We clicker train Chloe, and it’s going well, but the sheer noise of our standard box clicker hadn’t struck me until a recent houseguest quailed at the beginning of a training session. They don’t last long — usually only a few minutes at a time — but our guest’s reaction made me think twice about traveling with a clicker.

So I ordered an i-Click clicker, which is supposed to be quieter and easier to use, and I’m here to report that it is slightly easier to use — the button protrudes, so there’s no confusion over which end of the silver strip to press, and you can click it by smacking it against your leg, or stepping on it with your foot, if you wish. It’s also a good deal quieter — so quiet, in fact, that when we brought it to a class it was completely drowned out by our colleagues’ box clickers. It’s still a clicker, so I’d time your use of it to hours when your hotel neighbors are likely to be awake (and, preferably, out of their room), but it’s an improvement.