I've always been interested in play. Science doesn't explain it very well, or it's explained as something young animals do to practice future skills. But that definition doesn't cover every kind of play, and it doesn't explain why it's so much fun, so reinforcing in itself.
Karen's Letters
Positively healthy!
By Karen Pryor on 06/10/2008One thing clicker training gives us is a new level of trust and communication. You may have noticed this with your pets. It's particularly startling and, to me, touching, with captive animals that could never be pets; it makes their entire care much more humane.
An Update: Books, Movies, Glamour—and the Canary
By Karen Pryor on 05/13/2008When I wrote the first edition of Don't Shoot the Dog, back in the early 1980s, I intended it as a handbook for helping PEOPLE dealing with people.
One Book Closes and Another Opens?
By Karen Pryor on 04/08/2008Writing a book is like having a baby. There is never a convenient time to do it. It's much more work than you remember from last time. And it usually takes longer than you thought it would.
A Change—and a Canary
By Karen Pryor on 03/01/2008For six years I have been writing a monthly letter to you. In the beginning, back in 2002, "Karen's Letter" was usually about new products and events, but gradually I began using the letter to talk about the science of training, and about the impact of the new technology we are developing from that science.
