May 2015 KPA CTP of the Month
Laura had been looking for a rich but flexible educational experience that didn't require being away from home for weeks at a time. She wanted a program where she could do all the book work at home but combine that learning with hands-on classwork and coaching. In the hands-on learning environment, Laura’s goal was to improve her skills and learn with, and from, classmates. The KPA Dog Trainer Professional program matched Laura’s requirements perfectly, providing a solid education in the science of how dogs learn and in the art of helping dogs be successful.
KPA offered Laura a depth of knowledge that helped her understand what she was doing and why. Since completing the program and becoming certified as a KPA Certified Training Partner (CTP), Laura has been able to answer the many difficult questions she has been asked about dog training. She also feels more self-assured. “The KPA experience helps me be more confident in communicating with clients and other allied professionals,” Laura reports.
Although Laura had used a clicker to train her own dogs before attending KPA, she knows that her greatly improved skill set and the results she now achieves are direct results of her KPA experience. Laura was reluctant to teach students how to use a clicker early on, believing it would be too difficult, but she now introduces everyone to a clicker.
The instruction I received in breaking down tasks, not only for dogs, but also for people, made me see the clicker as a valuable tool for all. Occasionally, I need to find another behavioral marker signal, such as a hand gesture for a deaf dog, but most of my students become very adept with clickers and have great results!
The modules of the KPA Dog Trainer Professional course that focused on teaching people have also had a very big impact on Laura’s ability to help clients achieve their objectives. She reports that the business information included in the course was invaluable, too. “I have a business degree and still found the information helpful.”
When Laura earned her Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Skills Assessment recognition, it was clear to her how valuable her KPA experience had been. Charged with free shaping a dog to spin or bow, she worked with a friend’s dog, a high-drive Belgian Malinois named Mika. Laura knew Mika, but they had never trained together. Laura succeeded in teaching Mika the bow behavior through successive approximations using a clicker, but says, “The assignment really tested my abilities.” She is proud to share that she is still the only person in the state of Missouri who has successfully passed both the knowledge and skills assessment through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. "I'm confident I would not have been successful without the knowledge and mechanical skills I gained through KPA.”
The KPA information and instruction about how to work with shy dogs is knowledge that Laura has applied to her work with dogs with disabilities. She remembers one of her KPA Dog Trainer Professional program classmates training a deaf dog during the KPA workshops! She says, “That was my first experience seeing firsthand how much these dogs could do and be trained to do.” The classmate, who completed in agility and obedience with her deaf sheltie, has been a terrific resource for Laura since their time in the program. Laura is also thankful for the many other KPA students and faculty members who are resources to her via the private KPA Yahoo group. “These days I almost always have a deaf dog in one of my classes, and I always have shy dogs," Laura adds.
My ability to provide support and strategies to families who live with these special needs dogs has been one of the things I have enjoyed the most as a trainer.
Fulfilling her KPA requirement to train another species of animal, Laura worked with her friend's cat, Chico, to follow a wooden spoon and go lay down on a mat on cue. Each night, Chico would allot Laura exactly ten opportunities a training session to reinforce behaviors—and then Chico would lie down and sigh. “It took me two weeks to train two very simple behaviors that I can usually teach a dog in one 15-30 minute training session.”
The positive reinforcement focus of clicker training is important to Laura who finds it “so relationship-building.” Laura believes that clicker training helps people bond better with their dogs—and helps dogs bond better with their families. “When people become more emotionally invested in their pets, they are more likely to try to work through issues when they arise, rather than rehoming the dogs,” Laura explains.
All the resources that are provided to graduates of the KPA Dog Trainer Professional program have helped Laura with her class curriculum. “I have been able to put together a program that helps families in my community live more happily with their dogs, I have worked successfully with people interested in participating in dog sports, and I have trained everywhere in between,” says Laura. “I love the people I have met through training, and I have met so many lovely dogs!” Laura’s presence in the community has increased; she now consults with local shelters and rescues about developing training programs and is asked to speak on a regular basis about dog training and behavior.
Laura has personal experience to call on when she works with dog-sports hopefuls. She has participated in tracking, freestyle, rally, and nosework, but says, “I'm not the most competitive person around and have not trialed in these sports. I participate for fun.” Laura has, however, participated in trials and titled in agility with her dog, Tiger. All of her dogs have earned tricks titles, including her deaf and blind collie, Fiona. She employs a “two-finger double tap” on Fiona’s body as a marker signal to indicate when Fiona has done something Laura likes, and then rewards her.
Laura trained a dog named Cody to perform in the show Annie when her children participated in a local community theatre group. Cast as a member of the chorus of Annie herself, Laura volunteered to work with the dog that “was a perfect size, fit the look, and was great with children.” Newly adopted, Cody had no training, and that is where Laura stepped in. After their first session, when it took 30 minutes for Cody to catch on, Laura was able to train Cody to sit, lie down, come, and find his mark on stage. When Laura was onstage, she specially trained children to click and work with Cody. Laura and her team offered high-value treats to keep Cody onstage and used a trail of cheese for Cody to follow straight to his mark on stage. The audience was never aware of these tricks, and Laura was credited in the program as the show’s dog trainer!
Laura feels strongly that helping people relate more positively with their dogs impacts how they relate with their family members. “I have seen people treat their children and significant others more kindly after having taken my classes. It gives them more tools to improve undesirable behavior, whether canine or human.” Wishing she had known all she knows now about positive reinforcement dog training when her children were younger, Laura says “I would have been a much better parent. I would have also been a lot less frustrated with my children through their teenage years!”
Still an eager student, Laura attends seminars each year to keep up with the latest information about canine cognition and behavior. She considers a visit to Wolf Park, an entire day spent interacting with dolphins and sea lions in Puerto Vallarta, and interactions with many different species of exotic animals at the San Diego Zoo notable experiences that were possible because of her career as a dog trainer. “Clicker training will always be an important foundation in my dog training education,” Laura says. “I look forward to new and more creative ways to use clickers to train new behaviors, helping dogs feel better about things they find scary, and bridging the communication gap between species.”