Training Myth: Clicker training is one way of training

I’m surprised how often I hear this objection to clicker training. Some people are concerned about being limited to only one way to train, with one training plan, and what may happen if this doesn’t work.

The more I learn, the more distressed I get because there are so many ways to teach a behavior and I don’t know which is the most efficient in general, let alone in specific scenarios.

Regardless of how ‘positive’ someone wants to be, learning good clicker training skills can only make a person a better trainer and more efficient. It’s about learning to make a training plan (and follow it). Having good timing. Go step by step, one little piece at a time. When things don’t go well, make it easier or adjust the environment. Reinforce desirable behaviors. Have a plan for how to respond to errors.

But I just don’t know how to respond when I hear that clicker training is “just one way” of doing things.

Let’s see how many ‘clickerly’ different training plans or training variations we can come up with for the behavior “Go to mat/bed/something.” I’ve been meaning to do this for months and it’s just not been a priority, yet at the same time I’m continually wanting to reference numbers of variations for a behavior (…or more technically a set of behaviors here…). Be as brief or as detailed as you want.

I’ll start with: Shaping, tossing the reinforcer away from the mat after each click.