Karen Pryor Clickertraining - Exotic Animals

One Book Closes and Another Opens?

Karen Pryor — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Writing a book is like having a baby. There is never a convenient time to do it. It's much more work than you remember from last time. And it usually takes longer than you thought it would.

Stepping on the Food: A Memo from Karen

Karen Pryor — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0600

You're training "leave it." You drop a bit of food, the dog lunges toward it, and you cover it with your foot. Are you just managing the environment, or is this negative punishment, taking away something desired?

Lessons from Llamas

Karen Pryor — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Newcomers to operant training may place superstitious value on the specific tools they see others using, not realizing that it's the process, not the equipment, that counts.

Aversive or Punishment?

Karen Pryor — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0500

There's a difference between aversive events and punishment. Life is full of aversive events—it rains, you stub your toe, the train leaves without you. These things happen to all of us, and to our pets, and we don't control when or if they occur.

Sue Ailsby's Tools for the Job: A Clicker and Patience

Aidan Bindoff — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Sue Ailsby is a well-known and highly accomplished clicker trainer who has competed successfully with her dogs in just about every possible competition venue. She now gives clicker training seminars across Canada and the US. Sue has put years of clicker training wisdom into her online Book of Training Levels and has also posted a blog of her clicker training adventure with her service dog in training, Stitch, at www.dragonflyllama.com.

Monkey Business: Natural and Learned Behavior in Capuchins

Karen Pryor — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0500

What's more fun than a barrel of monkeys? TRAINING a barrel of monkeys!

Congratulations to the Canis Film Festival Winners!

KPCT — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Laura VanArendonk Baugh won Grand Prize at the first-ever Canis Film Festival, a contest designed to showcase innovative animal-training videos. This unique festival focuses on short films of seven minutes or fewer that educate animal owners and professionals about the power of training based on the science of operant conditioning.

The Limited Hold

Karen Pryor — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600

The limited hold is scientific terminology—laboratory slang, really—for a good way to use the marker and reinforcer to speed up response to a cue. We're all used to sluggish responses. You call folks for supper, and in due course, they come; meanwhile the soufflÃ© falls or the soup gets cold. You call your dog to come in the house and it comes, grudgingly, finding half a dozen new things to sniff at before actually reaching the back door. Here's how you can fix that.

Cue the Lion, Please

Miranda Hersey Helin — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 00:00:00 -0500

We met Chris Davis at ClickerExpo Newport. Chris came to the conference looking for innovative ideas in working with his staff at A to Z Animal Management Consulting, www.zooconsulting.com, a company that provides training and consulting services worldwide. We spoke to Chris recently about his work and the success of his training company.

Clicking Raptors in the Saguaro

Karen Pryor — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0600

We're standing on a gently sloping foothill with Tucson's jagged volcanic peaks behind us, looking across the vast, flat Avra valley far below. The hills beyond that valley are in Mexico. The desert sky is a brilliant, piercing blue, filling the eyes with light. The mild warmth of the winter sun is welcome. This is Saguaro National Park.

Polish, No Spit: Learning from Llamas

KPCT — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0600

Jim and Amy Logan, llama ranchers in Washington State, were among the first to adopt clicker training in the early '90s. They were pioneers in llama applications (one of their videos shows a very nice Obedience llama, including off-lead heeling and a down.) The Logans have made clicker training the standard for training and handling llamas in the US, and are the authors of three delightful videos, well worth study by any clicker trainer, whatever the species.

What Do Dolphins Do for Christmas?

Karen Pryor — Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 -0600

Christmas in Hawaii is always a little different. Santa might wear flip-flops instead of boots, a red pareu (sarong) around his opu (stomach), a red hat, a red lei—and nothing else. At Hawaii's Sea Life Park, where I was head trainer for a decade in the '60s, we put on dolphin shows many times a day, and sometimes had big crowds of school children. Naturally, we thought of Christmas-type events: dolphins pulling Santa's sleigh—with gift-wrapped buckets of fish and a Hawaiian poi dog riding on top of the sleigh—that kind of thing.

