But by building a solid reinforcement history and doing the repetitions, you are increasing the probability that the dog will perform reliably. One of the best techniques to emerge from clicker training is pure shaping. In pure shaping, the behavior is reduced to its most basic, tiny steps. For example, to shape a spin, the trainer may first reward a glance to the right, then a tiny head turn, then a larger head turn, then a shifting of the weight, then the movement of a paw, and so on until the dog is doing a complete spin. The only limitation to shaping is the skill of the trainer.
Precision is gained by gradually increasing criteria.
The most common problem is the failure of the trainer to break the behavior into tiny enough increments. Shaping relies on the animal's willingness to offer behaviors. If an offered behavior doesn't earn a reward, the dog must be willing to experiment until it figures out what will earn a reward. This is one reason why clicker trainers rely so heavily on negative punishment. Once a dog understands the method, withholding a reward motivates the dog to try something else.