Steve Dale is one of the country's leading pet journalists. He is host of the Pet Central program on WGN Radio, owned by the Chicago Tribune, the host of Animal Planet Radio, and a correspondent and columnist for Dog World and USA Weekend. His syndicated columns and programs appear in over 100 newspapers and on 80 radio stations. Steve probably reaches more homes, directly, than any other journalist in the pet field. In addition he is active in an enormous range of pet-related civic endeavors.
Gem Posts
Children, Music Lessons, and the Clicker
By KPCT on 05/01/2003From Karen Willmus: All this last year my children, (boy age 7 and girl age 5) have been taking Suzuki violin lessons. We've had pretty good progress even though I never push them to practice every day. (Mom usually doesn't have time to supervise and forgets.) Well, as you all can imagine, kids that age don't practice on their own. Anyway, as the year's gone on, the kids have been more and more resistant to practicing. I don't like to fight, so the practice is becoming less and less. (Classical conditioning, you say!)
Click vs. Word: Calming a Stressed Dog
By KPCT on 03/01/2003From Sophie S.: Last week I noticed another situation in which there is a distinct difference between clicker training (using a marker signal!) and giving goodies without a clear-cut signal: calming a stressed dog.
Let me give you an example. I've been a clicker trainer for about three years now, but I never clicked my aunt's shepherd-Doberman mix (now 10 years old). Mascha's history is this: My aunt saved her from being put down, because her previous owner wanted to get rid of her. She was then six months old. He also probably hit her.
Herding Dogs: Clicker Training Resource
By KPCT on 01/01/2003Are you interested in training a herding dog? Wondering where, if, and how the clicker fits in? Stuck with an expert trainer of the old school, who believes in punishment, and lots of it, for your dog and for you? Here's some help! Lary Lindsay has been running the Yahoo group ClickHerd for a year, now. Here's Lary's introduction:
How Clicker Training Changed My Horses
By KPCT on 01/01/2003From Karen Willmus: I've been clicking several of the same horses, now, since Alexandra Kurland first published her book Clicker Training for Your Horse about five years ago. I've used it on Arabs, Quarters, Andalusians, and ponies. Also used it on the cats and dogs. With the horses I piggyback the clicker to Parelli, Lyons, and Classic dressage-type principles. Some of my horses have daily training, and sometimes some go for months between training.
