CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Westchester County, New York • March 20 - 22, 2026
ClickerExpo features 45 courses in multiple engaging formats, covering eleven training and behavior themes. Themes are an easy way to locate all the courses we offer on the topics of interest to you!
Click on the name(s) of the Theme(s) below to view all associated ClickerExpo New York courses for the selected Theme, including titles, descriptions, faculty, and schedules. Click "All" to view all courses across all Themes.
PRE-EVENT - Thursday, March 19, 2026
Bronx Zoo Excursion
For more details, click here.
Welcome Reception
DAY 1 - Friday, March 20, 2026
Opening Session
Course Type: Session
Description: Join us as we kick off the incredible journey that will be ClickerExpo New York.
Expanding Minds
Expanding Hearts
Aggression & Behavior Management
Behavioral Science
Breaking Down Choice and Control — The Fluff, the Function, and the Fallout
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: “Choice and control” have become buzzwords in modern training—but what do they really mean? In this session, we go beyond the feel-good slogans and explore the function behind the fluff.
We’ll take a radical behaviorist look at what choice and control look like in observable, operational terms, and examine how these concepts are arranged, reinforced, and interpreted in both training and everyday animal care. Together, we’ll ask:
• When does offering “choice” empower the learner—and when might it unintentionally limit access to reinforcement or learning?
• Is “control” always desirable, or are we sometimes reinforcing avoidance under the guise of agency?
• How can we better define and deliver true choice and control, grounded in functional analysis rather than cognitive inference?
Using real-life examples, video, and case studies—including revisiting earlier approaches and how our understanding has evolved—this session invites thoughtful, sometimes uncomfortable, reflection on current practice. We’ll also explore the unintended fallout of vague or mentalistic interpretations and offer practical strategies for aligning our good intentions with good science.
Whether you’re new to the field or a seasoned professional, this session aims to sharpen your lens, expand your toolbox, and help you better deliver what your learner really needs.
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Behavioral Science
High-Performance Training
Solutions for Common Challenges
Who Needs Food? Strategies and Errors in the Use of Conditioned Reinforcers
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Most trainers strive for clarity in their training and try to provide consistently effective reinforcement. However, when we watch high-level trainers, many appear to have a magic touch when they train; they seem to use a very low or highly creative rate of reinforcement. The trainers who utilize this creative reinforcement are often seen in high-level working dogs, dog sports, and many marine mammal training programs. Often, trainers explain their animals' exceptional performance by saying, "the animal loves what they do," "it is because of our relationship," or "we are using a variable schedule of reinforcement." It begs the question: Is that true? Those answers may only be partially accurate. If we see truly remarkable training results, then perhaps the trainers are not fluent in the science of behavior analysis. Still, they are clearly fluent in their application of practical training skills.
From 2018 to 2025, Ken interviewed, observed, compared, and analyzed the training of 46 trainer-animal teams. These teams appeared to utilize an intermittent schedule of reinforcement or implement some creative variation of reinforcement. Of the teams Ken evaluated, nearly half of them were skilled teams, and their training was highly effective; the remaining teams seemed to vary in skill level and effectiveness. Ken will explore the role that conditioned reinforcers play in these varied training situations. He will evaluate why some training teams were so effective and why others failed. He will take a deep and revealing look at the various ways creative trainers utilize conditioned reinforcers. Ken will share key insights into the reasons for success and failure and convey helpful information that you can apply to your training to improve the effectiveness of your reinforcement.
Expanding Skills
Aggression & Behavior Management
Behavioral Science
Shelters
Solutions for Common Challenges
The ABCs of Reactivity
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Description: Canine Reactivity - a label used for behaviors such as barking, lunging, and growling - can seem complicated and challenging to resolve.
A Behavior Analysis lens can provide trainers the essential clarity to determine the best training plan to implement and can simplify the process for clients and trainers alike.
This session will focus on assessing the ABCs (antecedents, behaviors, and consequences) of reactive behavior. You'll learn to identify the specific antecedents at play, expand behavioral options for the 'B,' and pinpoint the consequences driving the reactivity.
Join Juliana and feel more empowered to create and implement training plans that improve reactive behavior.
Expanding Skills
Teaching Others
Skateboarding: A Rad Window to the Soul of Training Decisions
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Intermediate
Dog/Handler Team Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) Dog/Handler Teams. Dogs should be comfortable on wobble boards or unsteady surfaces, have a foundation of putting two or four paws on a marl/station/perch, and any previous skateboarding experience is welcome but not required. You can choose to participate with your dog or attend as an observer. However, observers should not bring their dogs to the lab.
Description: A complex and super fun behavior, skateboarding is a perfect vehicle for examining some of the least obvious but most important trainer skills—how to break down behaviors and how long to reinforce a behavior before raising the criteria.
See just how many ways a behavior can be broken down! This Learning Lab will have real-time training that includes problem-solving and breaking down behaviors into approximations. Watch Melissa guide Dog/Handler teams as they learn to skateboard.
