Home » Library » Learn » Karen's Articles

Karen's Articles

A Harness (or Two) for Misha

By Karen Pryor on 10/17/2012

Karen Pryor went to Germany and came back with… a new harness for Misha. Well, two, actually. Read on.

Clarissa v. Reinhardt has a goal: all dogs should be safe, well, and happy. To this end, at her establishment in the Bavarian Alps in Germany Clarissa runs a training school (with ten acres of outdoor training grounds), an animal shelter (with living rooms and gardens for the dogs), a publishing house (clicker training strongly endorsed), and a store (selling organic nutrition and wellness supplies and the world’s most comfortable dog beds). Her organization, called Animal Learn, holds an annual conference on canine behavior, attended by several hundred people (and some dogs) from all over Europe.

How to Cure a Cat-Chasing Dog

By Karen Pryor on 01/01/2012

When I brought Mimi the Burmese home at the age of 12 weeks I was quite worried about my older dog. I felt sure that my young poodle, Misha, and the new kitten would rapidly become friends and playmates (which they did). However Twitchett, a 9-year-old border terrier, represented a serious threat. In fact, one senior animal behaviorist had e-mailed me advising that I rethink my plan of getting a kitten.

Teach Your Cat to Play Piano

By Karen Pryor on 11/01/2010

It's easy to teach a cat to play the piano; I've often done it in other people's houses, with their cat, as a sort of after-dinner amusement. Here's how.

On Being a Changemaker

By Karen Pryor on 06/01/2010

So you've become a clicker trainer! Naturally you are very excited. You want other people around you to stop using punishment-based methods and start clicking. So you introduce the clicker at your dog club or high school or wherever you are using it. And guess what: people not only don't change, they get mad at you.

Chase the Dot: The Ultimate Cat Sport

By Karen Pryor on 02/01/2010

Pet stores sell lots of interactive cat toys you can use to amuse your cat: feathers on springs, battery-operated mice, and so on. We sell a few toys of our own, too—the Kong Swizzle Bird Cat Toy, the Kitty Lure Caster, and the Cat Dancer. One of the best toys in the world for most cats, however, is the laser pointer, which you can get from any office supply store.