Well done on making a brilliant investment in your dog’s training.
With The Clam in your toolkit, teaching new tricks and behaviours will be a breeze.
But before you get stuck in, we wanted to walk you through how to use The Clam to get awesome results.
In this handy guide, you’ll also find advice on taking care of your Clam and ideas for how to play with it
The Clam is designed to provide many hours of rewarding play. To help maximise its longevity, here are a few things you can do…
and that’s OK! You can pop it in the washing machine from time to time - but use a cool cycle and wash separately as colours can run. Always let it air dry.
Don’t let your dog chew it or play with it alone. When you’ve finished playing with it, pop it out of reach (this helps maintain it’s magical motivational powers as a high value reward, too!)
brush the hook and loop fastening to remove any debris (an old toothbrush works well for this!).
The Clam is our most popular toy ever.
We’ve seen thousands of times over the transformational effect it has on dogs of all breeds, from all backgrounds.
But before the results start rolling in, there’s a little bit of work to do.
Pull the ‘shells’ of The Clam apart to open it. Pop one or two treats inside. Then, with The Clam still open and in your hands, invite your dog to come and take the treats.
The Clam is cleverly designed so that your dog can easily open it themselves - and get their own instant reward from a distance. No more waiting for you to catch up!
So for the next step, re-fill The Clam then close it and invite your dog to come and get the treat.
While keeping The Clam in your hands, let them spend some time sniffing and working out how to open it. Resist helping them if you can!
Re-fill and close The Clam, then place it on the floor near your feet before inviting your dog to open it and get their reward.
It’s important throughout this process that your dog is focussed only on the treats that are inside The Clam - so keep any other treats you have on you well hidden!
Once your dog can confidently do this step without assistance, they are ready to start using The Clam from more of a distance.
Load The Clam as in previous steps but then ask your dog to wait (or hold them back). Throw The Clam a short distance (a few feet) in front of you, then release your dog.
They should race to The Clam to help themselves their treat inside. If they don’t race to it, try again, but shorten the distance.
Build up slowly and avoid helping your dog. It’s important they work these steps out for themselves.
Now your dog can successfully race after and open The Clam by themselves, you are free to increase the distance.
Ask your dog to wait (or restrain them if you need to) and try throwing The Clam a little further away.
If your dog doesn’t race after it, you may need to repeat the steps above.
If they do race after it and get their treat, you’re ready to start using The Clam as a motivational power tool in your training!
Good luck!
Please note: These steps are a guide only and may need to be repeated more than once. We recommend making sure your dog is completely confident with each step before you move on.
5 Fun Ways
We originally created The Clam as a way to reward your dog instantly from a distance, but here are five other clever ways our customers love to use it…
Give them a try!
Hide and seek is an easy, low-impact, enriching game you can enjoy at home.
Fill your Clam with delicious treats (the smellier the better - we like dried sprats or our Grain-Free Fish Treats for this) and then hide it for your dog to find.
Start off easy. Hide The Clam under a cushion on your living room floor and heap praise when your dog discovers it. Gradually work on hiding the Clam in trickier places. Always keep it positive and follow your dog’s lead.
New, unfamiliar sounds can be troubling for some dogs, especially puppies and rescue dogs.
To add novelty and build your dog’s confidence around ‘new’ noises, fill a box with ‘noisy’ materials. These could include crumpled paper, empty containers filled with pebbles, empty milk cartons and left over plastic packaging.
Then hide a filled Clam in the box and encourage your dog to find it.
This fun activity can help your dog adapt well to unfamiliar situations and build confidence
Playing ‘fetch’ doesn’t come automatically to all dogs - and The Clam is a great tool for teaching it.
Show your dog that you are putting a yummy treat inside and let them have a sniff. Throw it a short distance and call them back to you.
When they get to you, let them open The Clam and enjoy the treats inside (it’s also ok if they already know how The Clam works and they help themselves to the treats before getting to you).
In time, they will learn that they need to bring The Clam back to you to get it refilled. Adding in a verbal ‘fetch’ or ‘bring it’ cue can help when it comes time to try fetch with a ball or tug toy.
According to enrichment experts, just 20 minutes of sniffing is equivalent in terms of stimulation to an hour’s walk. The Clam offers a fantastic way to add sniffing enrichment to everyday mealtimes.
Start by hiding The Clam in easy-to-find places (as described for hide and seek, above) and work up to more difficult challenges.
The Clam is a powerful motivational aid that can help you nail new tricks in record time when you use it as a jackpot reward.