Angi Millwood: Natural Encounters

Gale Pryor — Mon, 01 Nov 2004 00:00:00 -0600

Angi Millwood, this month's featured ClickerExpo faculty member, is the Associate Director of Behavior Programs for Natural Encounters, Inc., an animal training and presentation company working with both the public and zoo staffs. Prior to work at Natural Encounters, Angi was the Animal Training Coordinator at the Fort Worth Zoo, responsible for the zoo's animal training programs for more than 350 animal species. She was also a member of the Disney's Animal Kingdom opening team in Orlando, Florida . She served as the project leader and co-editor of the Fort Worth Zoo's Animal Training Online website, and has conducted numerous workshops for national and international zoo staff as well as college students.

Training Trainers: An Interview with Ken Ramirez

Gale Pryor — Sun, 01 Aug 2004 00:00:00 -0500

Ken Ramirez, ClickerExpo faculty member, is vice president for marine mammal programs and animal training at Chicago's world-famous Shedd Aquarium, where he develops and supervises animal care programs, staff training, and development and public presentation programs for the marine mammal collection. Recently we asked Ken a few questions about his development as a trainer, and how he helps new trainers develop.

So You Want to Be a Dolphin Trainer!

Karen Pryor — Thu, 01 Jul 2004 00:00:00 -0500

Hi Karen, I am in the 9th grade and live in California. I just finished reading your book, Lads before the Wind. We had just been to Sea Life Park this summer, so the book was a double treat to read. I am doing an essay for my Honors Language Arts class on the ideal job for me. I know you are busy but wanted to ask you some questions.

Midnight at the Oasis: Clicking with Camels

Karen Pryor — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 00:00:00 -0600

Recently, Alexandra Kurland, author of Clicker Training for Your Horse, Clicker Training Your Horse, Step-by-Step in Pictures, and a series of videos corresponded with Jim Wiltens, co-leader for the Camels Over the Himalayas Expedition. Jim came to ClickerExpo to get his first exposure to clicker training and met Alexandra Kurland at her sessions. Immediately, he set out to use his education in the field. The piece is a great example of the transformative nature of clicker training and how people and animals learn quickly together. The log of Jim's training adventure begins below.

Clicking: The Call of the Wild?

KPCT — Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 -0600

Daniel J Radziej - Animal Ambassadors - South Africa

Here is a remarkable story of a leopard, a desert, and a clicker trainer. It may suggest a brand-new tool for track and study animals in the wild-and the National Geographic was there to film the whole thing.

Operant Conditioning at the Zoo

Karen Pryor — Sat, 01 Mar 2003 00:00:00 -0600

Many zoos are now using operant conditioning to improve the wellbeing of their animals. Targeting enables keepers to move animals around without frightening them. Clicker training provides mental and physical stimulation, enriches the animals' lives, and can even save lives. (Once upon a time zoo animals had to be immobilized with a dart gun to get medical treatment. There's some risk involved-it's hard to judge the dosage-and the animals universally hate the experience, and often exhibit extreme stress which of course skews the results of any blood tests you might want to take). Now clicker training enables zoo vets and keepers to weigh the animals regularly, and to perform annual physicals, vaccinations, pregnancy exams, blood draws, hoof care, and treatment for illness, with the calm cooperation of their patients.

Training a Mini Pig

KPCT — Sun, 01 Dec 2002 00:00:00 -0600

From Elisabeth & Piccolino: Is there anything published about clickertraining with minipigs? I'm experienced with clickering dogs and horses, but I found a lot of things very different with minipig Piccolino. We'd be very grateful for any support.

Did Dolphins Go AWOL?

KPCT — Fri, 01 Nov 2002 00:00:00 -0600

Steve Dale, nationally syndicated pet writer and radio host, recently interviewed Navy representative Tom La Puzza, on Animal Planet. Navy dolphin trainers use operant conditioning and positive reinforcement, exactly as clicker trainers do-with fish, patting, and social attention for rewards, and a whistle or other sounds for the clicks and cues. Steve Dale writes: