Just because it’s National Train Your Dog Month doesn’t mean that dogs get to have all the fun! KPA Certified Training Partner (KPA CTP) Jacob Hollingsworth and his rescue cat Kitty not only refute the myth that cats can’t be trained, but demonstrate just how many fun and useful behaviors a cat can learn! From simple behaviors such as sitting and targeting to more complex tricks such as ringing a bell or playing a piano, Kitty proves that cats can do anything a dog can do.
What types of useful behaviors can you teach with targeting? In last week’s blog Teaching Your Dog to Hand Target, we explored the many useful applications of teaching your dog to target the palm of your hand with his nose. Once you have a solid hand target, you can build on it by teaching your dog to target other body parts, such as his cheek. Cheek targeting can be useful for husbandry care and veterinary visits, particularly when administering eye or ear drops.
If you and your dog find nail trimming stressful, you are not alone. Nail trimming is one of those necessary but dreaded tasks that many pet owners prefer to hand over to professionals. However, with a little patience and a lot of positive reinforcement, trimming your dog’s nails is not only possible, but enjoyable! The key is to introduce each step gradually and offer lots of positive reinforcement.
A fundamental skill for canine freestyle is the dog backing around the handler. It’s also a fun trick that will impress your friends! Before you begin teaching this behavior, make sure your dog knows how to back up in a straight line (see Teach Your Dog to Back Up to a Target). Once your dog is backing up reliably at least 4 feet on cue, you can begin teaching your dog to back around you.
Waltham, MA, December 16, 2019—Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) will be the first private education institution to join forces with three leading industry associations in the effort to raise professional standards for dog trainers. The standards require trainers to commit to comprehensive education and skill proficiency, prioritize positive training solutions, and follow clear ethical practices in all aspects of their client work.
Karen Pryor Academy’s Dog Trainer Foundation course offers dogs and their humans what they really crave: fun together! When you build a solid foundation of positive reinforcement skills, your dog will transform into an excited and enthusiastic learner and you will have created a new level of partnership that will last a lifetime. In this video, Dog Trainer Foundations student Alison Shore and her Boston terrier, Alfie, demonstrate what is possible!
Think you’re a great dog trainer? Try training a cat, bird, guinea pig, or horse! Training other species is not only fun, but it will ultimately improve your dog-training skills. Working with another species will hone your observations skills and sharpen mechanics such as clicker timing and reward delivery. Working with another species is an important part of the curriculum of Karen Pryor Academy’s Dog Trainer Professional and Dog Trainer Comprehensive courses! In this video, Dog Trainer Professional student Erica Grier, and Rambo the cat, demonstrate just how fun training another species can be!
Puppy training is more than socialization and problem-solving; it’s about setting the foundation for a lifelong partnership between people and their dogs. By building a solid foundation built from trust and respect, there is no limit to what a canine-human pair can do together! Watch this video to see what can be achieved when you have your puppy’s attention and trust.
Is your dog performing a new behavior reliably, but not necessarily when you want him to? Maybe you’re hoping for a sit, and your dog is frantically running through his entire repertoire trying to find a behavior that will earn a reward. When this happens, it means that you haven’t named the behavior yet—you haven’t added the cue.
Teaching your dog to tell the difference between left and right on cue is a fun exercise that is handier than it seems! It’s a terrific skill for many competition venues, including agility, herding, mushing, water dog, and retrieving. This behavior can also be handy walking on trails. Service dog owners could think of a dozen or more applications for “left” and “right.”
