CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Seattle, WA & Washington, DC
ClickerExpo LIVE • January 27 - 29, 2023
Stay Tuned!
CLICKEREXPO USA
Stay Tuned!
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Seattle, WA & Washington, DC
ClickerExpo LIVE • January 27 - 29, 2023
Only ClickerExpo LIVE delivers a live, interactive, and engaging experience with live training, coaching, and attendee participation opportunities in nearly every course. Enjoy the convenience and flexibility of waking up with a room of fellow animal trainers and behavior geeks and 50 learning choices at your fingertips. All times are Pacific Time Zone.
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Register as an Early-Bird and save $50!
Don't wait! Fewer than 10 early-bird spots left, available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Last Chance to Attend!
Registration closes on January 24, at 11:59 pm (PT). Don't miss out!
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Join Us for This Interactive and Engaging Experience!
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Registration will open Thursday, August 12, at 1:00 pm (ET)/10:00 am (PT). Spots will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Register now and save $50! Spots are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
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BONUS EVENT - Thursday, November 17, 2022
All times are Pacific Time Zone.
12:00pm - 2:00pm • Thursday, November 17
Teaching an Old Llama New Tricks - Ken Ramirez
Course Type: Dem-OH
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Shelter & Rescue Work, Equine, Science, Skill, Other Species, Veterinary
Special Note: We can’t contain our excitement for ClickerExpo LIVE, so we’re getting started a little early with a bonus event, included with your registration! All registrants will receive the link to join by email; no additional steps are required.
Can’t make it? Not to worry, the event will be available to view along with the rest of the course recordings from ClickerExpo LIVE approximately one week after the conference (January 27 - 29, 2023).
Not registered yet? Make sure to do so by November 10 to get access to this exclusive event. Registered for DC? Make sure you have also registered for ClickerExpo LIVE using the code from your confirmation email.
Description: In October of 2021 Beso, a 13-year-old adult llama joined the alpaca herd at The Ranch (the Karen Pryor National Training Center). Ken will take you through the acclimation process he followed to teach Beso about The Ranch and introduce her to a herd of alpacas. This is the same approach that Ken has used for years to introduce dogs as well as other species to a new group of animals. Beso never had formal training, so there was a very little foundation to work with. In this Dem-OH! Session, Ken will present the process of integrating Beso into life at The Ranch and show you how he introduces new training tools and procedures to a new, but older, animal. Ken plans to introduce targeting, halter-wearing, tactile, and other husbandry foundations during this live session. You will see new training as it happens and have the opportunity to ask Ken questions about his choices and decision-making process as he shares the general steps of teaching an old llama some new tricks.
Although this bonus event is not CEU eligible, the rest of our program is! Click here for more information.
PRE-EVENT - Tuesday, January 24, 2023
All times are Pacific Time Zone.
12:00pm - 1:30pm • Tuesday, January 24
Let’s Talk Training with the Newest ClickerExpo LIVE Speakers with Ken Ramirez, Dante Camacho, Juliana DeWillems, Kamal Fernandez, Sarah Kalnajs, Laurie C. Williams, and Kiki Yablon
Course Type: Panel Discussion
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Human, Teaching Others
What’s new? So much! Another good question is “Who’s new?” Six speakers are making their first or second teaching appearance at ClickerExpo LIVE. Ken Ramirez will moderate a panel discussion with Dante Camacho, Juliana DeWillems, Kamal Fernandez, Sarah Kalnajs, Laurie Williams, and Kiki Yablon. Get to know these new speakers, their stories, and their training insights, and hear about the ClickerExpo topics that they are teaching. We’ll be talking about reactivity, R+ approaches, puppy raising, and more. Let’s Talk Training with the newest voices at ClickerExpo!
DAY 1 - Friday, January 27, 2023
All times are Pacific Time Zone.
7:00am - 7:45am • Friday, January 27
8:00am - 10:00am • Friday, January 27
Click to Calm: Dog Reactivity Toward People
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management
Spotlight Spot Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) Animal/Handler Spotlight Teams. During this Learning Lab, teams will need an assistant (someone that the animal learner is familiar and comfortable with) as well as a chair, clicker, and treats.
Attendees who are not part of an Animal/Handler Spotlight Team can still participate from home with their own animals, alongside the teams but without faculty feedback. Prefer to sit back and observe? That's fine, too!
Description: When a dog is reactive around or aggressive toward humans, it can be difficult to see a path forward, Some of the most valuable solutions included in Emma Parsons’ book The New Click to Calm: Solutions for All Dogs in a Challenging World are the protocols for helping dogs that are presenting reactivity/aggression behaviors toward people. This Lab will dive into the three phases of the base protocol (Familiarize, Investigate, and Meet) that are needed to help dogs realize that they hold the key to improving their lives with humans.
In this Lab, Emma will go through all the steps one-by-one with the participating dogs and their handlers. You will learn what to do with anxious dogs that, for one reason or another, are afraid of people as well as dogs that are over-stimulated when they meet new people. Emma will also cover the foundation behaviors that provide the prerequisite building blocks for successful implementation of the Click to Calm protocol and for creating an overarching dynamic in which dogs can venture forward to meet a new person but can also make the decision to withdraw safely at any time. This Lab will benefit those who are working in this area as trainers and those working through challenges with their own dogs.
Join Emma to learn and practice the protocol that can make life better for our dogs and their families.
Power Targeting for Any Training Goal
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Competition, Skill, Teaching Others
Description: To ensure that guide dogs and service dogs assist disabled handlers most effectively, their behavior training requires great precision. Many guide and service dog behaviors are trained through nose-, chin-, paw-, and mouth- targeting skills. Precise body-part targeting results in service dog performance that is of maximum assistance to the handler and in skills that are very useful for training more behaviors.
In many dog training scenarios, body-part targeting skills lack precision. This lack of precision limits the use of the targeting behaviors in training new behaviors (both simple and complex behaviors). In this Dem-OH!, esteemed trainer Michele Pouliot will share various ways to train higher-precision targeting behaviors for body parts that include the mouth, head (nose and chin), and paw. Michele’s presentation will use live demonstrations of goal behaviors and behaviors in training.
The following targeting skills will be included:
- Retrieve delivery to hand or other targeted location
- Head (nose and chin) targeting with precision and power
- Foot targeting with precision and power
Michele’s Dem-OH! will include demonstrations of both goal behaviors and behaviors in training as well as supplemental video.
If your goal is a better retrieve delivery, if you crave longer duration responses, if you are training service behaviors, or if you are just training, join Michele for this Dem-OH! that is precisely for you!
Michele Pouliot’s incredible career includes path-breaking work in guide-dog programs, successful competition in dog sports, and coaching dog-handler teams across the globe to high levels of training performance.
How to Walk The Lead: Loose-Lead Training
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Skill, Teaching Others
Spotlight Spot Prerequisites: We will have approximately three (3) Animal/Handler Spotlight Teams.To participate, you will need the following items: a 6-foot flat lead, a back-clip harness or collar, bed/mat, water bowl, and lots of treats. If you have a second person to help hold the camera and adjust the angle to follow the action, that may be helpful.
Attendees who are not part of an Animal/Handler Spotlight Team can still participate alongside the teams with their own animals from home, but without faculty feedback. Prefer to sit back and observe? That’s fine, too!
