Karen Pryor's Blog

Many pet guardians think that training their dog is only crucial if they have a problem behavior or something that needs to be fixed. Or they believe that training is something only puppies require. However, the reality is that good training is a critical part of providing meaningful care at every stage of an animal’s life. 

Excellent animal care ensures that you provide great welfare and well-being, focusing on four key aspects.

1. Good health (physical and psychological)

2. Excellent ...

Feeling nervous is uncomfortable. If we had to classify it, we would likely call it a negative emotion. For dog trainers, overcoming nervousness can be crucial as it easily prevents many of us from taking action. Let’s start with acknowledging the importance of emotions. 

I have two thoughts about nervousness that I’d like to share before we move on to practical tips to help you overcome it. These tips are helpful for dog trainers who...

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

The post Protected: Nervous to Natural: Confidence Strategies for Dog Trainers appeared first on Karen Pryor Clicker Training.

For some dogs, this world is a big, scary swamp of unknown dangers and unpredictable monsters around every corner. For others, it is a world of opportunity and possibility. Whether your dog is afraid of monsters around every corner or the doggy equivalent of the ice cream man, a safe space can take their well-being, your training, and your relationship to new levels. 

There are many situations where crafting and bolstering a safe space can ...

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

The post Protected: Helping the Dog Who’s Afraid of Something, Everything, or Nothing at All appeared first on Karen Pryor Clicker Training.

It’s no secret that small dogs are, well, smaller. We often place them in a category of their own, apart from larger dogs, but small dogs and large dogs are the same species, so the same concepts apply. There are some special considerations that we might make with small dogs since their size does sometimes put them at a disadvantage in a world that is much larger than they are. Here are some things we can do to help make up for their size difference and empower them to have independence, choice,...

Terry Ryan is known for her pithy wisdom, patience, and signature classes that are creative, fun, and effective. Her training games help improve the performance of both canine and human students. Among these engaging training techniques is a playful yet purposeful game that exemplifies her training philosophy.

The game, I Spy, is based on the children’s guessing game. It is a great game to play at the first meeting of any beginner group dog training class. It highlights and promotes gentle an...

So, you want to provide enrichment for your pet or your clients’ pets. Awesome! Welcome. 

One of the questions we at Pet Harmony get asked frequently is, “How do I do it?” It seems easy at first: let your dogs sniff, give your birds something to shred, give your cats something to pounce on, and provide them with all food puzzles. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, right? But then you get in and start doing All The Things, and… nothing about the pet’s behavior changes. 

Or the behavior does change, ...

As I write this article I am in the middle of an exciting and quite lengthy period of travel. Jokingly, I have referred to this as my International Consulting and Seminar Tour. It is a 31-day trip that takes me to Mexico, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Czech Republic—and includes 11 separate stops along the way. This trip is a nice mixture of seminars and consulting opportunities.

Over the years, I have had the good fortune to work with some amazing animals, incredibly talented p...

Snake-avoidance training can be a lifesaver for dogs that live among venomous snakes. A common way to train snake avoidance is to pair a strong aversive, like an electric shock, with the appearance of a snake to instill in the dog a fear of snakes. People who live in areas where venomous snakes are prevalent have legitimate concerns about the safety of their dogs. A positive alternative has eluded many trainers.

I have been working on a positive reinforcement protocol for teaching snake avoid...