Karen Pryor Clickertraining - Teach, Fun & Handy Tricks, Success Stories

Training Your Dog to Sit

Melissa Alexander — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Q: I'm trying to teach my dog to sit, but she's not really getting it quite right. What should I be doing?

Saving Jack: Clicker Training an Aggressive Border Collie

Renee Premaza — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:00:00 -0600

I'd like to tell you the story of my relationship with a 14 month-old Border collie. This dog was used to having his own way in life; he was dominant/aggressive and extremely hand-shy when I adopted him. If it weren't for the use of a little clicker toy, I am positive he would not be alive today.

Holiday Hide and Seek with Your Dog!

Aidan Bindoff — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600

Experienced dog owners and trainers often note that every dog needs a job. A dog with something meaningful to do rarely gets himself into trouble.

Hunting for clothespins is a task that is easy to teach, and gives your dog the opportunity to solve a problem and complete a significant job. Once the behavior is trained, it's something you can do every day without breaking a sweat or putting aside much time, yet your dog will work really hard and will finish the exercise happy and satisfied.

2007 in Review: Building the Power of the Click

Aaron Clayton — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 12:11:41 -0600

In a business article I wrote for this website in 2005, I noted that clicker training needs to become popular with the mainstream, to be the people's choice. One of the central tenets of that proposition must be raising the goals that pet owners have for their relationships with their dogs. If pet owners are bogged down by what could be called a culture of obedience, they are saddled with low expectations for interactions with their pets. And, if they have low expectations, in most cases they don't need something special. "Any ole" training method can get a dog to perform a down.

Vet Assistant Discovers Magic of Clicking

KPCT — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 15:32:10 -0500

When Katie came to our veterinary office, she was a skinny, sickly, 1.8 lb tabby kitten with a fever and lots of worms. We estimated her at about 4 months old. Katie had been born into a band of stray, mostly feral cats. We admitted Katie for care and grew so attached to her we adopted her as one of the office cats.

How to Teach Your Dog Left and Right

Aidan Bindoff — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500

This is a fun exercise that is handier than it seems at first. You'll set up two targets at a distance, and teach your dog to go to either target—left or right—on cue. Later, you will set up similar exercises to bring more general meaning to the cues "left" or "right."

A dog that understands "left" and "right" has a terrific skill for many competition venues including agility, herding, mushing, water dog, and retrieving. This understanding would also be handy walking on trails—and service dog owners could think of a dozen or more applications for "left" and "right."

Mission Impossible? How to Train "Never Ever" Behaviors

Aidan Bindoff — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500

There is a popular term used on the Yahoo Training Levels group: "never ever" behaviors. This refers to seemingly impossible behaviors that the trainer thinks will "never ever" be trained. The funny thing is, they almost always end up being achieved!

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.

How to Keep Your Dog Calm When the Doorbell Rings

Nan Arthur — Tue, 01 May 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Are you Suburban Woman, loving but exasperated owner of Fido and Fifi? Does your home seem like the 5^th at Santa Anita every time the doorbell rings? Wouldn't it be wonderful if your dog actually moved away from the door when the doorbell rang rather than crowd you for a position to greet, or "eat", the people on the other side? Wouldn't you love to have a dog that sits, lies down, or even runs to another room when the doorbell rings-instead of all the embarrassing things your dog currently does?

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.

Train Your Bunny to Sit in an Easter Basket

Joan Orr — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Enjoy spring with a real Easter Bunny—yours! Here's how to train your rabbit to climb into a basket and stay there, as excerpted from Getting Started: Clicking with your Rabbit by Joan Orr and Teresa Lewin.

Chase the Dot: The Ultimate Cat Sport

Karen Pryor — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0600

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 Kong Tennis Ball Mouse, 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.

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.

Teach Your Cat to Play Piano

Karen Pryor — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600

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.

Training Your Dog to Lie Down

Melissa Alexander — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Q: How do I train my dog to lie down?

Clicking with Inspiration: Gemini Dogs

Miranda Hersey Helin — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0500

It wasn't until 2000, however, when eight members of the Gemini training staff attended the APDT conference in Houston, that clicker training really "clicked." As Paul remembers, "We sat around and talked about it and said 'It's truly more effective and it's better for the dogs. We're going to close our eyes and jump.'" Looking back, Paul is proud of that decision. "It took guts to walk out of Houston and say 'We're going to throw the choke collars out and order some clickers.'"

Troubled Teens and Shelter Dogs Find Their Way Together

KPCT — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0500

During the summer of 2004, 16-year-old Lia of Camas, WA, was in trouble. She was on probation, had a social worker watching over her, and had to serve community service hours for an assault conviction. With no goals for her future, Lia figured she would join the Marines when she graduated from high school. It only took three weeks in August for everything to change.

Training a Steadfast Recall

Melissa Alexander — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0500

A recall can save your dog's life. It can stop her from running in front of a car, or from chasing an animal into the woods. It can call your dog away from a tempting but dangerous delicacy she has just discovered.

1-800-Save-A-Pet.com Adopts Clicker Training!

Gale Pryor — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0600

The Humane America Animal Foundation (HAAF) was formed in 1999 to build a "no-kill community," working with communities to lower euthanasia rates through spay/neuter programs and saving adoptable pets. As HAAF, we developed a comprehensive no-kill program for Los Angeles, which unfortunately was not implemented at the time, although it has new legs with the new general manager of LA Animal Services, Ed Boks. In 2001, we added a website to our program that became 1-800-Save-A-Pet.com, a nonprofit charity that helps shelters, humane societies, SPCAs, and pet rescue groups nationwide advertise their homeless pets to adopters for free.