Description: Walking with your dog on a loose lead is one of those essential skills, yet, for too many clients, it is an elusive skill. Let's see what we can do about that! Join this Lab to see how Chirag coaches a number of Lab participants and their dogs focusing on the skill of loose-lead walking. Chirag will start by defining what specifically is being sought in terms of the loose-lead walking behavior. He will then show how to break down the behavior into teachable steps to present in a class or in a one-to-one training set-up. We will also have some time to discuss related questions from the audience. This Lab will be fun, engaging, and useful for anyone teaching loose-lead walking or struggling with the behavior themselves. Join in and get loose with Chirag! Walking with your dog on a loose lead is one of those essential skills, yet, for too many clients, it is an elusive skill. Let's see what we can do about that! Join this Lab to see how Chirag coaches a number of Lab participants and their dogs focusing on the skill of loose-lead walking. Chirag will start by defining what specifically is being sought in terms of the loose-lead walking behavior. He will then show how to break down the behavior into teachable steps to present in a class or in a one-to-one training set-up. We will also have some time to discuss related questions from the audience. This Lab will be fun, engaging, and useful for anyone teaching loose-lead walking or struggling with the behavior themselves. Join in and get loose with Chirag!
Creative Reward Deliveries
Eva Bertilsson and Emelie Johnson Vegh
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Competition, Skill
Description: Reward deliveries matter! Where, when, and how reinforcers appear has a huge impact on behavior and can help or hinder your training.
While most trainers know the time-tested mantras concerning the importance of reinforcement placement and delivery, fewer trainers see the full landscape of options open to them, and fewer still consciously and actively alter choices for reinforcement delivery to create new desirable outcomes. Let’s change that!
In this live Dem-OH!, Eva and Emelie invite you to take a closer look at the impact on behavior as they get creative with their reward-delivery strategies. Eva and Emelie will help you see the stream of behavior that occurs through the reinforcement process and the impact on the behavioral outcomes as they make distinct choices that alter the characteristics of their reinforcement delivery. Join Eva and Emelie in real time as they demonstrated the link between reinforcement delivery and training outcomes. Watch them make changes, understand the reasoning behind their real-time decision-making, and see behavior change happen! Ask your questions throughout. Witness “Aha” moments and get ideas and valuable insights that you can incorporate into your own training straight away. If learning is its own reward, get ready to feel reinforced!
10:00am - 10:30am • Friday, January 27
10:30am - 12:30pm • Friday, January 27
Using Frustration as an Asset
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Competition
Description: Frustration is often seen as the elephant in the room, something that must be avoided at all costs. However, understanding frustration as a useful tool can help with both competition training and behavioral modification. Equipping your dog with tools to deal with frustration can be both empowering and liberating for your dog. Join Kamal Fernandez to find out how to make frustration an asset!
Movement Cycles: Behavior in Motion
Course Type: Webinar
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Topic: Science
Description: A movement cycle is a repeatable unit of behavior. It specifies a starting position and a series of behavior-environment interactions that continue until the animal is back at the starting point and can begin the movement cycle again. For example, most people think of a dog sitting in terms of the outcome: the dog in a stationary position with his bottom on the ground. However, the movement cycle of sitting would involve the dog starting in a standing position, shifting his weight, moving his feet until his bottom is on the ground, maintaining this position, and then going through a series of actions to return to the standing position.
The concept of the movement cycle was developed and refined by Dr. Ogden Lindsley. He used the movement cycle as a way to create units of behavior in specifying what should be measured and in defining teaching goals. The concept of the movement cycle has been largely forgotten by modern behavior analysts and is mostly unknown in the animal training community.
This Webinar will trace the historical roots of the concept of the movement cycle and then explore why movement cycles are relevant and how they can help you understand the nature of reinforcement. In Often in training, we often focus on the outcome of a behavior when deciding what to reinforce. For example, the outcome of targeting would be the moment when an animal makes contact with a target. However, describing the movement cycle helps you see all of the actions your animal is doing that lead to this outcome, as well as what you are reinforcing. Thinking in terms of movement cycles offers a new perspective when you are making shaping plans and setting your criteria for reinforcement.
Bonus Time - Rearing Puppies and More with Michele Pouliot, Lori Stevens, and Lindsay Wood Brown
Michele Pouliot, Lori Stevens, and Lindsay Wood Brown
Course Type: Bonus Time
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Skill
Description: Spend more time with your favorite trainers in this informal, open discussion. Bonus Time offers a unique window into the training minds of Michele Pouliot, Lori Stevens, and Lindsay Wood Brown. Ask your questions or be a fly on the wall and listen to spontaneous and candid conversation about rearing puppies (they have all raised new puppies recently)—the challenges, strategies, lessons learned, and anything else that comes up!
Inside Their Shells: Dealing with "Shy" or "Skittish" Animals
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Shelter & Rescue Work, Equine, Science, Skill, Other Species, Veterinary
Description: Trainers are frequently faced with the dilemma of working with an animal that is uncomfortable around people or reluctant to participate in training sessions. How do we deal with that, and where do we start? What strategies are the most effective at drawing an animal out of its shell and gaining its trust? Do the strategies differ from the strategies when working with fearful or reactive animals, or is it really the same thing? Why do some trainers focus on operant solutions while others focus on respondent solutions? Does it matter? What is the most effective approach to help the animal?
Ken will share his perspective on this topic by examining various case studies in which he took different approaches with each unique case in settings as varied as the zoo, the shelter, and The Ranch. He will share why each case required a different strategy but will also point out several common tools that were needed for each case. During this Dem-OH!, Ken will work with his alpacas and demonstrate live examples of the skills and steps he talks about in his lecture. Join Ken for this special LIVE version of a topic presented at ClickerExpo 2020.
12:30pm - 1:00pm • Friday, January 27
1:00pm - 3:00pm • Friday, January 27
More of "Upset to Upbeat"
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Science, Skill, Shelter & Rescue
Description: Your “reactive” dog is already aware of what’s happening around him. He may respond to particular sights, sounds, smells, or tactile stimuli with emotionally-charged behaviors (e.g., barking and lunging, fleeing). Can we use his environmental sensitivity as a key component in our training? Might we teach him to recognize these context changes as reinforcement opportunities? In this Dem-OH!, we will examine the training steps necessary to teach your dog to reinterpret triggers as cues.
Join Kathy for More of "Upset to Upbeat" as she coaches new handler/dog teams with new challenges through the steps that she uses to change lives.
Harnessing Conditioned Emotional Responses (CERs) for Performance
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Advanced
Topic: Competition, Science, Skill
Spotlight Spot Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) dog/handler teams. Teams must be fluent with a clicker and treat-delivery mechanics, including delivering from hand and tossing treats on the floor. Handlers must be fluent enough with mechanics to manage a clicker, treats, and prop at the same time. Dogs should be experienced working with a variety of targeting behaviors including nose targets, paw targets, and chin targets, and have some experience offering stationary behaviors like sit, down, and stand, but stimulus control is not necessary. Some experience with any performance sport (like competition obedience, agility, etc.) will be helpful. Teams will need the following equipment available: 2-3 large, flat paw targets and the training equipment that would normally be used for their sport.
Description: Training for performance requires precise, reliable behaviors, but it is also important HOW a dog performs the behavior. It’s not enough to just DO the thing, the dog should do it with joy and enthusiasm. Clicker trainers care as much about how the dog feels about the training as the training itself.
