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Absolutely! We’ve created a program of courses especially designed for the new clicker trainer, one that’s also appropriate for the very experienced traditional trainer.
Our crackerjack Foundation Curriculum pulls together the recommended courses. Use the Foundation Curriculum to map out your courses for all three days. Read the full day-by day description below, or for a condensed, easy-to-view summary of these courses, see the Foundation Curriculum webpage.
Start at the top
If you’re a beginner, just starting clicker training now, maybe the most important reason to come to ClickerExpo is to enjoy the huge advantage that position offers. The clicker technology “revolution” began among dog owners in 1992. Since that time the clicker community has made enormous strides. We've discovered a ton of shortcuts and have much faster ways of shaping and of adding cues than we did 10 years ago. Techniques that save a lot of time have been developed, such as teaching targeting as the default behavior, an idea pioneered with horses (now standard with cats, birds, and many zoo animals). We've dropped some clunky laboratory procedures that we don't need in our work (laboriously conditioning the clicker, for example). Better and easier ways to teach people to click are always being developed. We've learned to manage difficult species and difficult situations, like aggression, with positive tools. And we can use cues in ways we didn't even imagine 10 years ago.
It's like computers. Maybe you had an awful time with your first computer. “Word processing” was not easy to learn! Did you plow through some terrible software learning curves, with some truly terrible software? Even the games could have you kicking the walls. But, people growing up today start off where we are right now, doing research on the Internet, throwing graphics into their e-mails, playing amazing games. What was hard then is easy now.
It’s the same with clicker training. You, the newcomer, are the beneficiary. You don't have to struggle through the same learning curves many others did. You start at the top of the escalator, starting at the level that we early-adopters have just reached.
That's why we're having ClickerExpo—so everyone can race ahead no matter where they begin. If you're just starting, you will love this season's ClickerExpo experience.
The Foundation Curriculum
Here is the description of the program of courses we recommend for those new to clicker training, or for those requiring a solid grounding in the science and the skills. For a condensed summary of these courses, go to the Foundation Curriculum webpage.
Day 1: After Friday morning's Plenary Session, attend Part 1 of the two-part course, A Moment of Science. You'll hear about learning theory and the science underlying clicker training, the vocabulary we use, and why it all actually works so well. Your teacher will be Kathy Sdao, a dynamic and delightful speaker, and one of the top instructors in the country.
Next, take Shaping! Build the Behavior You Want with Joan Orr and Helix Fairweather. This is a critically important and wonderful introduction to shaping behavior—a skill at the core of clicker training. Finally, take Part 2 of A Moment of Science—or if you’ve brought your dog, this would be an excellent time to practice shaping skills with a working spot in the Shaping! In Action, Learning Lab.
Day 2: On Saturday, your Foundation Curriculum continues with What a Cue Can Do: Developing Cueing Skills taught by Kathy Sdao. In this Session you’ll learn to give cues instead of commands, and to develop reliable trained behavior without resorting to punishment and correction. This Session is followed by the Learning Lab What a Cue Can Do In Action (Part 1): On Cues Control. Whether you plan to work with your dog or you attend the Lab as an observer, the Lab will help you internalize the fundamentals of cueing.
Now it’s time to switch gears! You have two options. If you head over to Rosetta Bone Understanding Animal Body Language, you will learn how informed observations of animal behavior can influence and improve your training sessions. Or, you could you come see me (Karen Pryor) in an open and frank discussion about the culture of punishment in training, and what we all might do about it (Punishment and the Public).
You’ll end the day with the provocative and funny Panel Discussion with faculty. The discussion covers a wide range of training issues and is your chance to ask questions of the experts.
Day 3: You start off Day 3 with several choices. I highly recommend The Complete Trainer: A Road Map for Education & Skill Development, a Session with Ken Ramirez. No doubt you will see a number of faculty members at this Session! Ken helps you understand how the material you are learning and the skills you are developing fit together—and how to use them to become a complete trainer.
Alternatively, if you are a “crossover” trainer (someone with a traditional training background) or if you teach crossover trainers, you might attend Metamorphosis! Facilitating Successful Transitions from Traditional Training with Steve and Jen White. The transition from traditional training to clicker training is a journey that Steve and Jen know well and can help you through. If you are looking for training concepts you can put into immediate action with your dog, you may want to attend Teaching Self-Control: A Sit Is Not Enough with Kay Laurence. Self-control may be the biggest gift we can give our dogs (and ourselves!), and is something beginners and advanced trainers alike should be training.
Next, pick up where you left off with Kathy Sdao on the vital skill of cueing. Sign up as an observer or for a working spot in the Learning Lab What a Cue Can Do in Action (Part 2) Cue Comprehension. Alternatively, if you took the pre-requisite Session and enjoyed it, take the Learning Lab Teaching Self-Control in Action.
For the last selections of the day, there are two options. First, you might go to Accelerating Success: Data-Driven Training with Helix Fairweather. This Lab is anything but dry! If you are serious about improving your training success, if you compete, or if your job involves training, then this skill is really important. For a different but very powerful and relevant experience, go to Learn Anything! An Introduction to TAGteach, an eye-opening demonstration of clicker training’s power and relevance in the context of your everyday life!
Close out the day with the Conference Review, so that you can wind down, hear a bit about what the other speakers have presented, and gain additional training perspective.
ClickerExpo is a fabulous place for all learners—from beginners to those with the utmost experience. There are courses available for every experience level and nearly every area of interest. Come join us, and join the vibrant community of learners at the frontier of animal training.
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