ClickerExpo Denmark 2017 | Faculty & Speakers

Eva Bertilsson has a master’s degree in behavior analysis and a passion for all things related to behavior, learning and animal welfare. She grew up with horses, rabbits, and other animals, and ventured into dog training in the early 1990s. For many years Eva spent most of her time on the agility field, earning top merits with phalènes Misty and Soya. She has always been fascinated by the processes of learning and teaching. For the past ten years, Eva has been working full time as an educator in a wide variety of settings—from puppy classes at the local dog club to husbandry training in zoological settings to seminars for teachers on the science of behavior.

Together with business partner Emelie Johnson Vegh, Eva runs their collaboration Carpe Momentum. Eva and Emelie's goal is to help people acquire knowledge and skills in science-based, modern, humane and empowering teaching strategies for the benefit of learners of all species. They teach seminars on the general principles of behavior and learning, and coach trainers in the art of structuring great training sessions regardless of the venue or the species.

“E&E” are the first TAGteach faculty members in Europe, offering consultations and workshops about applying positive-reinforcement techniques with human learners in all imaginable areas. The colleagues’ first book, Agility Right from the Start, was published by Karen Pryor Clicker Training (KPCT) in 2010. The book outlines Emelie and Eva’s philosophy and structured approach to training, making it a worthy read not only for agility enthusiasts.

Eva is also directing a Swedish regional government project aimed at improving behavior management practices in the animal-care industry, with missions ranging from teaching positive reinforcement training to high school students and their teachers, to building a Fear Free™ veterinary care community in Scandinavia.

Eva lives in the village Ljungskile, on the west coast of Sweden and north of Gothenburg, but spends much of her time traveling. Border collie Tizla makes sure Eva’s free time is filled with outdoor activities and enriching training projects.

Aaron Clayton has been president of Karen Pryor Clicker Training (KPCT) and a business partner with Karen Pryor for more than a decade. He is a management executive with approximately 25 years of experience growing service-based businesses. Of all his experiences, Aaron's involvement with teaching and learning as the president of KPCT has been the most fun and reinforcing (pun intended!).

Prior to partnering with Karen, Aaron helped found and fund a human resources company and was a partner at a business strategy consultancy focused on improving the market position and performance of Fortune 500 companies. He is a board member of TAGteach, LLC. Aaron holds a bachelor's degree from Brown University and an M.B.A from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

Preview and purchase video of Aaron's past ClickerExpo sessions

Susan G. Friedman, PhD, is a professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. She has helped pioneer the cross-species application of behavior analysis to animals, using the same humane philosophy and scientifically sound teaching technology that have been so effective with human learners.

Susan has co-authored chapters on behavior change in four veterinary texts, and her popular articles have been translated into 13 languages. She offers seminars on animal learning at conferences and zoos around the world, is a member of Karen Pryor Clicker Training’s ClickerExpo faculty, and teaches yearly hands-on animal training workshops with Steve Martin at Natural Encounters, Inc.

The Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the American Humane Association (AHA) Film and TV Unit, Susan is a member in good standing of ABAI, AZA, ABMA, IAABC and IAATE.

This year Susan was included on the Vet Tech College’s list of 15 Animal Professors to Know. Her acclaimed online course, Living and Learning with Animals for Behavior Professionals, has provided even wider dissemination of effective, humane, behavior-change practices to students in more than 30 countries.

Kay Laurence runs a training and education business, Learning About Dogs Ltd. Her business is located in the United Kingdom, in the Cotswolds at the Wagmore Barn Centre, and is focused on excellent training, thinking, and canine enjoyment. In addition to workshops at her own training facility and in the virtual learning environment, Kay holds workshops and seminars across Europe and the United States, teaching a wide range of clicker training skills and encouraging trainers to enjoy the expansive views outside the box.

Living intimately with many dogs over many years, observing their daily interactions, puppy-rearing, and activities, Kay has learned to view our world through their eyes. Dogs demonstrate the art of living skillfully and as a harmonious and connected group. Kay's understanding and skills are shared through her workshops, where consistent, high-quality results with a range of different dogs and people are achieved. With her passion for understanding dogs and her experience in teaching, Kay leads the way developing practical techniques that leave owners with a great sense of personal achievement and connection to their dogs.

Kay is considered one of the world's advanced clicker trainers. With 10 titles published and translated into German, French, and Spanish, her exciting books and videos offer her unique combination of talents. Kay has been a presenter at the twice-annual Karen Pryor Clickertraining's conference ClickerExpo more than 15 times and continues to enjoy exploring new cities in the US as part of the ClickerExpo faculty. A regular presenter at the ORCA "Wicked Minds" Conference at the University of North Texas, she has also been a Presenter at the Australia APDT Conference, Sydney 2011.  Learn more about Kay at her website.

Preview and purchase video of Kay's past ClickerExpo sessions

Chirag runs Domesticated Manners in London, UK. From here he consults on the ethical and science based practice for the behaviour management and training of domestic, zoo and laboratory animals. He works with private clients, organisations as well as running workshops for professionals internationally. Chirag is also a senior training and behaviour advisor for the UKs largest canine rescue charity, Dogs Trust.

