Karen Pryor Clickertraining - Off the Beaten Path

Jessie Gets Radical: Teach Your Dog to Skateboard!

Tia Guest — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:00:00 -0500

Imagine coming home from ClickerExpo, your head full of ideas, and getting a new dog! That was my situation recently. So, I did what any enthusiastic trainer would do—I trained my new dog to ride a skateboard!

Marley and Us: Clicker Training on the Movie Set

Helen Schwarzmann — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:11:00 -0500

"Class! Collar your dogs!"

Most Americans would recognize the husky female voice that gave that command in a heartbeat.

I followed instructions, bent over my Doberman, Leissl, and placed around her neck the 15-year-old choke collar I had taken out of storage. Then I stood up, as rehearsed, to listen for the next command from the class instructor, Kathleen Turner.

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.

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.

Is Dog Training Worth It? Click and Laugh

Virginia Broitman — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0500

There's so much more, however, that a dog can learn. You may wonder if it's worth your time, energy, and money to continue your dog's education. We'll explore and answer this question using cost/benefit analysis.

An Easter Egg Hunt for Your Cat

Bill Peña — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 01:00:00 -0500

Finding ways to keep an indoor cat entertained and active can be difficult. However, with a little creativity and a clicker, it's easy to come up with new and fun ways to enrich homebound animals.

Fun with Your Dog: Mushing on a Bike

Robin Shen — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0600

Mushing with your dog is exciting—and a great workout for both of you. Here's everything you need to know in order to get started.

The Life of One Clicker Trained Dog: A Love Story

Virginia Broitman — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0600

In 1995 a little papillon was born. Thanks to an impressive overbite, she was labeled "pet quality" and made available to a "pedestrian" like me. Papillons can be hard to come by, so I jumped at the chance to meet her. After a long drive to the breeder's home (sadly, more like a puppy mill), I found a litter of pups cowering in the corner of an oversized terrarium. The room's pervasive odor must have choked the voice of reason in my head, as I found myself handing over $500 (cash only, please) to rescue a two-pound bundle of fuzz.

Teaching Clicker Training Across Borders

Miranda Hersey Helin — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Virginia Broitman and Sherri Lippman are the expert training team behind the Bow Wow videos and seminars, and veteran members of the ClickerExpo faculty. While the training team is accustomed to traveling for workshops and consultations, the concept of travel took on a new dimension when the pair traveled to Taiwan in February 2006 to present their training seminar to trainers and pet owners.

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.

Click and Laugh

KPCT — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0500

This happened almost two years ago but I'll never forget it. I was training my then 6-month-old female Boxer pup, Tir na nOg, and I was attempting to teach her to "Stay" on her bed. She knew the cue to "Go to her Bed" and if I asked for it she would do it.

This one night I happened to have ordered some takeout food and was sitting down on the couch to watch TV and eat. I asked Tir to go to her bed and while EXTREMELY reluctant she did it. She kept staring at me and wanting to get up to come over but I would give her the "Look" and she wouldn't move.

Ridin' the Storms Out

Angi Millwood — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0500

During the hurricane season of 2004, Florida endured a phenomenon never before encountered in recorded history. The "Sunshine State" took the brunt of not one, not two, not three, but four major hurricanes! Three of these amazing storms, Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Jeanne, blew directly through Central Florida and impacted the two animal facilities maintained by Natural Encounters, Inc. (NEI).

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.

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.

Clicker Concepts and the Corporate World

Karen Pryor — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0600

I read Don't Shoot the Dog many years ago and became an immediate fan. It has helped tremendously with training and having fun with our two dogs and one cat. I was also very interested in sections that talked about dealing with people. As a teacher, I implemented some positive reward systems in my classroom. It has been great!

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.

Mini-Horse, Maxi-Guide

KPCT — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0600

Ann Edie is blind. And, like many blind people, she used a guide dog to help her get around. When her dog suddenly died, it was a very sad thing for Ann. Not only did she miss her special friend, but she also missed his help. What would she do?

She could use her white cane, of course. And she could get another guide dog. But dogs can work for only a few years. So she came up with a different idea: "What about a guide HORSE?"

Clicker Training Transforms Families at Risk: SHIP

KPCT — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0600

"Dogs and cats, like us, have feelings. They cannot be abused or treated unfairly. Please treat your animals the way you Want to be treated."
-Five-year-old SHIP program participant

Many clicker trainers have experienced it. You are training your dog, clicking and reinforcing for desired behavior, making swift progress toward your goal, and communicating with your animal at a level you never dreamed possible. Suddenly, it dawns on you that clicker training is so much more than a training technique; it is a powerful new way of interacting, a technology and a philosophy rolled into one-that can change lives.

Click Air: Clicker Trained Flight Instruction, Part 2

KPCT — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0600

I was convinced that clicker training works in the flight simulator environment, helping the instructor to be very precise in reinforcing all the "microtasks" or small behavioral skills being asked of the student. Now, I wondered, how would it work in the air? I was working toward becoming a flight instructor. I looked forward to adapting the methods of clicker training (a.k.a. operant conditioning), to the flight training industry, while still working within the Federal Aviation Administration directives and guidelines (which, interestingly, actually propose use of techniques developed by B.F. Skinnerâ€¦)