Behaviors performed with a joyful attitude sounds great. How do you achieve that? You might have heard the suggestion to “build a positive CER,” but what exactly does that look like? How can we go about this efficiently? Some trainers hope that simply using a lot of food or toys in training will get the job done. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t.
In this Learning Lab, we will discuss exactly what a CER means in terms of practical dog training, including what to look for and how to harness it, specifically in the context of training for performance applications. We’ll combine the science of CER with what is already known about strategic reinforcement procedures to optimize training outcomes in terms of both precision and emotional state.
Train that Chain: Behavior Chains
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Foundation
Topic: Competition, Science, Skill
Spotlight Spot Prerequisites: We will have approximately three (3) Animal/Handler Spotlight Teams.
Spotlight teams will need to have at least 5 behaviors on cue. Behaviors should be relatively quick ("sit" better than "go collect those 20 sheep from way over there") and fluent. A variety of cue types (verbal, visual, tactile, etc.) are welcome but no required number of cue types.
Attendees who are not part of an Animal/Handler Spotlight Team can still participate alongside the teams with their own animals from home, but without faculty feedback. Prefer to sit back and observe? That's fine, too!
Description: Behavior chains are incredibly powerful tools that allow for complex tasks and flexible solutions. They can also be magnets for superstitious trainer behaviors and confusion. Laura VanArendonk Baugh likes to remind her learners that chains don't have to be as complex as we often make them! If you have fluent behaviors and stimulus control, you have a chain! Let's take that challenge. In this Lab, we'll collect individual behaviors and assemble them into a chain. We'll cover how to assess if behaviors are ready for chaining, experiment with order (and what we need to know about cuing and chain order), and best practices for putting together fixed-order or variable chains.
Please note: This course was presented at ClickerExpo LIVE 2022; the course content will be similar, but the training is LIVE so the experience will be unique and you’ll likely learn something new!
The Constructional Approach - Becoming a Better Builder of Behavior
Course Type: Webinar
Skill Level: Advanced
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Competition, Equine, Health & Wellness, Other Species, Science, Shelter & Rescue, Skill, Teaching Others, Veterinary
Description: This program explores the constructional approach to training. Constructional training begins by asking key questions:
- What do you want to do with your animal learners
- Where are you now? What does your animal learner already know?
- How are you going to get there? What teaching strategies are you going to use?
- What will keep you and your animal learner motivated? (One easy answer is success!)
When the next step in your training is just a small step away, your training will progress smoothly. The more you learn about breaking down behavior into small steps, the more small steps you will see.
However, splitting is more than simply inching your way toward a goal behavior. Suppose you have an animal, for example, a horse, that is afraid of stepping over hoses. You could take small approximations to move toward a hose. The horse shifts his weight forward; you click and treat (C/T). He stretches his neck out; you C/T. He takes a tiny step in the direction of the hose; C/T. These are all small steps.
Constructional training carries this step process even further. It looks at the component skills that are needed. For a horse to walk over a hose, the horse must first know how to walk forward with a handler. You may need to reteach that basic skill. What are six or so different ways to teach a horse to go forward? You might begin with basic targeting, as that opens up lots of possibilities.
Next, add in teaching the horse to go to mats and stationary targets. You can then place ground poles and lead ropes between the mats for him to go over. Let him go over lots of different objects. By the time you put a hose on the ground, he won't think twice about going over it.
The constructional approach takes us into a different realm of splitting, one that is filled with creativity and lots of laughter.
This program explores both types of splitting. It will help you identify the core “Lego block” behaviors that get this process started. You’ll see how the skills your learner gains from one lesson transfer to teaching many others. The program will also include awareness explorations for all attendees. Using the reversibility teaching strategy, you’ll learn how to find even smaller steps within the small steps you have already identified. You’ll experience the cumulative effect of small steps using exercises that will smooth out your training and help you refine your handling skills.
3:00pm - 3:30pm • Friday, January 27
3:30pm - 5:30pm • Friday, January 27
You Don't Stay? Oh, You Do! Training Multiple Dogs at Once in a Stay
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Skill, Teaching Others
Spotlight Spot Prerequisites:We will have approximately four (4) Animal/Handler Spotlight Teams.Teams should have the following prerequisite skills: down, mat or station, and a basic stay. To participate, teams will need multiple dogs and the following equipment: a mat, an xpen, something that can be used as a tether, and a platform (such as a Klimb).
Attendees who are not part of an Animal/Handler Spotlight Team can still participate from home with their own animals, alongside the teams but without faculty feedback. Prefer to sit back and observe? That's fine, too!
Description: Combine the elements of solid R+ training for this key skill! The "game of stay" played with creativity and great clicker training skill allows for multiple dogs to be engaged in work at once, the opportunity for your class demo dog to inspire your clients, and a dog that has more freedom to accompany you to various environments. “Come” and learn the great “stay” game with Melissa Millett.
Let's Talk about CrossOver Training: What Did We Keep and What Did We Discard? With Aaron Clayton, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Alexandra Kurland, Michele Pouliot, Ken Ramirez, and Kathy Sdao
Course Type: Panel Discussion
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Human, Teaching Others, Aggression & Behavior Management, Other Species, Equine
Description: Join this discussion on crossover training. We will talk about what we kept, what we discarded, what we learned and what we want others to know. This panel will include moderator Aaron Clayton and panelists Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Alexandra Kurland, Michele Pouliot, Ken Ramirez, and Kathy Sdao. Are you ready for lively discussion, unique perspectives, and the expertise of crossover trainers themselves or those who work with crossover clients regularly? Let’s Talk!
Building Your R+ Training Social Media: Why, How, and What to Consider
Course Type: Webinar
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Business
Description: There’s no denying that social media is a huge part of how society consumes information these days. It can feel like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, etc. have replaced the traditional ways of researching and learning about a subject! Dog training is no exception. Pet parents are flocking to social media to learn how to improve their lives with their pets, ready to listen to whoever grabs their attention with flashy graphics, entertaining videos, and easy-to-consume information.
This Webinar aims to empower positive reinforcement trainers to use social media in a way that builds your brand and business authentically and productively and helps spread the word about positive reinforcement training. You will learn about reasons to grow your social media, how to build your following by appealing to the average social media consumer, best practices for creating content, and some considerations to take into account as you spend your time online.
In this digital age where misinformation about animal training runs rampant, the power of positive reinforcement must be demonstrated, talked about, and celebrated on social media in a way that will grab attention.
Even More Games People Play...to Train Their Dogs!
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Skill, Teaching Others
Description: Join Terry Ryan for this Dem-OH! to experience and learn even more fun ways to elevate the student experience in your group dog training classes through engaging games that build student fluency.
Terry's signature style uses fun games that build fluency stealthily across a variety of training skills. Emphasis is placed on the educational value of each activity rather than on competition, which makes it all very light-hearted but highly effective. Stealth learning!
This new Part 3 of her popular ClickerExpo LIVE Sessions doubles the number of live game sessions and includes new games from Terry’s recently released online course on teaching, Game-Changing Dog Training Classes.
Terry will also demonstrate play space layouts with graphics and videos of games underway in an actual classroom setting. Each game will be introduced by explaining its importance in making a particular core behavior more fluent. Strategies for effective and safe instructional format and delivery will also be shared throughout the presentation. There will be time designated for questions from the audience and time for discussion on how to adapt exercises for participants with different learning styles or capabilities.
