Karen Pryor Clickertraining - Clicker Training for Obedience

Podcast: How to Put An End to Counter-Surfing

Aidan Bindoff — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:09:00 -0500

Listen to Aidan's podcast (available at the bottom of the page) to find out more about How to Put An End to Counter-Surfing. Read the original article here.

How to Train Scent Discrimination for Obedience Competition

Morgan Spector — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0600

Scent discrimination is one of the "advanced" obedience exercises, but it is actually one of the easiest to train. Why? You are working with the dog's single most acute sense: smell. Although the word is politically charged, in behavioral terms "discrimination" simply means a choice made on the basis of established criteria. In the case of scent articles, that criterion is the handler's scent ("find the one that smells like me").

Clicking Training for Obedience: Reviews

KPCT — Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 -0600

While I have read all the great reviews, this book still managed to exceed my high expectations. "Clicker Training for Obedience" provides clear, concise instructions. If you are even remotely interested in clicker training, you MUST buy this book. I have seen not only great success with my dog, but also a dog that looks forward to training. I cannot say enough good things about the "Clicker Training for Obedience".

Clicking Training for Obedience: Morgan Spector

KPCT — Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 -0600

In this breakthrough book, Morgan Spector shows you how and why to use clicker training, the technology of operant conditioning and positive reinforcement, to train your dog. Whether you're starting off with a new puppy or headed for the Obedience ring, these step-by-step instructions will work for you. Morgan answers all the familiar questions about clicker training: "Why can't I just use my voice?" "What if the dog doesn't obey?" "When can I get rid of the food?"

A Word about "Compulsion"

Morgan Spector — Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 -0600

From Chapter 2 of Clicker Training for Obedience. Many trainers who dip their toes into the waters of operant conditioning still reserve for themselves the option of "making" the dog do an exercise at some point in the training process. The theory, expressed in different ways, boils down to the notion that "the dog must know that it doesn't have any choice but to obey when I give a command." In response, I pose two questions:

Clicking For Obedience: Table of Contents

KPCT — Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 -0600

Clicker Training for Obedience: About Morgan Spector

KPCT — Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 -0600

Morgan Spector is a practicing attorney and respected obedience competitor, trainer and teacher in Southern California. In 1993 he came in contact with Karen Pryor and had been a dedicated clicker trainer since. He is well known in dog-training circles as an advocate and expositor of operant conditioning techniques through his participation on clicker e-mail lists and his regular columns in the NADOI News and the Clicker Journal. His own competition dogs are Shetland Sheepdogs, but his students come with all breeds, including many"non-obedience breeds" such as Weimaraners, Boxers, Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs, Miniature Pinschers, Wheaten Terriers and Caucasian Ovtcharkas.

The "Drop in Motion"

Morgan Spector — Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 -0600

From Chapter 3 of Clicker Training for Obedience. While this is primarily useful for the obedience exhibitor, it is an invaluable safety net for the pet owner as well.

One of the biggest bugaboos in competition obedience training is the drop on recall....How do you get the dog to be alert to drop without losing speed on the recall? How do you keep speed on the recall without losing the drop? It is the stuff of which murky legends, rumor, and innuendo are made. One top handler is reputed to hit his dog with his hat. Some handlers use a throw chain. Some now advocate using an electronic collar. The grain of reality in all this is that the drop on recall is probably the most common cause of failure in the Open A ring.