Welcome to the Tuesday Night 7PM Summer Clicker Class of the Kalamazoo Dog Training Club

Welcome to Jean and Cricket, Marissa and Ginger, Jane and Nikki, Janet and Kendra, Barb and Lexie, Sandy and Maddy, Robin and Montana, Laura and Brutus, Laura and Kaylie, and Sarah and Franklin!!!!

Take a look at this blogsite for lots of good information. You might want to note to the side of this post are links to the full Sue Ailsby materials which are partially reprinted in your manual. You have levels 1-3 in the manual, the rest of the levels and some good adjunct materials are at her site. Also tons of good clicker information and supplies are at the Karen Pryor website link to the right. Finally there is a link to the Kalamazoo Dog Training Club website which is the organization that runs the classes at the Fairgrounds.

On behalf of Melissa, Kathy, Ben and myself (Jim)---we invite you to make use of this website during class (and after classa---it is a publically accessible blog for clicker training in Southwest Michigan). You become an active part by "clicking' (with you mouse, not the clicker) on the link at the end of this page labeled "comments", and follow the instructions for posting your comments.

This week we are particularly encouraging two things: First introduce yourself and your dog---tell us a bit about your history with dogs and dog training as well as any experience you have had with clicker training. Feel free to share whatever you think might be relevant for us and other class members (and whatever oather dog related fun information abut yourself too!). Second, ask questions or share experiences from the class, or from the dog training that you do this week. These questions or experiences are often helpful to others. I will make new posts from some of your questions and experiences and we can focus on those issues. Also feel free to respond to other person's introduction or questions.

SO PLEASE POST SOME COMMENTS---MORE INTERACTION MAKES FOR BETTER LEARNING!

Web resources for clicker training for loose leash walking, heeling, and responding to reactive barkers or lungers

At a recent meeting of the Kalamazoo Dog Training Club an idea was floated for trainers to use the monthly meeting program time to share some of their methods with others. The idea was to expose all of us to a variety of training methods. Becki V., Sue H. and myself volunteered to share first. At the May 5th monthly meeting we discussed training methods concerning two issues/behaviors: (1) what to do when dogs are reactive/barkers/lungers at our pet classes and (2) how to teach loose leash walking and heeling. My comments, of course, came from an all-positive clicker perspective. Here I wanted to share more details and resources about the methods I discussed so that those who attended the program (and those that did not) would have access to more information.

I discussed several approaches to teaching loose leash walking and here are the url’s for two articles available on the web that give more information about those approaches:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/541
http://www.clickerlessons.com/looseleash.htm

I also discussed Sue Ailsby’s method for teaching heeling by using moving eye contact:
http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/Levels/LevelBehaviours/TL11Heel.html

I discussed preferring to not use much luring at all in teaching heeling and loose leash walking and here is an article discussing using luring vs. targeting (eye or other contact point) for teaching any behavior:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/301 targeting vs luring

I also mentioned building duration which can be used for many behaviors including some aspects of loose leash walking. A common and easy to use method among clicker trainers is the 300 peck method that is discussed in the following article:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1057

In terms of aggressive/reactive/barkers, clicker trainers use knowing your dog and “reading your dogs” as a first step in planning how to clicker train them to resolve this issues and here is more information on that:

http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1690

Finally, most everything else that I know and the major ideas among clicker trainers in general come from Emma Parson’s and her book Click to Calm. Here is some general information on the book:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/343

Then here is some information on one of her approaches that I discussed at the meeting:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/339

Information about clicker training: local and other easily accessible resources

Below is what I gave to my students at the last session of the clicker training class of the Kalamazoo Dog Training class on Thursday May 1, 2008. It has information on the next clicker class--you can obtain a web sign up sheet by clicking on the link for the Kalamazoo Dog Training club on this website. But more than that, I thought readers might find some of the information helpful and I invite anyone to comment on and/or add good resources:

Clicker Training Resource List for Continuing Education

Clicker Classes:
KDTC will be offering clicker again in their next class session beginning in later May (orientation is Wednesday May 21 and class begins Tuesday May 27 at 7PM). We are open for this class to be structured to respond to those beginning clicker training AND those that may already have some experience like you. See the yellow registration sheet we will give out. Melissa and Jim will be instructors again. The exciting news is that Kathy Kass, a very experienced clicker trainer who competes in obedience and agility at the highest levels, will be joining the instruction team!!! This will add some significant experience for instructional purposes, and will be a particular bonus to you all, as Kathy will have many approaches/insights to share with you that you have not yet experienced!
Kalamazoo Kennel Club offers a clicker class that starts at various times during the year. Information can be obtained at the their website: http://www.kalamazookennelclub.com/. Kathy Kass is the instructor this course.

Resources available on-line:
Sue Ailsby’s levels, levels 1-3 reprinted in your manual for this class, are available on-line. You can advance on your own with details instructions using these materials. There are all kinds of helpful materials and links at her website: http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/%20Dog1/levels.html
Karen Pryor’s, a pioneer in clicker training, has the preeminent clicker training organization and a great website with lots of great information. http://www.clickertraining.com/
Other really good websites and listservs where you can ask questions:
http://www.clickersolutions.com/index.html
http://dogscouts.org/clicker.shtml
http://positivepetzine.com/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ClickerSolutions/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/traininglevels/
(the final listerv/group is focused on Sue Ailsby’s training levels)

Books:
A good selection of books and their descriptions can be found at the web store that Karen Pryor’s operation runs:
http://www.clickertraining.com/store/?item=dogtraining
I particularly like Melissa Alexander’s Click for Joy, Book and Smith’s Quick Clicks for good solid understanding of the basics. Spector’s Clicker Training for Obedience is the best for obedience competition training. You can also find clicker supplies at their store including a variety of clickers, touch sticks, etc.

Lastly I hope to try to revive the Clicking Canines in Kalamazoo web site/blog. My hopes is that this can be a source for discussion and information more local to southwest Michigan about clicker training. It has been dormant since early January, but I plan to once again try to re-energize it this summer. PLEASE VISIT THE SITE AND COMMENT!!! Active participants and visitors will make the site work for people doing clicker training in this area.

Reviving this blog site: Summer 2008

As another session of the beginning clicker training class of the Kalamazoo Dog Training Club winds down and my own work life gets easier in summers, I am hoping to revive this blog site. I am hoping to get some guest authors to post here and MOST OF ALL WE NEED READERS TO BECOME ACTIVE AND POST COMMENTS AND WISHES FOR THIS WEBSITE AND/OR INFO OR QUESTIONS ABOUT CLICKER TRAINING!! So post away here: introduce yourself and where you are with clicker training, ask questions, post relevant information, etc. Just use the "comments" link at the bottom of this post.