The interviewer, Darlene Arden, is a dog person--judge, breeder, and author of a book on toy dogs. She located the puppies, all eight to ten weeks old. I uncrated and test-drove each puppy beforehand, taking three or four clicks apiece. I selected the boldest and greediest of the two Chihuahuas, who performed very well, learned (at 8 wks!) a sit and a high-five, and one or two other things. The older affie was FAR too exploratory to eat or socialize, just took off to investigate all of Border Books every time he was set down. Useless for my purposes. The 8 wk female Affie wouldn't come out of the crate, but she was very interested in my bits of chicken. So I shaped her out of the crate, explaining what I was doing, and then across the vast carpet a distance of a meter or so, to my hand, and then to Darlene's hand.
Dogs
Scandinavian Dogs
By Karen Pryor on 07/01/2000The Swedes, Norwegians, and Finns have every kind of dog you can imagine and some you can't. Lapp herding dogs are a smallish, Nordic breed with a curled tail. They seem to be smart, calm, and tough. In my Tromso seminar an eight-year-old female learned to bark on cue and to avert her head and keep silent on another cue, in five minutes on stage, with her owner doing the clicking.
Clicking with Kids
By Karen Pryor on 01/01/2000In the last three years, as clicker training has become more and more widespread in the dog and horse worlds, many people are learning to do it with children, normal or with deficits. Some are parents; others are professionals, who are using their new shaping skills with students or clients.
Clicker Litter
By Karen Pryor on 01/01/2000How soon can you begin training puppies? As soon as their eyes and ears are open, according to some breeders, who are using the clicker on whole litters of pups, even before they are weaned. Why would you want to do that? Well, the clicker means good things are coming. The puppy that makes that connection can then learn that its own actions sometimes cause those clicks that lead to treats. And the puppy that makes that discovery has a big start on a happy future.
The Ten Laws of Shaping
By Karen Pryor on 01/01/2000From Chapter 2 of Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor.
