Learning About Dogs - Arcticles from Teaching Dogs

1. School for Puppies: A positive or negative education? by Kay Laurence Teaching Dogs Vol 3 Issue 1

Puppy class is probably the most popular class amongst instructors, particularly for the inexperienced enthusiasts. We love puppy class, we love to watch them play, interact and have fun and it is very reinforcing for those involved.

2. THE PHOEBE CHRONICLES by Gale Pryor

The Cotswolds Lass Becomes a Surfer Chick: Or, what's the point of training, anyway? Teaching Dogs Vol 3 Issue 1

My oldest and "middlest" sons couldn't be more different from each other. Max, the seventeen-year-old headed to college next year, works hard. He stays up late to study for exams, holds a summer job in a hospital lab to learn more about cell biology - and to increase his star appeal in his college applications. For Max, working hard enables him to learn, so that he may work harder to learn even more. As his parent, I applaud his approach.

Clicking the Family (Dog) Teaching Dogs Vol 3 Issue 4

On the way home from karate class, we dropped off our seven-year-old car pool passenger at his front door. As we drove home, my own seven-year-old sighed.

"Christopher is hard to train," he said.

3. Going Through the Click by Kay Laurence

Teaching Dogs Vol 3 Issue 4

Free shaping sessions give us a window into the thought process of the learner. We can see how they make their choices towards solutions, we can equally see when they have run out of ideas. I can even watch a dog shaping and notice their ability to hold a thought. They may be shaping with an object and move away to collect the food. In doing so the object moves out of sight.

4. Poisoning the Process by Lynn Loar Ph.D., LCSW

Teaching Dogs Vol 3 Issue 6

Clicker training is a great innovation, and lots of fun for trainers, learners and audiences alike. I can get my dog to sit quietly on her mat in the vet's waiting room, focus on me and ignore the other dogs-and CATS!-nearby. To the astonishment of my colleagues in traditional education, I can walk into a classroom of hellions, most of whom have done time in the principal's office, click for quiet, sitting in one's chair and raising a hand to be called on, and have order, turn taking and good manners almost immediately.

5. A Year with the Pits by Alexa Capra

Teaching Dogs Vol 3 Iss 3

In June 2003 I was asked to join a group of veterinarians and trainers involved in a project of ex-fighting pit bulls rehabilitation. This program is supported from the Italian organization for the protection of animals, ENPA (National Society for the Protection of Animals). The aim was to rehabilitate and rehome a first group of 22 dogs and bitches sequestrated from a breeder. Some of them did fight, they have scars from fighting, others where probably from the breeding stock.

6. Letter from Karen Pryor

Teaching Dogs Vol 4 Iss 4&5

Saturday afternoon at ClickerExpo we always have the Panel Discussion. Sounds boring? Actually it’s a high point. The questions are interesting, the answers are pithy, and the panelists are FUNNY. Put six of us on the same platform, plus our moderator Aaron who is funny non-stop anyway, and you get a lot of laughs in that hour and a half, as well as a lot of good info. “Better than the Tonight Show,” one attendee said, “plus you don’t have to stay up late.”

7. The Science of Behaviour: So What is Behaviour? A Series of Articles from Dr Helen Zulch

Teaching Dogs Vol 4 Iss 4&5

Before we can delve in depth into the field of behaviour, we need to consider what we mean when we use the term. This article will briefly define this and introduce a few background concepts which will hopefully set the scene for those to follow.

8. The Hidden Value of Rewards by Kay Laurence

Teaching Dogs Vol 4 Iss 4&5

"Reward your Dog". We've heard this many, many times in many various formats. It takes a lot of experience to get the best from a reward - where the reward delivers everything the dog needs to want to offer the behaviour again and again, with passion. Often delivery of a reward is not enough, many other factors influence the effect of the reward.

9. When is a Distraction just a cue? by Kay Laurence

Teaching Dogs Vol 4 Issue 2 & 3

It is very tempting to focus your attention on teaching your dog new behaviours - in fact this is often the sexy part of clicker training, and the bit that captures us all, turns us into bores with the perpetual "Look what I've taught him now", remarks.