If you attended prior years’ LIVE Sessions with Terry on this topic, you’ll love to watch and learn the many new exercises that will be demonstrated this year. If you’ve never attended, no worries. You don’t have to have attended the previous years' Expo courses on this topic to feel right at home in this one.
Ready... Set... Play! Join Terry to learn and engage in games designed to increase the fluency of foundation behaviors that are needed for a range of training applications.
6:00pm - 7:30pm • Friday, January 27
DAY 2 - Saturday, January 28, 2023
7:00am - 7:45am • Saturday, January 30
All times are Pacific Time Zone.
8:00am - 10:00am • Saturday, January 28
Building Why a Llama Needs a LIMA (Trainers Do, Too)
Course Type: Webinar
Skill Level: Advanced
Topic: Science, Teaching Others
Description: Recent interest in basic and applied research on negative reinforcement creates an opportunity to confirm the understanding of why animals need trainers who support the least intrusive principle in selecting behavior-change procedures. In this presentation, we will 1) examine the rationale for a hierarchy of behavior-change procedures according to the least intrusive principle, 2) consider the principle’s impact on animal welfare and trainers' skills, 3) explore the research comparing positive and negative reinforcement for addressing escape-maintained behavior, 4) review alternative solutions to negative reinforcement, and 5) acknowledge recent concerns about the adoption of a procedural ethical guideline as it applies to the animal training profession. These concerns offer the animal training community the opportunity to disagree well when disagreement exists.
Team in Transition Part 2: A Closer Look at Veterinary Team Collaboration
Laura Monaco Torelli and Dr. Kelly Ballantyne
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Health & Wellness, Science, Skill, Teaching Others, Veterinary
Spotlight Spot Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) Animal/Handler Spotlight Teams. Handlers should have basic, intermediate, or advanced training skills and be able to work their dogs effectively in a distracting environment with props nearby. Dogs should be familiar and comfortable with basic targeting and general body tactile (head, ears, eyes, mouth, torso, paws, legs, tail). The dogs should also be familiar and comfortable with a variety of grooming and veterinary props (scale, resting a body part on an elevated surface, capped needles, nail trimmer, presence of and sound of a dremel, scent of ear cleaning solution, basket muzzle, gauze, nail-file boards, etc.).
Attendees who are not part of an Animal/Handler Spotlight Team can still participate from home with their own animals, alongside the teams but without faculty feedback. Prefer to sit back and observe? That's fine, too!
Description: You have trained a great chin-rest behavior at home and are heading out to a vet visit. Is your job done? Your medical-care training mindset can’t stop at the doorstep of your home because what works so well at home can fall apart during the veterinary appointment. Laura Monaco Torelli and Kelly Ballantyne, DVM, DACVB, know how to address the challenges of transitioning from home care to veterinary hospital care. They help pet guardians manage these transitions deftly and create the intended care experience for their pets.
Join team Kelly and Laura in this Learning Lab as they share and teach the critical tips and techniques to make these real-world transitions successfully. They’ll also share tips on navigating the reverse transition from treatment plans prescribed at the vet clinic to the home environment.
Watch Laura and Kelly coach the Lab teams and even work along from home on your own. Plus, there will be live-webcam of veterinary teams working with and without owners present to bring the experience home in a new way; videos enrich topic content as needed. Topics that will be covered/demonstrated include:
- Intake/data-assessment procedures.
- Communication techniques to skillfully advocate with the veterinary team for the dog’s behavioral needs.
- Crafting a plan (or multiple plans!) for when the dog is separated from the caregiver.
- Discussion and demonstration of the value of the lateral recumbency position.
- Handling goals including second-person introduction and assistance.
The Learning Lab will include live "behind-the-scenes" webcam or video of a vet team conducting an exam, including basic wellness exams and a blood draw with and without a caregiver present.
This Lab builds on the hit course from last year’s ClickerExpo LIVE, Team In Transition: How to Bring Husbandry At-Home Behaviors to the Vet Clinic, but that course is not a prerequisite. If you enjoyed last year’s course, you will love this year’s expanded format.
Make sure your team is set up for a successful transition and learn to help others with Team in Transition 2!
Separation Anxiety: The IRL Application of Behavior Change Conducted Virtually
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic: Science, Skill, Teaching Others
Description: Having a working protocol for separation anxiety is one thing, applying it in real life is another. Applying the protocol in real life, but virtually, is yet another thing! Technology, home environments, client skills and client personalities, additional household members, and numerous other variables mean that understanding a protocol is the beginning, not the end, of a trainer's capability to work with a client in a successful separation anxiety implementation virtually.
In this Dem-OH!, Terrie will begin with a review of separation anxiety and a sample desensitization protocol. She will then change gears and have a trainer put on their “client cap” as the team walks through an initial virtual consult step by step. From set-up to synergy, Terrie will help you dissect all the steps and queries that come about during the first visit and some subsequent “visits."
Join Terrie as she helps us experience how she creates success in applying a real-life separation anxiety protocol with clients that are not in-person.
Right from the Start: Paving the Road to the Ring
Eva Bertilsson and Emelie Johnson Vegh
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Competition, Skill
Description: The dynamic duo of Emelie Johnson Vegh and Eva Bertilsson is well known for how they help students fit together the component pieces of dog skills and handler skills in a system of winning performance. Their consistent theme of getting it right from the outset is laid out for the sport of agility in their acclaimed book Agility Right from the Start. Well, look out! Eva and Emelie now bring that same structured approach to coaching Rally Obedience.
In completely live training sessions, watch how Eva and Emelie help bring the puzzle pieces together in real time. Watch the live training sessions unfold with everything included; mistakes, surprises, and delights all become part of the experience of learning and improving. Do you see what they see? What will unlock better performance? Is it a change in the set-up/structure of the session? Altering the reinforcement procedure? More refinement of the component skills? Or just a finishing touch on the trainer's skills?
Join Eva and Emelie in this LIVE Dem-OH! designed to help you lay the foundation for competition success right from the start.
10:00am - 10:30am • Saturday, January 28
10:30am - 12:30pm • Saturday, January 28
Do Your Cues Confuse?
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: Foundation
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Competition, Skill, Teaching Others, Science
Description: Ideally, human-delivered cues are reinforcers for our learners. This powerful function expands our ability to increase the behaviors we like through timely signaling with words and gestures (in addition to timely delivery of clicks, food, and toys). Yet, to ensure our cues have this effect—and that they reliably “launch” the behaviors we signal—we must design them with care, maximizing clarity, salience, and consistency. Join Kathy to learn how to create better cues.
Let's Talk about Competition: Goals, Challenges, and More with Emelie Johnson Vegh, Eva Bertilsson, Hannah Branigan, Dante Camacho, Kamal Fernandez, Emma Parsons, and Michele Pouliot
Course Type: Panel Discussion
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Skill, Competition
Description: Join this discussion with moderator Emelie Johnson Vegh and panelists Eva Bertilsson, Hannah Branigan, Dante Camacho, Kamal Fernandez, Emma Parsons, and Michele Pouliot about the goals and challenges canine competition trainers face. Ready for lively discussion, unique perspectives, and the expertise of some of the best at what they do? Let’s Talk!
Coaching Clients
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Science, Skill, Teaching Others
Spotlight Spot Prerequisites:We will have approximately three (3) Spotlight Participants. This Lab is for people; no need to have your dog ready—let your dog rest! The focus will be on trainer skills.
