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Just for Shelters

Online Discussion with Karen Pryor: Clicker Training in the Shelter Environment

By KPCT on 08/01/2002

This discussion took place via Yahoo. People joined the Karen Pryor online Yahoo Group ahead of time or during the day, and could read the posts as e-mail or at the Yahoo Group site. Over 300 people participated.

At the end of the day we closed the site, planning to keep it available as a read-only archive. We ran into trouble with that, but luckily our webmaster, Greg Parsons, had maintained a file of all the e-mails as they arrived. So, working from that file, I've been able to prepare an abridged text version of the day's discussion. I removed advertisements, headers and footers, and off-topic letters. I also removed a few questions by accident; I hope the content of the answers will make the questions clear. Please accept my apologies for any annoying or serious omissions or errors that may have occurred during this process. Whatever got left out is entirely my fault.

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10 Steps to Become a Clicker Shelter...On Your Own!

By Karen Pryor on 07/01/2002

The very first steps in clicker training are exactly the steps that shelters need most: not full-blown obedience training, just some simple techniques to reduce barking, improve calmness and confidence in dogs and cats, and make animals friendlier and more oriented to people.

Here are 10 steps that will help you be successful even without a clicker teacher:

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A Cooperative Patient Is Just A Click Away

By KPCT on 06/11/2002

Most pet owners are familiar by now with clicker training. Versions of the training, also known as operant conditioning, have been used to teach commands to dogs, cats, dolphins, and a number of other creatures. And now trainers have another use for it—controlling animals during visits to the veterinarian, or a stay at a shelter.

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Upper Valley Humane Society: A Clicker Success Story

By KPCT on 06/01/2002

Upper Valley Humane Society started over 40 years ago as a foster care network. They purchased a small kennel in Plainfield, New Hampshire in 1972, but were crowded out by development, with new neighbors objecting to the barking dogs. Executive director Joan McGovern undertook the design of a new shelter. With a land swap facilitated by a benefactor, and the help of many donors and volunteers, they moved north to Enfield, near Dartmouth College, in 1991.

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Reducing Barrier Aggression In Your Kennel

By KPCT on 06/01/2002

Some dogs will charge and bark aggressively at any dogs walked in front of their kennel indoors or at outdoor edges of their kennel. It is seeing the other dog moving closer that triggers the barrier aggression. Very likely these dogs were left alone many hours fenced or tied in locations where they were often stimulated visually by people and other dogs. Along with clicking for not barking and for not jumping up on the front of the kennel, UVHS has added nylon fabric panels to cover the chain link panel of the offending dog's kennel door. The panels are hooked to the chain link and can be removed as the dog develops self control which will happen as your clicker wise shelter staff and volunteers reinforce for calm, quiet, and not jumping up.

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