This practical application is a good example of learninng theory in the training of human subjects to perform complex physical tasks. See if you can spot:
Clicker Training Blog
Student scholarships now available for Karen Pryor Academy
By Aaron B. Clayton on 02/08/2008If you've been waiting for scholarship money to be available for the professional Dog Trainer Program through Karen Pryor Academy, then here's some great news!
Seeing How to Teach Those Who Can't See
By Aaron B. Clayton on 02/08/2008How does a sightless person teach a guide dog to help locate a wall switch or crosswalk button or find an empty chair to sit in? Those were just three of the fascinating training puzzles worked through at ClickerExpo this year.
Ads for E-Collars on Clicker Training Discussion Groups and Websites
By Aidan Bindoff on 02/04/2008"What are ads for electronic shock collars doing on your clicker training website/discussion group?"
This is a question that clicker training list moderators and webmasters hear often, usually (but not always) from beginners to either Internet discussion forums or to clicker training. It is a fair question, too! At best it sends an incongruous message; at worst it would seem to be unethical and hypocritical for someone espousing non-aversive training methods to profit from ads for aversive training devices.
Clicker trained Acro-Cats on Chicago's WGN morning news!
By Miranda Hersey Helin on 01/31/2008Tune in! Friday, February 1, between 8:15 and 9:00 a.m., the Acro-Cats, along with special guest Wilbur the Groundhog, will be making a live appearance on Chicago's WGN morning news to promote their upcoming show at Mars Gallery on February 3.
Watch as a groundhog competes with the Acro-Cats in a display of various skills and tricks. As always, cats and live TV make for unique entertainment!
Some of you may remember clicker trainer Samantha Martin and the Acro-Cats from our profile: Herding Cats in Hollywood. Samantha has been clicker training animals for commercials and films for more than 15 years.
My New Year’s Resolution
By Tia Guest on 12/28/2007From the first time I ever heard Karen Pryor use the term "clickerly" as an adjective, it stuck with me. And though there is no a simple definition for the term, I knew exactly what she meant. Once you have experienced clicker training it changes you. I'm not sure why that is (though I know we'll soon have more information about the science), but I know it has changed me.
Christmas goes to the dogs
By Miranda Hersey Helin on 12/21/2007When Americans feel an economic pinch, belt-tightening is often in order. That said, one budget item that is apparently immune from a spending reduction this year is the family pet. From the Boston Globe:
The National Retail Federation predicts that holiday sales will rise a disappointing 4% this year over last year, but Rover and Kitty have no need for concern. Annual spending on pets is expected to hit $40.8 billion in 2007, a nearly 6% rise over last year, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.
The AFP reports that 90% of Americans consider their dog or cat a part of their human family—and that in 2006, Americans spent almost $3 billion on their pets just in the two-month period from Halloween through Christmas.
Music teacher breaks new ground with TAGteach
By Miranda Hersey Helin on 12/11/2007The following success story was posted to the TAGteach Yahoo Group:
I just wanted to say again how much I enjoyed your TAGteach seminar in Sanford last week. It has really changed not only how I view teaching music and training dogs, but how I view all human interactions.
