09/09/2025
Good info!
WHEN CLICKER TRAINING FAILED: THE FULL-SPECTRUM LESSON
Keller and Marian Breland, two of B.F. Skinner’s most well-known students, revolutionized animal training. They introduced shaping, the bridging stimulus, and what later became known as clicker training. They applied these methods to thousands of animals—pigs, chickens, raccoons, dogs, even zoo and circus animals—and trained countless trainers along the way.
By 1951, the Brelands believed rewards-based clicker training could work on almost any species, to teach nearly any behavior.
But then came the shock.
When Instinct Fought Back
In 1961, they published The Misbehavior of Organisms, documenting a pattern they could no longer ignore.
They had pigs dropping coins into piggy banks—until the pigs began rooting the coins into the dirt instead. They had raccoons depositing tokens—until the raccoons reverted to endlessly rubbing them together like food. Despite consistent reinforcement, these animals drifted back to instinctive, hardwired behaviors.
The conclusion? Instinct wasn’t erased by conditioning. It resurfaced. It competed with the training. And sometimes, it won.
As the Brelands wrote:
“The animal simply does not do what he has been conditioned to do.”
They realized that behavior could not be fully explained—or controlled—without acknowledging each species’ evolutionary history, ecological niche, and instinctive patterns.
What This Means for Dog Training
Fast forward to today, and we see the same tension in the dog world. Some trainers insist that everything a dog does is the product of reinforcement or punishment—that instincts, drives, or dominance are myths. But any owner of a high-drive shepherd, terrier, or retriever knows better.
• Herding dogs stalk, chase, and nip at movement without being taught.
• Terriers dig and shake prey because it’s encoded in their DNA.
• Guard breeds scan their environment and stand alert, even untrained.
These are not learned—they are lived. They are self-reinforcing.
The Full-Spectrum Approach
Clicker training and reward-based methods are indispensable. They should be a cornerstone of modern training. But the Brelands’ findings remind us: no single method explains everything.
Full-spectrum training acknowledges the whole picture:
• Rewards matter. Food, play, praise, and affection build motivation and engagement.
• Consequences matter. Fair corrections, accountability, and pressure create reliability in the real world.
• Instinct matters. Drives, breed traits, and genetic predispositions influence behavior before training ever begins.
The Takeaway
Clicker training didn’t fail because rewards are ineffective—it failed because instinct is real. Dogs aren’t blank slates, and not all breeds are the same.
Full-spectrum trainers embrace all sides: the science of conditioning, the reality of consequences, and the inescapable truth of instinct. Only then can we train the dog in front of us—not the dog we wish we had.
