On July 11 we had our first on-line all day email discussion. The topic was Clicker Training in the Shelter Environment. Hundreds of people signed on. Dee Ganley and Nancy Lyons of Upper Valley Humane Society pitched in all day long. So did I. So did Melissa Alexander, Kathleen Weaver, and many other distinguished clickeristas. The questions and the answers were extraordinary.
The Discussion is now available on our website. Go take a look. It reads like a novel, as one person and then another share the astonishing things that people are doing with naïve animals and clickers. It's a goldmine of practical tips if you are volunteering in a shelter, working at a shelter, or working with rescue dogs. More than that: it's a mind-blowing education.
My advice: download it to a computer file and read it on-screen, instead of printing it out. It's lengthy if you print it, but easy to skip through by topic if you read it on-screen.
Did you read that? Click! Here's your Treat.
A children's novel-a 'Young Adults' story-about clicker training. "Shaper," by Jessie Haas.
Jessie Haas is a wonderful writer of children's books. Her novels about teens and pre-teens, often involving beloved but problem horses, have won her an enormous following and many awards. Your school and your local library have a bunch of Jessie Haas novels, I guarantee you, and the librarians love to recommend them.
Well, Jessie sent me her latest, out of the blue, and it's all about clicker training. She's written a delightful summer tale of a disgruntled 15 year old boy with a dog he doesn't like and …well, it's a great beach read for anyone you know who deals with kids, or who IS a kid, and who appreciates what might happen when a mentoring clicker trainer moves onto the farm next door.
The first novel about clicker training! Probably not the last, though! I loved it. I phoned her. It turns out she discovered clicker training through the books we publish by Morgan Spector and Alexandra Kurland.
'Shaper' by Jessie Haas. We like it so much we're carrying it in our store.
Karen Pryor is the founder and CEO of Karen Pryor Clicker Training and Karen Pryor Academy. She is the author of many books, including Don't Shoot the Dog and Reaching the Animal Mind. Learn more about Karen Pryor or read Karen's Letters online.
novels with clicker training
"Animist," by Eve Forward, also includes clicker training (but never calls it by that name, even though a primitive clicker makes an appearance) -- but it's not strictly *about* clicker training. It's a fantasy featuring an animal trainer; not Forward's best book, but certainly readable enough.
Laura &
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