This is an old page! but I've kept it up for the clicker training information. The workshop has already happened -- it was great fun!
For more information on clicker training, and to see what I've been doing with what I learned from Katey (and lots of other clicker trainers), please visit my dog training website at YourDreamDog.com.

Using a combination of short lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on work, Katey Kintzer will present the basics of the "clicker training" method of training your dog. Learn the art and science of this positive reinforcement technique for dog training. Clicker training is ideal for training your dog with compassion and understanding rather than force or dominance.

Katey will show you the "training game" and "a hundred things to do with a box" -- training exercises you can do at home! Other topics include "attention training" (how to get your dog to pay attention to you!) and ways to eliminate problem behaviors (jumping, pulling, mouthing, etc.).

Katey Kintzer graduated in 1979 from the University of New Hampshire with a BS in Animal Science. She has worked as an animal health technician and an anesthesia technician at the veterinary schools at Cornell and Tufts Universities. She served on the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Boston University Medical School and other biotech companies for many years. Katey teaches courses at Becker College in animal behavior, animal care and management, nutrition, and dog training. She has been working as a clicker trainer and behavior consultant for a variety of species for six years, and has trained and shown horses and dogs for over thirty years. Katey, her husband Peter, their two children, and their menagerie live on their farm in Sutton, Massachusetts.

With dog: $60 (Class Limit: 10). Auditing (without dog) $30. A portion of the proceeds will go to the MSPCA.

If attending with your dog, please enclose a current Health Certificate from your veterinarian, or a record of current vaccinations, with your registration form. Make checks payable to the order of Katey Kintzer, and mail to: Katey Kintzer c/o Ann Dupuis (Organizer), PO Box 838, Randolph MA 02368-0838

Please bring a folding chair. If you are attending with your dog, please bring a leash, a Gentle Leader(TM) head collar (if you have one) and/or a flat collar, and lots of bite-sized treats your dog likes.

Clicker training is a scientific approach to modifying animal behavior. Using "operant conditioning" and "positive reinforcement," clicker training techniques have been used successfully on dolphins, dogs, horses, cats, and many other species. These techniques developed out of behaviorism studies performed by B.F. Skinner and others.

In more practical terms, clicker training is a tool you can use to develop a better relationship with your dog. And so far as dogs are concerned, clicker training is a fun and interesting game they can play with people!

The concept is simple. The clicker "marks" the behavior you wish to reinforce. A treat rewards the behavior. The treat is usually food to start; later praise or a pat or a toy or some other reward will do. The dog learns that the "click" means a reward is coming, and begins to look for ways to make you "click." Dogs soon learn they can get the trainer to "click" and treat by doing certain things. They don't realize the trainer is shaping their behavior at the same time!

Clicker training has been around for decades, but it's only now beginning to catch on with "traditional" dog trainers and pet owners. It's a technique that's best learned by watching an experienced clicker trainer working with animals and explaining what they're doing and why -- and then trying it yourself!

You don't need to have any experience in training animals. In fact, it can be more difficult to learn how to do clicker training well if you're already used to traditional training techniques! Clicker training focuses almost entirely on "positive reinforcement" (rewarding desired behavior). Because the idea is to engage the dog willingly and eagerly, punishments are counter-productive in clicker training sessions.

Part of the art of clicker training is learning how to encourage an animal to present a clickable behavior, without resorting to harsh collars (choke or prong collars), shouts, or other negative corrections.

For more information on Katey Kintzer's clicker training workshops, contact Ann Dupuis at ghostgames@aol.com.

For more information on clicker training in general, please see our clicker training links on the Animal Links page.