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.
Karen's Letters
What Do Dolphins Do for Christmas?
By Karen Pryor on 12/01/2004Christmas in Hawaii is always a little different. Santa might wear flip-flops instead of boots, a red pareu (sarong) around his opu (stomach), a red hat, a red lei—and nothing else. At Hawaii's Sea Life Park, where I was head trainer for a decade in the '60s, we put on dolphin shows many times a day, and sometimes had big crowds of school children. Naturally, we thought of Christmas-type events: dolphins pulling Santa's sleigh—with gift-wrapped buckets of fish and a Hawaiian poi dog riding on top of the sleigh—that kind of thing.
Clicker Trained Bunnies Gain Confidence
By Karen Pryor on 11/01/2004Animal shelters are taking in more and more "house bunnies" these days, and looking for homes for them. Bunnies make great house pets; they quickly learn to use a litter box, they're clean, they are active in the evening when you get home from work, and they can be very amusing. The bunnies in shelters have usually been spayed or neutered as well, so you can have more than one without worries.
ClickerExpo Orlando a Smashing Success
By Karen Pryor on 11/01/2004The feedback from attendees, which has always been very positive, has reached new heights. Turns out that you can please all of the people, and most of the time!
Of the ClickerExpo Orlando attendees who filled out a survey, 100% said the program met their expectations, exceeded their expectations, or was a "WOW!" experience. Nearly half of those attendees said ClickerExpo delivered a "WOW!" experience, and nearly 30% said it exceeded their expectations. NOBODY said the program fell short!
APDT Meeting
By Karen Pryor on 10/01/2004What is the perfect clicker class? That's the question (and I welcome your answers!). It crystallized for me this month when I attended the annual meeting of APDT.
