Thanks to the ever-growing clicker community around the world, there is a lot that's new and astonishing in the science and application of clicker training.
Karen's Letters
Operant Conditioning at the Zoo
By Karen Pryor on 03/01/2003Many zoos are now using operant conditioning to improve the wellbeing of their animals. Targeting enables keepers to move animals around without frightening them. Clicker training provides mental and physical stimulation, enriches the animals' lives, and can even save lives. (Once upon a time zoo animals had to be immobilized with a dart gun to get medical treatment. There's some risk involved-it's hard to judge the dosage-and the animals universally hate the experience, and often exhibit extreme stress which of course skews the results of any blood tests you might want to take). Now clicker training enables zoo vets and keepers to weigh the animals regularly, and to perform annual physicals, vaccinations, pregnancy exams, blood draws, hoof care, and treatment for illness, with the calm cooperation of their patients.
Clicker Questioners
By Karen Pryor on 02/01/2003Once upon a time I was teaching a clicker class to this West Highland Terrier Club. People were laughing and clicking and two dozen little white dogs were learning different things all over the room. Then I noticed one woman just sitting there, with her dog hiding under her chair.
"Don't you want to try? It's fun!" I said.
"Oh, it wouldn't work with MY dog," she said, glancing disdainfully around the room. Her air of certainty aroused my curiosity. Perhaps her dog had some unusual medical problem.
"Really?" I said. Why not?"
"My dog's from England!"
Clicker Research Challenges
By Karen Pryor on 01/01/2003The Clicker Challenge: A Great New Dog Sport!
By Karen Pryor on 11/01/2002Boston clicker trainer MaryAnn Callahan and I just returned from the National UK Clicker Challenge, in England. Kay Laurence, founder of Learning About Dogs, Ltd., and Teaching Dogs magazine, originated the idea and began holding local Clicker Challenges in England a couple of years ago.
