In September I gave a workshop at the annual meeting of the Association for Pet Dog Trainers, always both an honor and a pleasure. In the workshop I demonstrated an exercise I'd learned, at an earlier APDT meeting, from Massachusetts trainer Tibby Chase, for teaching inattentive dogs to walk politely at a person's side. The exercise involves targeting and shaping, and works even if neither the handler nor the dog know anything about clicker training. APDT had arranged for a pet owner to bring three friendly but largely untrained dogs. None of the dogs were accustomed to being in public, and while they were fairly quiet they were of course trying to smell everything and greet everyone, pulling on their leashes and paying very little attention to the person holding them. The owner found a volunteer handler for each dog so I could put them through the exercise, one at a time.
Dogs
Meet the Master of Freestyle: Attila Szkukalek
By Miranda Hersey Helin on 12/01/2006In his day job, Attila Szkukalek is a biochemist in Norwich, England. In his private life he's a husband, father, and dog training instructor. To the rest of us, Attila with his dog, Fly, is the best freestyle trainer and performer on the planet-UK freestyle champions that perform regularly at Crufts and throughout Europe. Attila and Fly's performances are a powerful ambassador for reinforcement-based training. Attila is also one of the newest members of the ClickerExpo faculty. We spoke to Attila recently about his career, and his success.
Raising the Great Family Dog
By Aaron B. Clayton on 11/01/2006Congratulations on your new dog! Naturally, you want to raise a great family dog—one that can hang with the family at home, greet guests calmly, play nicely with all the other dogs and avoid the bullies, go to the lacrosse games without pulling you onto the field of play, and maybe even charm the mother-in-law into pet-sitting when you head out on vacation. Training your family dog using the clicker training approach is particularly family friendly. Here's why.
The Limited Hold
By Karen Pryor on 11/01/2006The limited hold is scientific terminology—laboratory slang, really—for a good way to use the marker and reinforcer to speed up response to a cue. We're all used to sluggish responses. You call folks for supper, and in due course, they come; meanwhile the soufflé falls or the soup gets cold. You call your dog to come in the house and it comes, grudgingly, finding half a dozen new things to sniff at before actually reaching the back door. Here's how you can fix that.
