It Didn't work for my dog

I hear it ALL the time: I tried [ #clickertraining / #positivereinforcement / rewards] but it didn't: [ work for my pet /resolve the problem / get their attention ].

First, let's start with: the clicker not getting your dog's attention? You did it wrong bc that's not how clickers work.

Moving on.... say I'm struggling with a project and laying in bed one night, I come across the concept of welding and it sounds like a great way to tackle my project. Maybe I get my hands on a welder and try to teach myself. If it doesn't help me, does that mean welding doesn't work for my project? Or maybe it doesn't work at all? Or could the answer be that I'm not doing it correctly? Maybe I should get advice from my neighbor who welds stuff? If it still doesn't fix my problem, does that mean welding doesn't work for my project? Or maybe it doesn't work at all? Or maybe the person teaching me isn't good at teaching, or is teaching me incorrrect information? Perhaps I should hire a #professional?

Clicker, or marker training, is a learned SKILL; it is not something you're going to just teach yourself beyond, perhaps, the basics. Otherwise there wouldn't be special schools people pay thousands of dollars to attend and learn this skill. Your neighbor or even local trainer may actually be really good and correctly teaching you the skill of clicker training, however they are very unlikely to have the experience, knowledge and skill to apply it to your particular behavior problem, unless they have advanced training and experience in behavior modification.

Marker, or clicker, training works on any animal. Does your pet get excited when they see the leash or hear a bag of treats shake? congratulations, your pet has been classically conditioned, which is a key step in clicker training. I have personally trained chickens, rabbits, kangaroos, pigs, bobcats, an armadillo, in addition to cats and dogs. And finally, here is a video of a giraffe that was clicker trained for hoof care. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPF5DJfH8V4

But sure, if you want to stick with the idea that your dog is the one animal in the world that clicker training doesn't work on, that's cool.

Oh and here is a lizard doing it: https://www.reddit.com/r/reptiles/comments/id6ofo/how_to_train_a_dragon_target_training_with_a/