Karen Pryor Clickertraining - Clicker Digest

Earn CEUs from Karen Pryor Academy!

Tia Guest — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:08:01 -0500

Great news! You can now earn CEUs for IAABC and CPDT by enrolling in the Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer Program! Along with all the other benefits — a great education, business training, marketing support and more — you can add CEUs (22 for CPDT and 20 for IAABC)!

Learn more about Karen Pryor Academy:

Training in the Multi-Animal Household

Melissa Alexander — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 16:49:39 -0600

Stages of Learning

Melissa Alexander — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 17:37:53 -0600

The Myth of "Purely Positive"

Melissa Alexander — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 16:35:14 -0600

Is the Clicker a Conditioned Reinforcer?

Melissa Alexander — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 12:12:03 -0600

Training Levels

Melissa Alexander — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 19:53:22 -0600

Want to train your dog but not sure what behaviors to teach? A new Web site offers a brilliant solution.

The New Face of Click-L

Melissa Alexander — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 12:45:18 -0600

Click-L is the grandfather of all clicker training mailing lists. It was started in the mid-1990s by Kathleen Weaver, and has consistently been at the forefront of clicker lists since. Click-L has a new owner now, Kellie Snider, and its focus has evolved. Rather than being "just another general discussion list," the new Click-L focuses on the scientific side of clicker training.

Dealing with Aggression

Melissa Alexander — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 11:20:09 -0600

What do you do when two friends become mortal enemies? That's what happened to a poster on the Cat-Clicker mailing list recently. She had two cats, an aging female and a young male, who had been, well, if not friends then friendly cohabitants, until the older cat had surgery. Now for the last several months, the owner has had to keep the cats separated because trouble starts quickly if the two are together.

Puppy Testing for Service Dogs

Melissa Alexander — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 13:44:39 -0600

What can a prospective owner do to maximize his chance of selecting a puppy who will make a superb service dog candidate? That has been a lively topic of discussion on the OC-Assist-Dogs mailing list recently. Read on to see what they had to say.

China's Sad Policy

Melissa Alexander — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 13:04:48 -0600

Unfortunately, a new Chinese law limiting households to just one dog threatens the lives of many of these beloved pets. "Extra" dogs, unlicensed dogs, and dogs over a certain size are being slaughtered. In one province, authorities beat to death 55,000 dogs, many in front of their owners. In many areas, the dogs who remain must be under a certain size. In other areas, dogs are severely restricted in where they can go, not even allowed in parks.

Training Alone

Melissa Alexander — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 13:18:13 -0600

Training classes have definite benefits. An instructor walks you through the process of getting the behavior you want, the class offers structure and motivation to keep training, and your classmates are available to act as extra hands or distractions. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to good training classes. So how can someone get the benefits of class without taking one? A recent thread on the ClickerSolutions mailing list brainstormed ideas for training alone.

Techniques for Calming Your Horse

Melissa Alexander — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 21:11:47 -0600

All horse owners know that a fearful or too-excited horse can be dangerous, or even deadly. Being able to calm your horse can be the difference between a safe, fun ride and a serious accident. Recently, the ClickRyder mailing list discussed techniques for calming a horse.

Lazy, bored, or ... ?

Melissa Alexander — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 09:20:22 -0500

A poster on the Cat-Clicker mailing list ran into a snag. Her six-month-old kitten had lost interest in training. She had previously taught him to come when called, sit on a stool, give a "high five" with his paw, and to stand on his hind legs, and she had worked a bit on jumping through a hoop. But recently he had just seemed to lose interest.

Knowing Your Animal

Melissa Alexander — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 09:16:20 -0500

I've been reading the posts on the Bird-Click mailing list. I'm not a bird trainer, per se, but I've participated in several Bailey chicken camps, and I've trained dogs and horses. So I joined the list feeling fairly confident that I had a good grasp of what I needed to know to train birds. Instead, I found that I needed to sit in the corner with a healthy helping of humble pie and spend some time getting to know my animal!

Snake Avoidance Training

Melissa Alexander — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 09:10:33 -0500

Is it possible to train a dog to avoid snakes without relying on punishment? That was the question discussed on the ClickerSolutions mailing list recently, and some fascinating strategies were suggested. One method involved associating the sight of a snake with an extreme fear reaction in the handler and then reinforcing any hesitation, avoidance, or fearful behavior shown by the dog. Another poster recommended teaching the dog to alert the handler to the presence of a snake, similarly to the way a detection dog might alert to drugs.

A Spoonful of Sugar

Melissa Alexander — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Medicating a sick pet is a source of frustration for many owners. On the Clicker Bunny and Critters mailing list, a list member needed to give oral medication to an unsocialized frightened bunny who had recently joined her family. She was using a syringe to squirt the medicine into her bunny's mouth, but the process was a struggle each time.

Reliability or Relationship?

Melissa Alexander — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Why do you train? Is it because you need your animal to do certain behaviors, and you want to be able to elicit those behaviors reliably? Or is it because you've found that training helps you build a bond with your pet and is a rewarding journey for both of you? Reliabilty or relationship?

Toddler tantrums and other "junk" behavior

Melissa Alexander — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0500

The phrase "pick your battles" is one most parents are very familiar with. Parents quickly learn that their kids don't act exactly as they want them to all the time. Much of the behavior parents don't like is what's called "junk behavior." It's not harmful; it's just irritating at some level. For example, when a parent asks a child to do something, and the child complies but with a lot of eye rolling and muttering and stomping around, the eye rolling, muttering, and stomping around are junk behaviors. Annoying, but probably not worth "doing battle" over.

Reinforcing ourselves

Melissa Alexander — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0500

On the Positive Weight Control list, a common topic is how to reinforce the good habits they are working on. As one member said, to buy something for himself or to treat himself to something is, in effect, depriving himself of it in order to use it as a reward later. That just isn't very positive! One of the strategies list members have had great success with is to click or "tag" the desired behaviors and make collecting the tags reinforcing in and of themselves.

Working with Blind Students

Melissa Alexander — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0500

On the ClickerSolutions and Blind and Vision-Impaired Clicker Training mailing lists last week, a member presented a problem. She had a blind handler beginning one of her classes, and she wasn't sure how to help him succeed with clicker training. She gathered a fabulous list of tips, including: