Do you any tips for beginning clicker training?
Sincerely, someone whose partner both really wants to be clicker trained and doesn’t fully believe it’ll work.
This is somewhat confusing to me, because I can't really conceptualize of "not believing clicker training works". Clicker training isn't a 'dog' thing, you hear about people clicker training pet cats and horses, as well as basically every animal humans work with. All you need is something with ears, a brain, and a desire for some reward that you have control over.
I'll explain the basic concept of clicker training, in case you have some confused notion.
The clicker is not magic, the purpose of the click is to 'communicate'. The utility of the clicker is that the 'click' when handled well is a kind of communication that transcends language, and that the 'click' can be timed very precisely to communicate very well.
An animal is more likely to repeat behaviors that are associated with a positive reward. Thus, by giving a reward directly after an animal performs a desired behavior, we can increase the likelihood of it performing that behavior again.
An animal that reliably receives a neutral stimulus before a stimulus associated with an automatic, natural response will begin to associate that automatic, natural response with the neutral stimulus. Thus, by 'clicking' directly before giving an animal food (ideally some small treat that will not disrupt appetite for future treats, though any reward works), the animal will begin to associate the click with the reward. The automatic, natural response to the reward of "do that more" will be associated with the 'click'. You'll also want to make sure the animal is used to waiting a few seconds for the reward, too.
Then, clickers can aid in timing. You can click exactly as the animal behaves in the desired manner, thus linking behavior with reward very, very closely. In addition, you want to give the reward every time you click, no matter what. In addition, as this is positive reinforcement training, you'll want to make use of variable scheduling where you gradually but unpredictably decrease the number of rewards (clicks) given.
Thus, it's essentially just a tool for precise communication.
Anyway, if you want a guide, I quite liked Karen Pryor's Don't Shoot the Dog.
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