for bad behavior. I almost did this! When Luna bit my sock, I clicked to get her attention. That’s the worst thing you can do! Click only means “you did good”. If you click when she’s biting socks, she’ll think biting socks is good. If they do something bad, just redirect them, don’t click.

My Top Takeaways

Honestly, I went into this thinking this was just a cheap add-on to hit my free shipping minimum. I didn’t expect it to actually work this well. But after two weeks, Luna’s drop it command is actually working, Max is walking slower and not coming home limping, and we’re both having fun training.

It’s not perfect. That misclick thing was annoying at first. But for $5? It’s way better than I ever thought it would be. I can’t believe I almost wrote it off as cheap garbage.

Would I Buy This Again With My Own Money?

Hell yeah, I would. In a heartbeat.

I was so skeptical at first, but this thing works. The misclick problem went away once I stopped wearing the wrist strap and just held the clicker in my hand. It’s cheap, it works, it’s durable enough for regular use. I don’t see any reason to spend $15 on a fancy clicker when this one does exactly the same thing for a third of the price.

If I lose this one, or it breaks eventually? I’ll absolutely order another pack. No question.

Final Thoughts

I gave the extra black clicker to my friend last week. She just got an 8 week old golden retriever puppy, and she texted me yesterday saying it’s already helping her train the puppy to not bite her hands. It’s crazy how something so cheap can make such a big difference.

Have you ever tried clicker training? Did you have that same misclick issue with cheap clickers? Drop a comment below, I’d love to hear your story.

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A Quick Disclaimer

I’m not a vet or professional trainer. This is just my personal experience.

Note: Some customer experiences referenced in this review are based on verified Amazon reviews and are used for informational purposes only.