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We were advised to become familiar with the
clicker-training method,
and to look into Karen Pryor’s excellent book,
“Don’t Shoot the Dog,”
(among others by Ms. Pryor, who began her professional life as a dolphin trainer and writes fascinatingly on dolphin, human, dog, and others’ behaviour). This method is very positive and manageable & the ‘trainer’ certainly learns as much as the ‘trainee’. My friend Kim, who made these recommendations, has even attended chicken–training camp in Minnesota or somewhere, led by holders of the clicker lineage (‘operant conditioning,’ more formally), at which students learn to employ these methods and insights with … guess what. (Not a creature to be argued with or dominated, the chicken requires clear instruction & feedback, or they probably just go away… In addition to her work as a dog trainer, Kim claims this approach has also enhanced her work as a Pilates instructor.) She also recommended the book
“Leader of the Pack” by Nancy Baer and Steve Duno–with a disclaimer about training methods suggested but with emphasis on the understanding of the wolf pack and how that is relevant to human/dog living situations; the insights provided have been surprising & helpful. We then took a series of training classes (clicker optional), with Mr. Bob Ottenbrite of the
Lietash
Canine Academy
at which our darling received the ‘level 4’ certification and began work on ‘level 5’ by the time her tuition expired (though she’s not always what you’d call obedient, but we have been slacking in keeping up the training exercises. She loves to learn.) |
