Loker’s Training Archive

Are You Truly a Clicker Trainer or Just Training With a Clicker?

“Clicker training is an animal training method based on behavioral psychology that relies on marking desirable behavior and rewarding it.” – Karen Pryor Clicker Training Karen Pryor began using a training method called “clicker training” when she was working with Dolphins. It helped her communicate precisely what behaviors she

Now, Instant, Immediate, Prompt, Instantaneous or Eventually

Why are prong collars and e-collars so popular despite the obvious physical and psychological harm they do to dogs? It’s because they give instant results. Unfortunately, positive reinforcement based training takes repetition for the dog to learn and change. Despite it’s proven long term effects on behavior, it doesn’t

Living With Two Dogs – Training Challenge #1

I’ve had a problem with making instructional videos lately because while I’m working with one dog, the other is whining because he hears the clicker and doesn’t have access to rewards! So in my spare time I found a minute to video tape our very first session of working

K9 Nose Work

Since I got Clark, my new Cardigan Welsh Corgi puppy, I have noticed the powers of nose work. So far, he is still searching for food. I have not transitioned him to any specific scents yet. The other day I had some packaging paper left over and I thought

What’s Behind Reactivity in Dogs?

I recently watched the beginning of Suzanne Clothier’s recorded seminar on Arousal, Anxiety, and Fear and am looking forward to attending her seminar in Grapevine, TX this weekend. I am already hooked after watching 30 minutes of the 2 hour lecture. Not only is she entertaining to watch, but she puts

Don’t Under Estimate The Power of Classical Conditioning

I am a huge fan of clicker training (an operant conditioning technique), but I recently got a huge reminder of the importance of classical conditioning the other day when I attended a fellow trainer’s class. In both the Rally class and the orientation to the Reactive Integration class, classical

Shaping – Just Another Advantage of Clicker Training

One of the many benefits of clicker training is the ability to shape a dog to do behaviors they would not naturally do. Shaping truly utilizes a dog’s intelligence. One of the best descriptions I have heard is when someone described it as a “hot/cold game”. That is the

Dog Play Styles

Almost every time I visit my relative’s home, they ask why I don’t bring my dog, Loker. The reason is because I know my dog and their dog and can figure out that they would not get along. Am I psychic? How do I know? Well, it’s because I know