Karen Pryor Clicker Training Library

Do you remember when you learned to tie your shoes? Maybe that's too far back and the details are fuzzy. How about when you learned to type? I remember that well. It was during my freshman year of high school, the first period of the day, bright and early. My fingers were still asleep! As I clicked away at the IBM Selectric typewriter, it seemed so awkward. But as I practiced each day, I became more and more comfortable and my skill improved. By the end of the semester I was typing over 50 words per minute.

Case study in communication

One of the best things about training pet animals is the almost-daily opportunity to improve communication between two different species. This opportunity is particularly precious when the pet was previously trained using outdated or ineffective methods. One communication success story from my own career concerns a dog I will call "Roger." (Note that in this article Roger's names and the names of his humans have been changed to protect their privacy.)

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Let’s play!

Have you ever wanted to reward your dog for a job well done, but didn't have food treats with you? Consider playing with your dog to reinforce good behavi

Editor’s note: Be sure to view each section of Laura’s accompanying video as you read through her article.

Self control is one of the most critical skills a dog needs to learn, and it is a skill that is required multiple times a day. Dogs are expected to refrain from picking up something forbidden when it appears within reach. Some examples that come to mind include: dropped medication, chicken bones, the hamster, dead birds, Granny's hearing aid, Susie's favorite stuffed toy, the last remaining baby soother...

Resource guarding among dogs is an extremely common and normal behavior. Dogs are pre-programmed not to want to share valued resources with others. For pet dogs, resources may include food, toys, or even the owner's attention. In most households, resource guarding is limited to simple communication, but sometimes the behavior can escalate in frequency or intensity and injuries can occur. If you are ever concerned about aggressive behavior in your dog, related to resource guarding or not, it is best to contact your vet or other qualified professional for help before proceeding on your own.

"Reward your dog." We've heard this many, many times in many formats. It takes a lot of experience to get the best from a reward—where the reward delivers everything the dog needs in order to offer the behavior again and again, with passion.

Laura Monaco Torelli, Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) Certified Training Partner (CTP) and the newest member of the KPA faculty, has been a professional animal trainer for two decades. Laura was introduced to Karen Pryor's philosophy and training methods in 1991 when Laura began her career training beluga whales, dolphins, sea otters, seals, river otters, and penguins as the Senior Lead Trainer at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. In 2000, Laura moved from marine to terrestrial animals, holding lead trainer positions at the San Diego and Brookfield Zoos. She has trained a wide variety of species, including primates, large cats, birds of prey, reticulated giraffes, Arctic foxes, horses, parrots, macaws, tree kangaroos, red pandas, and, of course, dogs! Laura's career has included one fantastic learning experience after another and is now leading her full circle—back to Karen, as she becomes the newest faculty member at Karen Pryor Academy.

Serious service

Service dogs of all types perform many specialized behaviors that are critical to their success as partners with their humans. As a search-dog trainer and operational handler for 25 years, I continue to be amazed by dogs’ abilities to solve problems and to collaborate with people in seemingly confusing situations, often under grueling circumstances.

Hearing-assistance dogs are trained to distinguish between sounds and to tell their people when the phone or doorbell rings or when the smoke alarm sounds. Guide dogs are trained to stop at curbs, and to look and listen for traffic to prevent their handlers from stepping into the street until it’s safe to cross. Search and rescue (SAR) dogs are trained to find missing people, to notify their handlers when they’ve located lost or missing people, and to take the handlers to those people.

Search and rescue dogs are used to find people buried in avalanches, lost in the wilderness, drowned in lakes or rivers, and buried in rubble during a disaster. SAR dogs can even locate human remains years after a person has died. A dog trained to scent discriminate works until the person matching the specific target scent has been located. The dog is trained to ignore all other scent during that search.

The majority of gundogs are natural swimmers and love nothing better than doing it for pure pleasure. There is a skill to it, and experience alongside confidence is also required. Some dogs find the paddling action difficult to master at first, causing them to lift out the water at the front end whilst the rear end sinks—lots of splashing but no movement. This is one of those skills where practice does make perfect.