Karen Pryor was a pioneer in the fields of animal behavior and positive reinforcement training. Her groundbreaking work revolutionized how we communicate with animals—and each other—leaving an indelible mark on science, education, and the lives of countless species around the world. Founder of Karen Pryor Clicker Training and Karen Pryor Academy, she authored influential books such as Don’t Shoot the Dog and Reaching the Animal Mind, which have transformed animal training practices worldwide. Nowhere is Karen’s legacy more evident than in the faculty and graduates of the KPA Dog Trainer Professional program, who carry forward her commitment to compassionate, science-based training.
The Training Game
The Training Game is a great way to sharpen your shaping skills and have fun at the same time. It allows you to see and experience other trainers’ decision points,
The Ten Laws of Shaping
Below are The Ten Laws of Shaping, as included in Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor. Since it was first published, we have learned more about the
Fifteen Tips for Getting Started with the Clicker
Clicker training is a terrific, science-based way to communicate with your pet. You can clicker train any kind of animal, of any age. Puppies love it. Old dogs
Adding the Cue: A Unique Approach
When we first start out clicker training, we tend to get very excited about the fact that we can teach the dog a new behavior in just a few clicks. Suddenly,
Fading the Click?
When do I fade the click? How do I fade the click? We hear those questions all the time. The smart-aleck answer is “Never.” Because we don’t “fade”
Charging the Clicker
At an annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, where over 2,000 behavioral scientists gather each year, a woman professor with whom I was acquainted told me she had
Attachments
Be my Valentine? February means Valentine’s Day, a happy time for me as a child. I lived with the principal of our school, Mrs. Sturley, who set up
101 Things to Do with a Box
This training game is derived from a dolphin research project in which I and others participated, “The creative porpoise: training for novel behavior,” published in the Journal of
