Are you still treating your dog with hidden aversives? A year ago, Karen Pryor suggested that as a community of clicker trainers, we should stop punishing our dogs "by accident." We're featuring this classic for the New Year, to help with that list of resolutions.
Dogs
Why I Love the Clicker+
By KPCT on 01/01/2005Editor's note: The Clicker+ grew out of a commitment to better training. Liz Harward, one of the designers of the Clicker+ and a talented clicker trainer, answers questions and talks about the features and benefits of the Clicker+.
Q: Can the Clicker+ improve how you teach others?
A: I teach a lot of folks how to train their dogs. The dogs aren't the challenge, usually. It's the people. So, I really wanted a tool that let people know when they had good timing or gave good feedback to their dogs. I talked with Karen Pryor about this problem and she suggested using the different clicks on the Clicker+ to help the students learn.
FAQs for Shelters
By KPCT on 01/01/2005Clicker Training uses a clear, distinct signal that is unemotional and consistent. Animals learn quickly from an occasional click and treat, here and there, for desirable behavior such as sitting instead of jumping on the kennel door, or being quiet instead of barking. The more information an animal receives about its environment, the more calmness and confidence that animal will display. The calmer and more confident the animal appears, the sooner it will be adopted.
Clicker Dogs Sniff the Diagnosis
By Karen Pryor on 11/01/2004Recently, a fascinating research study made headlines internationally. In the September 2004 issue of the British Medical Journal, British researchers reported using trained dogs to detect bladder cancer by sniffing human urine, opening up the possibility that dogs may one day be used to detect the disease.
What the media did not report is that the dogs in this research project were clicker trained. We have also heard directly from a researcher at a West Coast university, where a similar project is underway—in which they are also clicker training the dogs.
Don't Shoot the Dog! Frequently Asked Questions
By KPCT on 11/01/2004Is this audiobook read by the author?
Yes, the entire audiobook is read by the author, Karen Pryor. She has also added new commentary, only available in the audiobook.