Chirag earned his BSc (Hons) in Veterinary Sciences from the Royal Veterinary College in London and a Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Animal Behaviour from the University of Lincoln, UK. Chirag is also a certified parrot behaviour consultant (CPBC), with the International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants (IAABC). Chirag is also currently continuing his education by studying for a MSc in Applied Behaviour Analysis. In 2005, Chirag completed an internship in behaviour and training with a focus on aggressive behaviour under the mentorship of Jean Donaldson at the San Francisco SPCA and developed his understanding and skills in puppy training under the mentorship of Ian Dunbar.

Chirag has a YouTube Channel that has accumulated over half a million hits and provides free resources for pet owners and professionals, you can access this channel by clicking here. You can also find out more by visiting his website at www.domesticatedmanners.com

Since 2008, when Catja began her clicker training education at Canis, founded by Morten Egtvedt and Cecilie Køste, she has committed to training dogs and their humans with positive reinforcement methods. Her main focus is clicker training for competition, and she has experience in various competition styles. The most reinforcing part of training for Catja is showing that if a behavior is trained solidly, it can be applied to any work situation, including dog sports. Catja herself has competed successfully with her cocker spaniel in search and rescue, tracking, obedience, and rally.

A firm believer in the importance of basic skills and back-chaining, Catja believes that it is not always about making training assignments as difficult as possible. Her philosophy is that training is just as much about the basics. Recently, Catja became interested in using benchmarking in her dog training. She finds it a useful tool that can take training up to a whole new level.

Today Catja runs a branch of the training company Canis in Denmark. She also teaches workshops throughout Denmark and worldwide. These workshops have been pretty much a fulltime job the past several years. In addition, Catja authors articles for a clicker training magazine, focusing on everyday tips, the different ways of training solid behaviors chains, and “starting right.” She still competes with her 9-year-old cocker spaniel and is preparing her young Australian koolie to love competitions. Currently, Catja finds herself working with clicker trained drug-sniffer dogs.

Michele Pouliot began her animal-training career through her love of horses. She attended the Pacific Coast Equestrian Research Farm, studying under the tutelage of Linda Tellington and Wentworth Tellington. After graduating at the school’s highest level, Michele remained there as an instructor, until her next position, in North Dakota. There, Michele acquired her first dog—a move that would change her life and career. With dog-training pointers from a former riding student, Michele became fascinated with her dog’s willingness to learn; she spent all of her spare time training him. It was then that Michele’s path changed toward a career in dog training, which progressed to guide dog training.

Michele Pouliot began her 42-year career as a licensed guide dog instructor when she joined Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB), the second-largest guide dog school in the world. In addition to personally training more than 350 guide dog teams over 20 years, Michele contributed to major change in the organization by leading the adoption of clicker training in the formal training of guide dogs and in the development of puppies raised for guide dog work. Michele also developed the education program for GDB’s blind clients learning to clicker train their own guide dogs.

Since 2005, Michele has been a pioneer in the guide dog industry worldwide. GDB and Michele actively support and assist other guide dog schools in crossing over from traditional training methods to positive reinforcement and clicker training techniques. In order to provide education to more individuals worldwide, GDB and Michele have offered four International Guide Dog Clicker Conferences for professionals in the guide dog field. Recently, Michele was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award from the International Guide Dog Federation for her innovation, creative development, and service to blind clients and guide dog programs around the globe. She leads seminars and workshops around the world, for guide and service dog organizations and for dog sport training. Michele is known as a very clear and enthusiastic teacher who demonstrates her love for animals and people every time.

Michele has also been very active and successful in canine dog sports. She was heavily involved in competition obedience for 20 years, winning four Obedience Trial Championships with her personal dogs. Michele has also competed in tracking and in the sport of agility. In 2005, Michele discovered the new sport of Canine Musical Freestyle; she is now a leader in the sport, with help from her dogs Cabo, Listo, Déjà, and Saké. Michele and her dogs are winners of multiple national and international competitions; they are known for creative behaviors and entertaining routines. Michele and Listo made history in the World Canine Freestyle Organization as the first team to ever receive perfect "10" scores in both Artistic and Technical categories! They repeated this incredible achievement 23 more times with six different routines.

Michele loves to spend time at home, in Oregon, with her dogs and her horses. A member of the ClickerExpo faculty since 2008, Michele partnered with Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) to create an online Canine Freestyle course. The course has received rave reviews from students and is popular even with clicker enthusiasts who are not involved in the freestyle sport.

Ken Ramirez is the Executive Vice-President (EVP) and Chief Training Officer of Karen Pryor Clicker Training. There he helps to oversee the vision, development, and implementation of training education programs for the organization.

Previously, Ken served as EVP of animal care and animal training at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, where he developed and supervised animal care and animal health programs, staff training and development, and public presentation programs for more than 32,000 animals. Ken worked at Shedd Aquarium for more than 25 years and continues as a consultant to this day.