Attendees who are not Spotlight Participants can still follow along from home, but without faculty feedback. Prefer to sit back and observe? That’s fine, too!
Description: Great training skills with the animal learner is only part of being a great coach. Coaching and shaping the behavior of the human learner is just as important. In this Lab, Chirag will explore this practical side of teaching. He will discuss how to deal with difficult client behaviors, provide his favorite tips for coaching exercises in group and one-to-one settings, and explain how to set up for and focus on positive reinforcement contingencies.
Join Chirag and Lab participants to discuss and practice various coaching skills with exercises that you can start using right away with your students.
Stranger Things: When Food is Aversive
Course Type: Webinar
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Health & Wellness, Science, Shelter & Rescue, Skill
Description: What do you do when food is aversive? If food is not an option for primary reinforcement, how do you determine what is? What can you do when your attempts to intervene are met with avoidance, dropping food, and spitting out food? How do you counter-condition, train an incompatible behavior, or train any behavior at all when food offered in a training dialogue appears to be aversive to an animal? How do you build a behavioral repertoire when there are few easily leveraged reinforcers at our disposal?
Should we give up using food altogether? No. Can we leverage “arousal” to facilitate behavior we want? Yes! When the usual strategies that aim to “make food fun” fall short, we get creative. We dive deeper into our “study of one” (Dr. Susan Friedman) alongside our training partner. We find creative ways to arrange antecedents to facilitate desirable behaviors. We sleuth for primary reinforcers, identify them, and then use those reinforcers creatively to select the behaviors we need (including eating). We build secondary reinforcers to repair the association with food before we begin to build the behavioral repertoire we need. We might even repurpose problem behaviors into useful antecedents for food-eating behaviors. The point is, together we find our way.
Part case-study, part systematic examination of how to condition food as a reinforcer, built on an underlying love story, and with broad application to all of our lives as trainers, join Lindsay as she shares Sonnet’s story. Just when Lindsay wasn’t looking for a behavior case at all, a new puppy presented an opportunity to stretch the limits of what she thought she understood about intervention, choice, and the creative conditioning of novel reinforcers.
12:30pm - 1:00pm • Saturday, January 28
1:00pm - 3:00pm • Saturday, January 28
Bonus Time - Science and Applied Science with Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D. and Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz
Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D. and Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz
Course Type: Bonus Time
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Science
Description: Spend more time with your favorite trainers in this informal, open discussion. Bonus Time offers a unique window into the training minds of Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D. and Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz. Ask your questions or be a fly on the wall and listen to spontaneous and candid conversation about science, applied behavior analysis, and anything else that comes up!
More than Cute: Dog and Cat Tricks that Promote Your Business
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Business, Skill, Other Species
Description: Tricks are a fun way to grow your skills, but what if you could grow your business at the same time? Learn the behaviors that will grow your social media profile in a way that is reinforcing for your clients!
Join Melissa to learn various tricks that you can teach your dog for promotion and social media, from hugging items/other dog, to eyeline towards products, paw on item, wave, holding item, and more! Your dog will love the opportunity to work with you on growing your business.
Stimulus Control, Duration, and Other Impossible Dreams
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Foundation
Topic: Competition, Skill
Spotlight Spot Prerequisites: We will have approximately three (3) Animal/Handler Spotlight Teams. The dog should have 4-5 behaviors on cue (perfect stimulus control is NOT expected!).
Attendees who are not part of an Animal/Handler Spotlight Team can still participate from home with their own animals, alongside the teams but without faculty feedback. Prefer to sit back and observe? That's fine, too!
Description: Stimulus control is one of those deceptively easy concepts. It just means the learner does it on cue, right? Wait, there's more? No confusion with other cues? And it doesn't happen off-cue? Likewise, duration often needs a more detailed training plan than "feed in position." Yet, even as trainers understand each concept more completely, stimulus control and duration can be difficult to develop in practice, or to use together. For example, is a multiple "spin" behavior best trained as a single spin cued multiple times, or as a spin with a duration of five cycles, or as a spin with duration until a different cue is presented? Does it matter?
While they are often presented and taught separately, stimulus control and duration can be two partners in a choreographed dance. When we understand that dynamic, we become better practitioners of each, simplify our learning, and develop more efficient training practices. Doesn't that sound dreamy? It's possible.
Join Laura to learn more about stimulus control and duration and make all your dreams come true!
A Holistic View of Reactivity: How What We Do Away from Triggers Helps Us Face Them
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management
Description: Reactivity in dogs is one of the most challenging and common behavior issues we encounter as dog trainers. Dog guardians struggle to make sense of their dogs’ behavior. Trainers often see little and/or very slow progress in their training, which can be very frustrating.
In Dante Camacho's experience, dogs that are reactive face a complex and challenging environment even when they are not around the triggers for their specific reactive behaviors. Adding to the complexity of the challenge is that the triggers are difficult to control, especially in urban environments, which can make it even harder to implement training solutions focused on graduated exposure. Dante’s approach starts by recognizing this full environmental reality, and he works within that reality by placing much more emphasis on training, games, and exercises that have little to do with the trigger and precede standard procedures. In Dante’s experience, this strategy increases the usability, impact, and success of standard training procedures.
Dante approaches dog-reactivity work with what he calls a "holistic approach.” It is designed to provide dogs experience with, and understanding of, the operant procedures that will be used later in training. Dante's plan builds in the rehearsal of emotional variation in controlled settings, facilitates and captures appropriate responses, and aims to improve general well-being by increasing positive reinforcement at home and improving communication.
For several years, Dante has been teaching this approach online to students in Europe, South America, and North America. He has been very pleased with the reported outcomes, which have included a reduction in reactive behaviors before any counter-conditioning is started and shortening the distance at which desensitization begins.
This is especially important in busy urban environments where conditions are not always ideal for training and exposure to triggers is often out of our control,
Join Dante for this Dem-OH! where he will share the details of his approach and some of the activities that have been helping his students. He will demonstrate live:
- A game for exploring emotional variation
- How to use cues to increase predictability and positivity on walks
- The “Window Shopping” game to rehearse at home
- A counter-conditioning rehearsal
3:00pm - 3:30pm • Saturday, January 28
3:30pm - 5:30pm • Saturday, January 28
Duration in the Details: A Different Way to Think About Shaping for Longer Behaviors
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: Advanced
Topic: Competition, Skill
Description: Training for long duration may not be your favorite thing to do. In fact, you may find it frustrating, even boring. Counting out seconds is tedious, and what if your dog makes an error in that last count before you click? Ugh! It’s easy to see why many trainers avoid training tasks that require duration.
The gold standard for increasing duration has been the process of incrementing time and delaying the click and treat systematically. But what if that wasn’t the only way to look at the problem?
Trainers themselves experience duration behaviors while they are training their dogs for longer responses. Trainers are likely to experience frustration as the increments get longer. Have you ever found yourself “keeping busy” while you wait for the timer to go off? Maybe you have looked at a magazine or rehearsed arguments in your head? There are many small behaviors (both visible and “private” behaviors) that fall into the category of “training” that are used as strategies to continue the duration of our own target behaviors until the criteria have been met. Is it possible to take advantage of that effect with the dogs’ behavior, too?
In this Dem-OH!, we will explore the possibility of building duration indirectly. We will deliberately shape smaller behaviors inside of a larger target behavior as a means of cultivating longer performances that still meet criteria. Please be prepared for a nerdy discussion and a ridiculous degree of detail.
