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. For example:
- In England last spring I met a lot of clicker dogs, a few of them service dogs or performance champions but many just pets, that understood at least 150 cues and behaviors, and could learn new ones in next to no time.
- Trainers are using clicker principles and practices to calm aggressive behavior in dogs, in horses, and even in people.
- People are using the clicker to defuse fear; to make a shy dog friendly, to convert a frightened or feral cat from hissing to purring, and to make jittery horses calm and safe to ride. Clicker trainers can give shots and draw blood from a tiger or a rhino or a gazelle without the aid of an anesthetic-filled dart.
- Shelter volunteers with clickers and treats can debark an entire kennel of noisy dogs in ten minutes or less. And keep it quiet.
- Trainers are teaching cues and behaviors in pairs bark, silence; come forward, back up; stay, go; left, right.
- Trainers are using very high rates of reinforcement. It's a great help in 'speed shaping' and in creating enthusiasm in the learner. You won't find 'rate of reinforcement' mentioned in Don't Shoot the Dog! (not even in the updated 1999 edition) or emphasized in the scientific literature. But it's an important new strategy.
Sharing the news ClickerExpo
In fact, suddenly there are so many new developments in clicker training an explosion of new tools and technology that our company has decided to host ClickerExpo, a conference that will bring the clicker community together to discover the cutting edge of clicking.
ClickerExpo will be held three times, in three different regions so we can reach as many people as possible: ClickerExpo Central, in Chicago next November; ClickerExpo West in Berkeley in January; and ClickerExpo East in Pennsylvania in March.
We plan to bring ALL the elements of clickerdom together. We'll have three days of panels, invited speakers, and entertaining presentations on the Main Stage, featuring everything from dolphin trainers to police dogs, and covering a huge range of clicker topics. In addition, a group of highly qualified teachers will be offering a total of eighteen hands-on clicker workshops across a wide variety of applications and skill levels.
The Clicker Challenge
Finally, every day the Main Stage at ClickerExpo is going to feature the new British-invented dog sport, the Clicker Challenge, with teams of four trainers and up to eight dogs competing. You can sign up to participate or just watch it's a riot either way.
Sign on and get ready
The complete program for the first ClickerExpo in November 2003 in Chicago will go up on our Web site shortly. Registration will open for the Chicago Expo in May, and participants will be registered on a first-come, first-served basis. Can't make the Chicago program? The second Expo in January '04 in Berkeley, CA, and the third Expo in West Chester, PA in March '04, will follow the same basic plan, with some variation in guest speakers and topics.
Mark your calendar for ClickerExpo. I'm looking forward to seeing you there.
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.
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