After building value into The Clam by following the steps outlined in this guide, you can simply fill it and throw it for your dog when they successfully learn part of a new routine.
It’s more exciting than just offering a treat and it’s a great way to positively reinforce their behaviour.
Hide and seek is an easy, low-impact, enriching game you can enjoy at home.
Fill your Clam with delicious treats (the smellier the better - we like dried sprats or our Grain-Free Fish Treats for this) and then hide it for your dog to find.
Start off easy. Hide The Clam under a cushion on your living room floor and heap praise when your dog discovers it. Gradually work on hiding the Clam in trickier places. Always keep it positive and follow your dog’s lead.
The Clam is the perfect way to reward your dog at the optimum moment, even from a distance - putting an end to them having to wait for you to catch up!
You can use it for all types of training, including recall, focus, and slaying distractions on your walks.
Pull the ‘shells’ of The Clam apart to open it. Pop one or two treats inside. Then, with The Clam still open and in your hands, invite your dog to come and take the treats.
New, unfamiliar sounds can be troubling for some dogs, especially puppies and rescue dogs.
To add novelty and build your dog’s confidence around ‘new’ noises, fill a box with ‘noisy’ materials. These could include crumpled paper, empty containers filled with pebbles, empty milk cartons and left over plastic packaging.
Then hide a filled Clam in the box and encourage your dog to find it.
This fun activity can help your dog adapt well to unfamiliar situations and build confidence
Fill your Clam with delicious treats and hide it for your dog to find and you’ll give your dog a hugely enriching and fun experience. Your free Clam Guide comes with your order and shows you how to get started with scent-based games.
The Clam is cleverly designed so that your dog can easily open it themselves - and get their own instant reward from a distance. No more waiting for you to catch up!
So for the next step, re-fill The Clam then close it and invite your dog to come and get the treat.
While keeping The Clam in your hands, let them spend some time sniffing and working out how to open it. Resist helping them if you can!
Playing ‘fetch’ doesn’t come automatically to all dogs - and The Clam is a great tool for teaching it.
Show your dog that you are putting a yummy treat inside and let them have a sniff. Throw it a short distance and call them back to you.
When they get to you, let them open The Clam and enjoy the treats inside (it’s also ok if they already know how The Clam works and they help themselves to the treats before getting to you).
In time, they will learn that they need to bring The Clam back to you to get it refilled. Adding in a verbal ‘fetch’ or ‘bring it’ cue can help when it comes time to try fetch with a ball or tug toy.
Help grow your dog’s confidence with this adaptable toy. It can be used to assist with noise sensitivity, building resilience to novelty, and calming your dog’s nervous system through the power of sniffing.
Re-fill and close The Clam, then place it on the floor near your feet before inviting your dog to open it and get their reward.
It’s important throughout this process that your dog is focussed only on the treats that are inside The Clam - so keep any other treats you have on you well hidden!
Once your dog can confidently do this step without assistance, they are ready to start using The Clam from more of a distance.
According to enrichment experts, just 20 minutes of sniffing is equivalent in terms of stimulation to an hour’s walk. The Clam offers a fantastic way to add sniffing enrichment to everyday mealtimes.
Start by hiding The Clam in easy-to-find places (as described for hide and seek, above) and work up to more difficult challenges.
Not all dogs instinctively enjoy play. The Clam helps you use food to stimulate and foster your foodie dogs play drive. With tasty treats nestled inside, your dog’s play drive will be powered by their tum!
Load The Clam as in previous steps but then ask your dog to wait (or hold them back). Throw The Clam a short distance (a few feet) in front of you, then release your dog.
They should race to The Clam to help themselves their treat inside. If they don’t race to it, try again, but shorten the distance.
Build up slowly and avoid helping your dog. It’s important they work these steps out for themselves.
The Clam is a powerful motivational aid that can help you nail new tricks in record time when you use it as a jackpot reward.
After building value into The Clam by following the steps outlined in this guide, you can simply fill it and throw it for your dog when they successfully learn part of a new routine.
It’s more exciting than just offering a treat and it’s a great way to positively reinforce their behaviour.
According to enrichment experts, just 20 minutes of sniffing is equivalent to an hour’s walk. Engage your dog’s olfactory system and pair it with the brainwork required to retrieve their food and watch your dog’s satisfaction soar.
Now your dog can successfully race after and open The Clam by themselves, you are free to increase the distance.
Ask your dog to wait (or restrain them if you need to) and try throwing The Clam a little further away.
If your dog doesn’t race after it, you may need to repeat the steps above.