Getting Emotional About Aggression
Course Type: Webinar
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Science
Description: Imagine this scenario for a moment—a dog is barking, growling, and lunging at you. The dog’s tail is high and flagging; ears are forward; front legs are stiff and straight; and the dog’s hard stare is laser-focused on your face. What emotion is the dog experiencing?
Now consider another scenario—a dog is barking, growling, and lunging at you. The dog’s tail is tucked; ears are back; front legs are bent at the elbow; the dog’s weight is shifting away; and the dog is averting its gaze. What emotion is the dog experiencing?
You might surmise that the two dogs are experiencing different emotions. But how do we determine what emotions are occurring? After all, we can’t truly know what a dog is experiencing or thinking. Aggression specialist, Michael Shikashio, CDBC, will unpack the latest research on animal and human emotions and on how to apply an understanding of emotions to work in aggression cases. He will discuss the variety of emotions that can occur when dogs display aggressive behavior and why a proper assessment of potential emotional states is a crucial step in forming behavior-change strategies.
Mike will also be showcasing a range of videos where attendees can join in with the assessment of underlying emotions. Bring your observational skills along to this unique and informative Webinar as we "get emotional about aggression!"
Reframing Traditional Board and Train for Today's Positive Trainers
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Business, Skill, Teaching Others
Description: Until now, the words “board and train” have been met with dread by modern dog trainers. Images of overcrowded cement kennel runs, aversive training techniques, and occasionally all-out cruelty would come to mind. Firsthand accounts of dogs returning home worse off than when they arrived created a sense that board-and-train programs could never be a good thing.
It became clear to trainer Sarah Kalnajs that trainers needed a new kind of program: one based in a home environment instead of a kennel; one that socialized the puppy, gave it a foundation of basic skills, and instilled in it an eagerness to learn more; and one that provided its caregivers with clear and consistent information so they would be fully prepared to continue building on that foundation at home. The program would do all of the things that we would do with our own puppies during those critical weeks of early learning, with an end goal of improving not only the puppy's quality of life, but that of its owners, too. To differentiate it from the old-style boot camps, Sarah decided to call it the Stay-and-Train program.
The puppies in this program are provided with stress-free learning and are actively reinforced for good and appropriate choices instead of being constantly corrected for wrong choices. At the same time, red flags are identified and addressed early (such as a propensity for resource guarding) so that by the time the puppy goes home, those issues are greatly diminished or eliminated.
The program has become so popular that Sarah and her team have not gone more than a few days without a Stay-and-Train client in nearly four years.
This Dem-OH! will cover the Stay-and-Train program in detail, including demonstrations with puppies that are currently in the program or that have recently graduated. It will also cover the types of dogs and caregivers that have the best success with this program, what ages get the most benefit, and how this unique program can provide a niche offering for your business.
Bonus Time - Online Training: What’s Next with Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Veronica Boutelle, and Gina Phairas
Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Veronica Boutelle, and Gina Phairas
Course Type: Bonus Time
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Business
Description: Spend more time with your favorite trainers in this informal, open discussion. Bonus Time offers a unique window into the training minds of Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Veronica Boutelle, and Gina Phairas. Ask your questions or be a fly on the wall and listen to spontaneous and candid conversation about the current state and future of teaching and training remotely, from how to make the most of the technology available to coaching strategies and anything else that comes up!
6:00pm - 7:30pm • Saturday, January 28
DAY 3 - Sunday, January 29, 2023
All times are Pacific Time Zone.
7:00am - 7:45am • Sunday, March 28
8:00am - 10:00am • Sunday, January 29
Let's Talk about Inclusion & Diversity in Dog Training with Ken Ramirez, Dante Camacho, Kamal Fernandez, Emelie Johnson Vegh, Michael Shikashio, and Laurie C. Williams
Course Type: Panel Discussion
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Human, Business, Teaching Others
Description: Join this discussion on inclusion centered around various experiences of outstanding, racially diverse trainers with moderator Ken Ramirez and panelists Dante Camacho, Kamal Fernandez, Emelie Johnson Vegh, Michael Shikashio, and Laurie C. Williams. Are you ready for an important discussion and unique perspectives? Let’s Talk!
Innovation Through Collaboration: What’s New at the Zoo 3—Hippos & Lions!
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Health & Wellness, Other Species, Science, Skill, Teaching Others, Veterinary
Description: Helen Keller said, "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." These wise words reflect our experience collaborating at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to improve animal welfare through innovative training programs. In this session, Animal Behavior Programs Manager Rick Hester, and applied behavior analyst Susan G. Friedman, Ph. D., invite you to observe their live behavior consultations with zookeepers teaching a “bloat” of hippos (including baby Omo) and a “pride” of lions, to actively participate in husbandry and medical care. Join Susan and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo team for an all-new behind-the-scenes live experience showcasing these incredible animals and the critical need for excellent training for husbandry and medical behaviors.
All Ears: Protocols for Dogs with Sound Sensitivity—LIVE
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Foundation
Topic: Teaching Others, Veterinary
Spotlight Spot Prerequisites: We will have approximately two (2) Animal/Handler Spotlight Teams. Teams should have been training together for at least three months. To participate, you will need a variety of treats and food-puzzle toys that the dog will eat/engage with readily.
Attendees who are not part of an Animal/Handler Spotlight Team can still participate from home with their own animals, alongside the teams but without faculty feedback. Prefer to sit back and observe? That's fine, too!
Description: An estimated one-third to two-thirds of dogs have noise aversions! If you saw 12 dogs last week, 4-8 of them are likely to develop noise sensitivities in their lifetimes. Not only can a fear of sounds be physiologically and emotionally damaging for dogs, but it can also strain the human-animal relationship.
Now that you know about the prevalence of sound sensitivity, what can you do? This Learning Lab will provide strategies for working with dogs with sound sensitivity, creating calm behavior, reducing stress, and teaching desired coping skills. Debbie will guide participants through training exercises to develop a safe place that is designed to become self-soothing for the dog. Join Debbie for this course developed specifically for the LIVE environment. You'll be all-ears!
Please note: This course was originally presented at an in-person ClickerExpo and has been reimagined and reinvented for the LIVE environment.
Always Have a Backup Plan: From Hind-Paws-Up to Backing Up
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Competition, Health & Wellness, Other Species, Science, Skill
Spotlight Spot Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) Animal/Handler Spotlight Teams. Teams will need to have a fluent nose-to-hand target behavior OR the learner will need to be able to follow the handler's hand or target into a position. Teams will also need access to a short platform (2") with traction (e.g., anti-slip shelving material). The platform should be placed on a non-slip surface (e.g. a yoga mat).
The platform should be wide enough that the learner can stand on it with space on both sides of the front or hind paws. Ideally, there should be a couple of inches from the outside of each paw to the edge of the platform. Measure the width you'll need with your dog standing on the ground.
Attendees who are not part of an Animal/Handler Spotlight Team can still participate from home with their own animals, alongside the teams but without faculty feedback. Prefer to sit back and observe? That's fine, too!
Description: Backing up isn't just a fun behavior to have on cue. According to Lori Stevens, it's a behavior that will increase your dog's behavior and movement repertoire. The ability to back up in a variety of situations can build confidence, proprioception, strength, and flexibility. It can also be used as a foundation for other behaviors. For example, it can be used to target one hind paw to your hand, which is useful in husbandry.
