It was Karen Pryor who popularized the term and the practice of clicker training. Her 1985 book, Don't Shoot the Dog, captured the public's interest, and its appearance inadvertently led to a widespread assumption that clicker training was new. In fact, as Pryor herself explained in the introduction to her book, clicker training is based on the science and technology of operant conditioning and has been used since the 1940s.
Dogs
Getting Started: Clicker Training for Dogs New Edition!
By KPCT on 01/01/2004"Karen Pryor's Clicker Training for Dogs is the most compelling demonstration of dog training that I have ever seen. No dog should go without this information."
—Nicholas Dodman, DVM, The Dog Who Loved Too Much
Play the Cup Game
By Karen Pryor on 12/01/2003
Here's a simple exercise I gave to the DogRead online list, to introduce people and their dogs to the clicker philosophy.
Sit on the couch. Put a paper or plastic cup on the floor. Now, using clicker and treats but not throwing the treats near the cup, can you get your dog to knock the cup over and knock it around the room? Try it!
Fear of the Elevator
By KPCT on 12/01/2003I took four dogs to dog shows this weekend, one of them was a young Labrador that I own with a family about an hour away from my home. I had seen the dog off and on for the past year but she has had no real training other than coming to puppy class. This pup is clicker wise. I stayed in a hotel and had to bring each dog up to the fourth floor of the hotel! Pearl had never been in an elevator and decided to put the breaks on—there was no way she was taking a step into that scary looking place with the shiny floor.
The Phoebe Chronicles VII: Illness Strikes
By Gale Pryor on 12/01/2003Later that night, Dr. Davis called. The staff neurologist had examined Phoebe and felt there were four possible diagnoses: Coonhound Paralysis, Botulism, Tick Paralysis, or Myasthenia Gravis. Dr. Davis gave me an update on Phoebe's condition. The paralysis had extended as far as her face. Now she couldn't even blink.