A 35+-year veteran of animal care and training, Ken is a biologist and animal behaviorist who has overseen or consulted on training projects for many zoological organizations throughout the world. He began his training career working with guide dogs for the visually impaired and has maintained a close affiliation with pet training throughout his career. Ken hosted two successful seasons of the pet-training television series Talk to the Animals that compared pet training to the important work done with training and caring for animals in zoological facilities. Recently, he has also recently worked closely with several search-and-rescue-dog organizations and service-dog groups, as well as with bomb and narcotic dogs.

Ken has been active in several professional organizations, including the International Marine Animal Trainer’s Association (IMATA), of which he is a past president. He has been actively involved in the creation of a certification process for animal trainers in zoological settings. Ken has written for numerous scientific publications and authored countless popular articles. He authored the book ANIMAL TRAINING: Successful Animal Management through Positive Reinforcement, published in 1999. Ken teaches a graduate course on animal training at Western Illinois University.

Jesús Rosales-Ruiz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavior Analysis at the University of North Texas. He obtained his Ph.D from the University of Kansas in 1995 under the direction of Dr. Donald M. Baer. He serves on several editorial boards, including the European Journal of Behavior Analysis and the International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy. His areas of interest include antecedent control of behavior, generalization, behavioral cusps, fluency-based teaching, treatment of autism, teaching of academic behavior, animal training, and rule- and contingency-shaped behavior.

Linda qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2002 from general practice, then worked at the Royal Veterinary College before moving on to Edinburgh University’s Hospital for Small Animals in 2004. There Linda obtained the Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing (Medical) in 2005, before becoming oncology nurse with the cancer service. In 2009, Linda became a Veterinary Technician Specialist in Oncology, and a member of the Academy of Internal Medicine for Veterinary Technicians.

As well as her specialist interest in oncology, Linda also has interests in analgesia, clinical nutrition, medical nursing, behavioural health & welfare, maintenance of optimum quality of life in chronically ill patients & clinical teaching.

Linda’s interest in training & behaviour evolved over her nursing career as she became more aware of its importance to patient’s needs in their veterinary care. In 2012, Linda graduated from Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training & Behaviour and is now a faculty member. She has since gone on to further advance her training and education in training & behaviour and is currently credentialing for a Veterinary Technician Specialist in Behavior.

Linda owns and runs Inspiring Pet Teaching, aimed at pet & owner training & education, as well as CPD provision. She regularly writes & present for the veterinary press & at CPD events for VNs, pet professionals & owners.Patient-friendly veterinary practice is a passion which allows Linda to meld her veterinary nursing & behaviour knowledge for the benefit of patients, staff & owners.

Kathy Sdao is an applied animal behaviorist. She has spent more than 30 years as a fulltime animal trainer, first with marine mammals and now with dogs and their people. Kathy received a master’s degree in experimental psychology from the University of Hawaii. The United States Navy then hired her to train dolphins for open-ocean tasks. Kathy next worked as a marine-mammal trainer at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Later, Kathy co-created Tacoma’s first dog-daycare facility, where she began teaching clicker-training classes.

Since 1998, Kathy has owned Bright Spot Dog Training. Services include consulting with families about their challenging dogs, teaching private lessons, and mentoring professional trainers. Kathy is proud to be an original faculty member at Karen Pryor Clicker Training’s ClickerExpo conferences.

Kathy has traveled extensively across the United States, Canada, and Europe, and to Australia, Israel, Japan, and Mexico, educating students about the science of animal training. Her first book, Plenty in Life Is Free: Reflections on Dogs, Training and Finding Grace was published in 2012.

Emelie Johnson Vegh began training dogs as a teenager, after many years of involvement with horses. Her first dog was a mixed breed that competed successfully in both agility and obedience. Emelie's first Border terrier came into her life in 1994; all together she has had three terriers. The Border terriers have been involved in agility primarily, but also in some freestyle and ground work.

In 2009, a Kelpie made an entrance into the family. With her, Emelie is working in rally obedience, obedience, and freestyle, and they also enjoy urban mushing. Emelie and her dogs have won medals at the Swedish Nationals, both as youths and as adults, with a silver team medal as the best placement.

Together with business partner Eva Bertilsson, Emelie runs their collaboration Carpe Momentum. Emelie and Eva’s goal is to help people acquire knowledge and skills in science-based, modern, humane, and empowering teaching strategies for the benefit of learners of all species. They teach seminars on the general principles of behavior and learning, and coach trainers in the art of structuring great training sessions regardless of the venue or the species.

“E&E” are the first Level 3-certified TAGteachers in Europe, offering consultations and workshops about applying positive reinforcement techniques with human learners in all imaginable areas. The colleagues’ first book, Agility Right from the Start, was published by Karen Pryor Clicker Training (KPCT) in 2010. The book outlines Emelie and Eva’s philosophy and structured approach to training, making it a worthy read not only for agility enthusiasts.

Emelie lives in the very south of Sweden, in the country's third largest city, Malmö. She shares her life with her husband, two sons, a daughter, and Kelpie, Scout. In addition to dog sports, she enjoys training in general, and is very interested in sports psychology, running, multisport, and yoga. Emelie is also an author of fiction novels.