Starting with hind paws up to a short platform (target) can be a great first step in achieving a reliable back-up behavior. In this Lab, we'll work on two behaviors: hind paws up to a target and backing up to a target. We'll also discuss how to fade the target easily for a fluent back-up behavior and other applications of hind paw work, including husbandry and movement.
10:00am - 10:30am • Sunday, January 29
10:30am - 12:30pm • Sunday, January 29
Love It! Effective Use of Non-Food Reinforcers
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Competition, Equine, Other Species, Science, Shelter & Rescue, Skill, Veterinary
Description: The effective use of non-food reinforcers is a critical skill that all trainers will likely use or need at some point in their training careers. The ability to use non-food reinforcers is extremely useful but requires both an understanding of their role in training and a well-thought-out training approach. This Dem-OH! will focus on how novel stimuli, like clapping and verbal praise, become reinforcers. Ken has not presented an in-depth version of this topic at a ClickerExpo conference in more than a decade.
Ken will delve into both how to create new reinforcers as well as explain the keys to using play, toys, and tactile as reinforcers effectively. Ken will conduct live demonstrations of these technique with his own dogs. This Dem-OH! will help attendees gain valuable insights about how to maintain the strength of these unique reinforcers. Join Ken for the new LIVE Dem-OH! version of one of his most popular lecture topics.
Please note: This course was presented at ClickerExpo LIVE 2022; the course content will be similar, but the training is LIVE so the experience will be unique and you’ll likely learn something new!
Magic Tricks! The Secret to Improving Training for You and Your Learner
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Competition, Other Species, Shelter & Rescue, Skill, Teaching Others
Description: Trainers don’t always take “trick” behaviors seriously, but trick behaviors are a powerful method of motivating handlers and learners of all levels. Ask someone what is meant by a “trick behavior” and the response will likely be similar to:
“Behaviors that are fun to train”
“Behaviors that are fun for the learner”
“Something entertaining to watch”
“An unusual behavior put on cue”
“Behaviors not taken seriously by the trainer”
Successful trick training requires the same effective skills that more commonly trained behaviors require. In many cases, training a trick behavior can require handlers to use tools they have never (or rarely) used before, increasing the handlers’ overall skills.
Michele Pouliot began training trick behaviors when she first discovered clicker training in 1999. Although her career prompted Michele to develop a very serious use of clicker training for guide dogs for the blind, she believes that her deep experiences with training tricks are most responsible for her personal development as a positive reinforcement trainer. Why? Trick training provides variety for both the trainer and the learner. Variety prompts more creativity in training decisions and keeps training sessions more interesting. Trick training is not “assembly-line training.” It continues to bring something new and stimulating to a learner’s repertoire and expands the training skills of the teacher. The intrinsic results are eagerness from the learner and continued enthusiasm for training in general for the trainer.
Join Michele for this Dem-OH! to learn how trick training can help motivate trainers and learners and result in more joyful training sessions for everyone involved.
Click to Calm for Agility Competitors
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topics: Competition, Teaching Others
Spotlight Spot Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) Animal/Handler Spotlight Teams. During this Learning Lab, teams will need an assistant (someone with whom the animal learner is familiar and comfortable) as well as a chair, clicker, and treats.
Attendees who are not part of an Animal/Handler Spotlight Team can still participate from home with their own animals, alongside the teams but without faculty feedback. Prefer to sit back and observe? That's fine, too!
Description: Is your dog over-stimulated when you work with in agility? Flying at you and biting? What about at a sports event? Is your dog focused entering the ring? What about while you are waiting in the queue? It’s very common for dogs to be exhibiting behavior in the ring or during training that is “enthusiastic,” but actually counterproductive for performance.
This Lab will focus on two situations: the over-excited dog that needs to expel energy after performing a sequence and the dog that cannot calm down in the sports arena, especially when you are ready to run or when there is a delay. The Lab will also work on repairing Start Line Stays.
There will be four dog/handler teams performing live. Watch and listen as Emma coaches the teams, and work right alongside with your dog at home if you choose!
Bonus Time - Medical Training with Debbie Martin and Laura Monaco Torelli
Debbie Martin and Laura Monaco Torelli
Course Type: Bonus Time
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Health & Wellness, Veterinary, Skill
Description: Spend more time with your favorite trainers in this informal, open discussion. Bonus Time offers a unique window into the training minds of Debbie Martin and Laura Monaco Torelli. Ask your questions or be a fly on the wall and listen to spontaneous and candid conversation about medical training, working with your veterinary team, and anything else that comes up!
12:30pm - 1:00pm • Sunday, January 29
1:00pm - 3:00pm • Sunday, January 29
Aggression Cases: Before You Sink Your Teeth Into That Behavior Plan!
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Teaching Others
Description: Imagine yourself arriving at your doctor’s office. The doctor turns to you with a scalpel in hand and says, “Let me get you all fixed up,” and then asks, “Wait, what are you here for again? It looks like it could be your big toe, but it could also be a brain issue. Oh well, let’s just see what happens!”
Just as you should be concerned about a random surgery without proper diagnosis, we want to ensure an accurate assessment in our behavior cases. This is especially true in aggression cases where the stakes can be high.
Aggression expert Michael Shikashio, CDBC, will be consulting live with two clients whose dogs have a history of aggressive behavior. This is the perfect opportunity to be a fly on the wall as Mike navigates the history-taking and assessment process—two crucial aspects of an initial behavior consultation. From the functional assessment, to navigating client questions to troubleshooting complex cases, this Dem-OH! will be a deep dive into assessing aggression.
Learning in Context: Expedited Learning Through Environmental Design
Course Type: Webinar
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Skill, Veterinary
Description: Clicker trainers often talk about first teaching a behavior and then later adding a cue for that behavior. However, while your animal is learning a behavior, your animal is also learning environmental cues, even if you are not aware of them. When you return to working in this setting or with these props, your animal will be ready to repeat this behavior. If you try to teach a new behavior under these same conditions, the learning will be slow. This is because the cues for the original behavior will interfere with the acquisition of the new behavior. Instead, you can speed up learning by changing the environmental cues. This presentation will explain how these cues evolve. We’ll also look at several case studies and explore how you can use this knowledge to speed up learning.
Please note: This course was presented at ClickerExpo LIVE 2022; the course content will be similar, but since it is presented live the experience will be unique and you'll likely learn something new!
Your Dog Already Knows How: Teaching When, Where, and Why
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Science, Skill
Spotlight Spot Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) Animal/Handler Spotlight Teams. To participate, teams should have access to a mat or bed, a clicker, treats, and a device to make a sound, such as a phone or a recordable button.
Attendees who are not part of an Animal/Handler Spotlight Team can still participate from home with their own animals, alongside the teams but without faculty feedback. Prefer to sit back and observe? That's fine, too!
Description: In training, we talk a lot about teaching our dogs how to do behaviors. But what are we really teaching them? They come knowing how to move their own bodies. What we’re really teaching them most of the time is not how to sit, stand, lie down, walk, or look, but rather when, where, and why to do so.
The when is generally either when the human gives the cue or when a certain something else happens in the environment. The where is position—where do you want the dog to be, go, or do something? The why is, of course, what’s in it for the dog: reinforcement. In this Lab, you'll learn how focusing on these environmental arrangements instead of a particular behavior can produce the behavior almost as a by-product.