If they do race after it and get their treat, you’re ready to start using The Clam as a motivational power tool in your training!
Good luck!
Your free Clam guide comes with your order, helping you to learn how to introduce it, and get the maximum benefit out of your purchase. You won’t look back once you’ve tried The Clam!
Please note: These steps are a guide only and may need to be repeated more than once. We recommend making sure your dog is completely confident with each step before you move on.
The Clam is our most popular toy ever.
We’ve seen thousands of times over the transformational effect it has on dogs of all breeds, from all backgrounds.
But before the results start rolling in, there’s a little bit of work to do.
My dog loves a clam and I use them for her agility training. I think they are the best clams around, they close well but can be opened quickly by my dog. So a quick reward. Thank you
We bought the Clam after it was recommended by our dog trainer. She is a terrier and she loves it, and attacks it with gusto to work out how to open it and retrieve the treat that is inside. We are very pleased with it.
Great item but my dogs are toy poodles and find it very difficult to pick up and open it to get the sweet I would like to see a smaller version for small breeds
The clam has totally lived up to expectations, my corgi loves it. I use it as a reward joining our scent work sessions. Will be buying a second one as a spare very soon :-)
Bought this for my miniature schnauzer for use in agility training so that he goes for that when he's finished the course, rather than to me. It took him a little while to work it out the first time but now he can do it in less than 30 seconds, and sometimes faster.
You've never seen a dog more excited than when I bring this clam toy out and fill it with treats...it is hilarious to watch. She absolutely loves it. Its brilliant for hide and seek and fetch games. Product is very well made and safe to say has been a massive success.
A winner - dog got the idea quickly and I can use it to call him back
Keeps my puppy amused for hours
This is to use for hoopers to throw as a reward. Think it will last,as it's very well made and strong. Sticks together well with velcro,but easy enough for dog to put nose in,open the clam, and take the reward.
Excellent product. It forms our morning fetch play at home with hidden treats. Puts up with a lot of hard play.
Our Springer loves the clam and so do we. This is the only toy he will bring back and drop every time. Whilst he loves chasing any toys you throw he always runs around in circles with them and refuses to surrender them for another throw. Thanks to the training we've done with the clam he is now starting to drop balls in front of us at the park so we can keep playing together.
This is the only toy my dog plays with. Every evening at the same time he drops it at my feet. He's a terrier so not a great retriever but happily brings this back time after time.
I have now purchased 3 of these clam toys for my dachshund as he absolutely goes wild to find them. They are hidden in the garden containing treats and he speeds round and round till he sniffs each one out. Definitely his favourite activity and very good exercise!
Great product, well made. My young dog loves to retrieve it knowing there's a treat inside when she does.
I am currently seeing a Behaviourist due to my Border Collie rescue dog's reactivity. She had never played before so he suggested the Clam, as she is very food orientated, as a way to engage her. I put really smelly treats in it and she really loves it! I just say Clam time and she gets really excited. Lovely product, made all the difference and we are bonding too as a result.
Great for a food lead Sprocker for hiding with training treatsHasn't quite mastered the retrieve with it once it's emptyOnly understands 'ball' retrieve command and this doesn't look like a ballWe will keep trying as he is smart
Nora loves her clam, as a very food driven pup, it's a great toy & she hasn't managed to destroy it which is a real bonus
Robust and well made this toy was a real winner with my dog.
Mindy loves the clam , she has 2 one I use for her for rewards with training the other I pop her biscuits in for after her meals, as she has home made wet food as she needs a special diet, she loves them both, Mindy is very active very intelligent loves her play time with her tug toys she also has the hand tug fur squeaker which I use to enable me to take the other one from her rather then using treats all the time , it works well, thanks to the videos and manuals you've sent me, Mindy is a parsons fox terrier one of the old breed very fast very muscular very intelligent , but fun loves people just like to say thanks for your help an guidance with my pup.
My puppy loves this clam, it really gets her brain working and keeps her occupied. I'll be ordering more!
I have 3 Spaniels of varying ages. 2 of which are very food led! This is excellent to use, particularly for the puppy who is still working on her foundation skills.
I bought 3 clams for my 3 cocker spaniels they love these 3 of the waggiest tails you could see when play fetch and find with the clams. Strong sturdy for the games we play but not a toy that’s left in the play bag we keep these separate with tug toys for special play!
My puppy loves this toy and always gets excited when it appears. Once he learnt that he could open it for a treat, he loved it more. He soon learnt the technique for opening it but loves to knock it around empty too. Its certainly tough enough for this sort of play. A brilliant toy.
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