Karen Pryor Clickertraining - Humans

Why Isn't Clicker Training on Oprah?

Aaron Clayton — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 00:00:00 -0600

For clicker training to become the peoples' choice, to reach the mainstream of America, clicker trainers need to recognize that we are up against a deep-seated cultural bias, one that severely limits pet owners' expectations from dog training. Our task is to help people replace that narrow vision with a broader vision and higher expectations, with "something more." We can do it if we can show people that clicker training uniquely delivers that "something more." With me? Keep reading.

Become Your Business's Chief Medical Officer

Aaron Clayton — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0600

The operating health of your training business can be powerfully assessed in 15 minutes by applying a few familiar concepts in new ways. You may not want to try brain surgery quite yet, but you'll be able to assess how well your business is performing, what its intrinsic growth limits are, and what the payoff could be from any improvements you may make.

Host a Clicker Training Seminar

KPCT — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0600

Seminars featuring other top clicker trainers can be profitable, enhance your reputation as a top educational facility, and strengthen the bond with your customer.

Clicker Training with Cats on CNN

KPCT — Thu, 01 May 2003 00:00:00 -0500

NEW YORK - May 2003, CNN's Jeanne Moos caught up with Karen for an interview while she was speaking to the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo. The resulting piece, which ran on CNN News world wide, makes Karen's point clear: the lives of cats, big and small, are benefiting from the positive effects of clicker training.

Summer Fun

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

I've always been interested in play. Science doesn't explain it very well, or it's explained as something young animals do to practice future skills. But that definition doesn't cover every kind of play, and it doesn't explain why it's so much fun, so reinforcing in itself.

An Update: Books, Movies, Glamour—and the Canary

Karen Pryor — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

When I wrote the first edition of Don't Shoot the Dog, back in the early 1980s, I intended it as a handbook for helping PEOPLE dealing with people.

Podcast: Independents' Day: Challenges Facing Independent Trainers

Aaron Clayton — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:00:00 -0500

Podcast: Kindness First

Melissa Alexander — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 08:00:00 -0600

Listen to Melissa's podcast (available at the bottom of the page) to find out why putting kindness first is a start to improving your behavior. Read the original article here.

How to Keep Your Pet Safe

Joan Orr — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:10:02 -0500

Does your pet aspire to work in the areas of gardening, electrical work, stuffed animal surgery, or even hazardous waste disposal? Given the opportunity, many pets engage in activities that are downright dangerous. As their owners, it is our responsibility to maintain the safety of these zany, ambitious pets.

How to Motivate Yourself to Train or Exercise Your Dog—Or Do Practically Anything Else!

Aidan Bindoff — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Psst! Do you want to know the secret to getting things done?

Do you feel guilty about not walking your dog every day? Or not training as often as you should, or even not training when you really need to?

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.

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.

Karen Pryor Connects with the Author of "Kicked, Bitten, And Scratched"

KPCT — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0500

When Amy's book came out, the New York Times gave it a great review. Then the Times published Amy's lighthearted article about what she learned, following the trainers around at Moorpark, that helped her get over nagging her husband and improved their relationship: "What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage." Wow, what a huge media reaction! One reporter told me that Amy "shocked the entire world."

Troubled Teens and Shelter Dogs Find Their Way Together

KPCT — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0500

During the summer of 2004, 16-year-old Lia of Camas, WA, was in trouble. She was on probation, had a social worker watching over her, and had to serve community service hours for an assault conviction. With no goals for her future, Lia figured she would join the Marines when she graduated from high school. It only took three weeks in August for everything to change.

Will You, Won't You, Will You Dance with Me?

Gale Pryor — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Whether you know it as canine freestyle or heelwork to music—or you've never heard of this new dog sport at all—the time has come to dance with our dogs.

Poisoning the Process

Lynn Loar — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0500

A trainer can poison the process of learning without poisoning individual cues (that is, despite using positive reinforcement exclusively). This comes about unwittingly—and ironically—because of the trainer's expertise, focus, and purposefulness.

SHIP for Battered Mothers and their Children

KPCT — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0500

The six mothers and their 15 children are housed in a transitional living apartment complex for battered women. In many ways, these are the "lucky" families. These courageous women have made the difficult decision to leave their abusive partners. They have spent up to 30 days at the battered women's shelter and, subsequently, have made the even more difficult decision to not return home—ever. In seeking a safer life for themselves and their children, they live in TLP, the Transitional Living Project, run by the Greater Cincinnati YWCA. For up to two years the women are offered job counseling, employment support, skills training, and therapy groups.

Good Human! You're Learning the Fido Way

KPCT — Sun, 01 May 2005 00:00:00 -0500

For most people, tag is a child's game. But for a growing number of young athletes and dancers, "TAG" is a revolution in education.

Teaching with Acoustical Guidance is a technique that uses a sharp audible "click" to signal the moment when a student gets something right—from perfect form on a handstand to the perfect ballet arabesque.

Click Air: Clicker Trained Flight Instruction, Part 4

KPCT — Sun, 01 May 2005 00:00:00 -0500

I was sitting in the right seat of a Cessna 172 recently, gazing into the distance while my student worked through his pre-taxi checklist, and I noticed that a beautiful white Cessna 210 on short-final had not extended its landing gear. We were on a ground control frequency, so I keyed the microphone and transmitted an urgent call.

"AIRCRAFT ON FINAL HAS ITS GEAR UP!" The aircraft descended below my line of sight behind a row of low T-hangers. I watched to see if the message made it from the ground controller to the lead controller. Moments later I saw the 210 climbing out and dropping his gear and heard, "Thank you," from the ground controller (I didn't get a 'thank you' from the 210 but he owes me.)

Click Air: Clicker Trained Flight Instruction, Part 3

KPCT — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0600

Once again, quite a bit of time has passed since I wrote my last article. I am now an instructor at a small flight school in California. My students are young and not so young, and include college kids, retired executives, some corporate management types, a painter, and the airfield fuel-truck driver. They are bold, they are timid, they are coordinated, they are uncoordinated, they are organized and they are disorganized. Some are too smart for their own good. One or two don't know how talented they really are, laughing while performing difficult tasks that make others freeze with fear. I teach and I watch and I marvel at the complexity of the interaction: the transfer of knowledge and skills from one person to another in the crammed cockpit of a Cessna 152.