There are some nuances to doing this well, but focusing on the when, where, and why can drastically reduce training steps for clients with whom you have only a short time to solve a problem. It can be especially helpful in teaching naturalistic alternatives to problem behaviors. Often, the easiest alternative behavior for a dog to offer instead of a problem behavior will not be a behavior that was trained formally, but a behavior the dog can easily offer in the problem situation—e.g., standing, orienting toward something, or moving somewhere. In other words, the alternative behavior will be something the dog already has available to draw on when you give the dog a reason to do so.
Many trainers are already doing this in some way, including in some well-known and widely used protocols. A bonus of the perspective Kiki brings, as a student of the principles that underlie most learning, is that it will help trainers see the commonality across protocols and how to use those commonalities to create innovative new solutions.
Join Kiki in this innovative Learning Lab to learn about, and to watch a live demonstration and exploration of, teaching when, where, and why. Not only can you watch and hear her coach the Lab teams, but you can train along at home if you like. There will be time for Q & A.
Turning Obstacles Into Opportunities
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level:Intermediate
Topic: Equine, Skill
Description: It is often said that there are no obstacles in life, just opportunities. That saying can be difficult to operationalize. "Exploratory shaping" can teach you to walk a path that help us train successfully and with that spirit,. When we use exploratory shaping we see behaviors that a horse, or any animal learner, offers that we, the humans may never have thought of, behaviors that may even have been seen as obstacles, but that could be more valuable than the behavior you one we set out to train.
In this Dem-OH!, Peggy Hogan, accompanied by Dem-OH! assistant Monty Gwynne and Anat Shalev, all trainers with extensive backgrounds shaping horse behavior, will demonstrate how to balance your expectations with curiosity, observing the horse’s preferences, tendencies, or choices and shaping what the animal CAN offer in the moment.
Giving a horse the freedom and control over the behaviors that it offers can feel uncomfortable for people. Many horses that offer behavior are even punished in other training paradigms. In this Dem-OH!, you will learn how to widen your comfort zone, enjoy what horses offer, and still shape useful behaviors. There will be a deeper look at how prompts, props, and rhythms can be useful in guiding the direction of shaping. You will broaden your food-delivery skills to shape behavior the horse offers. Finally, this Dem-OH! will share additional skills and techniques for shaping behavior.
3:00pm - 3:30pm • Sunday, January 29
3:30pm - 5:30pm • Sunday, January 29
Let's Talk about Problem-solving and Aggression with Aaron Clayton, Dante Camacho, Terrie Hayward, Emma Parsons, Kathy Sdao, and Michael Shikashio
Aaron Clayton, Dante Camacho, Terrie Hayward, Emma Parsons, Kathy Sdao, and Michael Shikashio
Course Type: Panel Discussion
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Business, Human, Other Species, Science, Skill, Teaching Others
Description: Join this discussion on animal aggression and the complexities that the client adds to the problem with moderator Aaron Clayton and panelists Dante Camacho, Terrie Hayward, Emma Parsons, Kathy Sdao, and Michael Shikashio. Are you ready for lively discussion, unique perspectives, and the expertise of some of the best authorities on aggression? Let’s Talk!
The Chin-Rest Behavior Deconstructed
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Health & Wellness, Science, Skill, Teaching Others, Veterinary
Spotlight Spot Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) Animal/Handler Spotlight Teams. Handlers should have basic, intermediate, or advanced training skills and be able to work their animals effectively in a distracting environment with props nearby. Animals should be familiar and comfortable with basic targeting and general body tactile (head, ears, eyes, mouth, torso, paws, legs, tail). Animals should also be familiar and comfortable with a variety of grooming and veterinary props (e.g., scale, resting a body part on an elevated surface, capped needles, nail trimmer, presence of and sound of a dremel, scent of ear cleaning solution, basket muzzle, gauze, nail file boards, etc.).
Attendees who are not part of an Animal/Handler Spotlight Team can still participate from home with their own animals, alongside the teams but without faculty feedback. Prefer to sit back and observe? That's fine, too!
Description: Laura Monaco Torelli has long been on the forefront of improving medical care for pets. For more than a decade, the chin-rest behavior has been a linchpin in the repertoire of behaviors she teaches, shares, and coaches. What could possibly be new about the chin-rest behavior? Quite a lot!
The chin-rest behavior has proved to be a deep reservoir of added value to trainers, colleagues, and pet guardians globally. The behavior has helped them add their own knowledge and expertise in order to showcase, call out, and build on the chin-rest behavior protocol, its applications, and its benefits for the handlers and the animal in their care.
Join Laura, alongside Demo-OH! and Learning Lab dog-handler and cat-handler teams, as they peel back the many layers of the chin-rest behavior. Watch as they deconstruct the “Who, Where, What, and Why” of this versatile husbandry skill. Learn how the chin-rest behavior in all of its applications and variations catalyzes a completely different and improved experience for veterinary and husbandry care.
This unique Learning Lab with Laura will highlight various skill sets as complete plans are crafted for a range of procedures all enabled by the chin-rest behavior. These procedures include ear care, eye care, voluntary blood draw, and a bonus behavior—if time allows.
Join in as a Learning Lab participant with Laura as your coach or work alongside from home on your own. As a bonus, Laura and the Dem-OH! teams will showcase complex or finished behaviors. There will be time for Q&A.
The Play's the Thing!
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: Foundation
Topic: Competition, Skill, Teaching Others
Description: When most people think of positive reinforcement in dog training, the image is of a dog trainer wearing a bait bag of tasty food morsels and with a clicker in hand often comes to mind! And that image is usually spot on! However, there is so much more that could be added to that image, like tug toys, balls, balls on ropes, Frisbees, flirt poles, bumpers, and more—you name it! That's right, toys and play! Play is part of every mammal's early cognitive, emotional, and physical development Often, that desire and ability gets lost or falls by the wayside for many domesticated dogs. In this Dem-OH!, you will learn how to get it back, nurture it, and use it as a formidable tool in your positive reinforcement repertoire!
Choosing Your Fairytale Client
Veronica Boutelle and Gina Phairas
Course Type: Dem-OH!
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Business
Description: Once upon a time there was a perfect dog training client who loved and doted on her dog and searched for the very best trainer she could find. The client eagerly purchased the training package recommended by the trainer, never missed a session, and hung on the trainer’s every word, delighted to learn about positive reinforcement. The client even left the trainer a glowing review and enrolled in the trainer’s next program.
It may sound like a fairy tale, but fairytale clients really do exist. Imagine your schedule or classes full of clients who are the perfect fit for you and your business—dog lovers who respect your knowledge, time, and policies, who do their part to reach their training goals, and who fuel your energy instead of sapping it.
Learn how to fill your schedule and rosters with your very own fairytale clients in this interactive and inspiring Dem-OH! with dogbiz founders Veronica Boutelle and Gina Phairas.
6:00pm - 7:00pm • Sunday, January 29
ClickerExpo 20th Anniversary – A Look Back and the View Forward
Description: It is hard to believe that ClickerExpo is 20 years old! So much has happened in the training community in the past two decades. Ken will reflect on the changes and share stories about new techniques and important lessons that had a profound impact on his training. From the poisoned cue and micro-shaping to data collection and the click-to-calm methodology, Ken will discuss the impactful experiences he has had in 20 years of attending and presenting at ClickerExpo. Ken will also turn his attention to the future as we look to the next 20 years.