Clicker Training Blog

The reach of clicker training and Karen Pryor continues to stretch globally, thanks to Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA CTP) Lynn Martin. Back in April, we received an inquiry from Ingo Schnabel, the director of the Himalaya Rescue Dog Squad Nepal (HRDSN). His organization provides search and rescue teams in the wake of natural disasters, or when people are missing. Ingo and his team had just read Don't Shoot the Dog, and were eager to introduce clicker training to their Nepalese Junior Search and Rescue Workers.

One thing I can't get out of my own mind after reading Karen Pryor's new book, Reaching the Animal Mind, is the fascinating neuroscience about how the click follows deep physiological, non-cognitive pathways involving the amygdala. Combine this with the "seeker circuit" physiology, and you have a big part of what make the clicker training process so powerful—it's permanent and impossible to resist.

You know how well clicker training works with animals. Did you know that those extraordinary results can be replicated with humans? It’s called TAGteach—a system of marker-based positive reinforcement for teaching humans.

TAG is an acronym for Teaching with Acoustical Guidance. The focused, positive nature of this method yields immediate and stunning results that are clearly evident to teachers, students, and parents. TAG is a modified application of clicker training applied to humans, currently being used in a wide array of disciplines including corporate training, sports, classroom teaching, physical and occupational therapy, music instruction, and more. For an illustration of TAGteach in action, watch this video.