harmonydogs: Clicker Expo coming to Lexington!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Clicker Expo coming to Lexington!

I am thrilled to announce that Karen Pryor's Clicker Expo is coming to Lexington , March 28-30, 2008. There will be sessions for all levels of training skill, from beginner to advanced.

Clicker training is tons of fun for dogs (and any other animal) and trainers, and is a powerful way to teach deeply ingrained and complex behaviors (check out Cassie's advanced behaviors at the bottom of my main page to get an idea of what clicker training can accomplish).

The registration fee might give one pause, but I promise that your training skills will advance enormously if you take part. I have studied under many of the instructors and they are delightful people and gifted teachers as well as outstanding trainers.

There is a $50 discount for registration by Nov. 30.

for registration information, click here

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Dog books I like

On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals
Turid Rugaas
A selective look at canine body language. A companion video is available.

Outwitting Dogs
Terry Ryan
Techniques for preventing and solving problem behaviors.

The Other End of the Leash
Patricia McConnell
A behaviorist's perspective on our relationships with dogs.

Bones Would Rain From the Sky
Suzanne Clothier
One of my personal favorites, but less practical than the others - meditations on training and our relationships with our dogs.

Don’t Shoot the Dog
Karen Pryor
This classic was instrumental in bringing force-free training into the mainstream of pet dog training. The book was written for a more general audience, however...here is the description from Dogwise:
"One of our best selling teaching and training books. Not exclusively a dog training book - author is famous as an early dolphin trainer. Outlines 8 methods for putting an end to all kinds of undesirable behavior without yelling, threats, force, punishment, guilt trips - or shooting the dog; the 10 laws of shaping behavior through affection training; how to combat your own addictions to alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, overeating or whatever; how to deal with such difficult problems as a moody spouse, an impossible teen, or an aged parent; PLUS housetraining the dog, improving your tennis game, keeping the cat off the table, and much, much more! New revised edition has new chapter, "Clicker Training, A New Technique." This covers the use of clickers in dog training, why it works, and how it has caught on."

Training resources

If you'd like to train on your own, here are three very helpful sites. All are focused on positive-reward, force-free training, and the associated e-mail discussion groups are closely moderated to make sure everyone stays positive and polite. The groups are great places to receive advice and moral support, and to share your struggles and successes

1. ClickerSolutions

The site has a lot of articles, and you can subscribe to an e-mail discussion group.

2. Training Levels

I count Sue Ailsby, the host of this site, as one of my principal training mentors. Even if you think you don't want to compete in any dog sports, the training program on this site will give you an attentive, courteous dog who is fun to train and a joy to live with.

If all you want is a good read, check out the sub-page Stitch's Blog - you will be thoroughly entertained and learn a ton about dog training in the process (note that the posts start at the bottom of the page).

If you want someone to get together with for informal Levels proofing/testing sessions, contact me at the e-mail address near the top of this column (right beneath "about me"). When we get enough interested parties, I'll coordinate a get-together.

3. Dog Scouts of America

Dog Scout Camp - what a blast! Just so you know, the scouts are the dogs, and they are accompanied by their grown-up trainers. In principle, we have a local troop, but the co-leaders have been too busy to organize meetings. At the moment, you may join our related yahoogroup to be notified of hikes organized by our faithful outings coordinator. If there is anyone with the time and energy to coordinate meetings, please contact the troop co-leaders (that's Rachel and me) through the yahoogroup. Meetings are a great place to socialize your dogs, practice training, and swap dog stories with other people who are as crazy about dogs as you are.

video examples

A. What every civilized dog should know:

All of the behaviors demonstrated below were trained using positive reinforcement and no force

1. to get what you want, look to your person for permission

2. wait...

a) at doors and gates

b) to get out of the car -

3. leave food and other things found on the ground
(Note: when this segment was filmed, Murray was new to leaving food on the ground, so rewards are given quickly and often - the goal is to achieve longer periods of ignoring the food and/or to be called away from the food, for a single reward.)