*This course was presented at a prior ClickerExpo. The course content will be similar, but the experience will be unique, and you will likely learn something new!
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Expanding Hearts
Aggression & Behavior Management
Behavioral Science
See It, Say It, Analyze It
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Open Participant Prerequisites: Spots are limited to the room capacity. You have the option to either actively participate or attend as an observer. Please note that this Lab is specifically designed for people, so we kindly request that only service dogs be present in the room during the event. Non-working dogs can enjoy a well-deserved rest as we engage in practice sessions. Please bring a pen and paper to take notes with!
Description: A practical Learning Lab for building behavior observation and analysis skills.
In this hands-on, non-dog Learning Lab, we sharpen the most fundamental tools of a behavior professional—not clickers, leads, or food—but our ability to observe, describe, and analyze behavior effectively. This interactive session focuses on developing human skills through structured activities, video analysis, and small group exercises, giving participants a chance to practice in real-time.
Rather than relying on pre-made protocols or jumping to mentalistic interpretations, this Lab teaches you how to:
• See It – Observe behavior with clarity, resisting the urge to interpret or explain before the data is in
• Say It – Practice describing what you see in precise, observable terms—no vague labels, no fluff
• Analyze It – Explore how to use what you’ve seen and said to ask better questions, understand environmental variables, and consider function over form.
Designed to be insightful, engaging, and full of “aha!” moments, this Lab invites you to look at your own behavior and the behavior of others through a radically behaviorist lens—without needing a dog in the room.
Whether you’re just starting out or deep in your practice, this Lab will help refine how you interact with behavior—yours, your clients’, and your learners’. Because what we see, say, and analyze shapes everything that comes next.
Expanding Skills
Aggression & Behavior Management
Behavioral Science
Solutions for Common Challenges
Pattern Games Unleashed: Take Pattern Protocols to the Next Level
Ran Courant-Morgan, Stephanie Keesey-Phelan
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Foundation
Description: Many trainers are familiar with pattern games, described and popularized through Leslie McDevitt's Control Unleashed program. Pattern games are often prescribed for behavior modification due to their simplicity and broad applicability. However, these protocols become significantly more powerful and dynamic when you possess a deep understanding of the underlying science, considering why and under what circumstances they truly work. Join Ran and Stephanie to explore the science behind pattern games. You'll gain a thoughtful and precise analytical framework, empowering you to confidently use, modify, and evaluate these protocols for any learner.
2:00pm - 3:30pm Friday, March 20
Expanding Skills
Expanding Minds
Teaching Others
Backstage Pass: Coaching Non-Dog Trainers
Ken Ramirez, Chirag Patel, Aaron Clayton, Alexandra Kurland, Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz
Course Type: Backstage Pass
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Chirag Patel brings years of experience to working with clients from various backgrounds. How does he adapt his training to work with knowledgeable individuals who either are not trainers or who work predominantly with other species? Join Chirag and moderator Ken Ramirez as they work with individuals who are not new to dog training but do not consider themselves dog trainers. Watch Chirag as he coaches Aaron Clayton, CEO of KPCT, Alexandra Kurland, a world-renowned horse trainer and ClickerExpo faculty member, and Dr. Jesus Rosales-Ruiz, an esteemed behavior analyst, in working with dogs recruited from the audience. Backstage Pass provides a unique opportunity to observe real-time training sessions led by ClickerExpo Faculty and Speakers, complete with live narration of their actions and decisions. Watch unscripted, real-time training conducted by each speaker and hear their immediate observations. What are the thought processes of Ken and Chirag as they work with Aaron, Alex, and Jesus to work with unfamiliar animals? How do they question and provide constructive feedback to each other? What details do they find crucial, and which are irrelevant? What decisions are made, and what drives those choices? Would another trainer approach the session differently? How do the backgrounds and experiences of Aaron, Alex, and Jesus impact the approach that Chirag chooses to take in coaching them? Backstage Pass is designed to sharpen the observation skills of every audience member. Observing, asking questions, and discussing training techniques can be tremendously helpful for all parties involved. However, it can also be challenging and perplexing. It requires a range of skills, including knowing what to look for, interpreting observations effectively, and articulating them clearly. What does skillful observation entail? How do you focus your thoughts and attention? What questions are relevant, and how do you provide feedback that aligns with the trainer's intended goal? Join Ken, Chirag, Alexandra, Aaron, and Jesus in this exploration designed to unveil the art of observation, critical thinking, and communication in training. Get your backstage pass to this unique experience and discover new ways to observe, think, and discuss training methods.
Expanding Minds
Behavioral Science
Question Everything: Updates to the Science of Clicker Training
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Clicker training is an application of the natural science of behavior, and Karen Pryor was a pioneer in translating that science for a lay audience. But she also understood that science isn't a static body of knowledge—it's the ongoing pursuit of knowledge. And she continued to pursue a refined understanding of how clicker training worked for her entire career. In that spirit, this year at ClickerExpo, we ask: How has our understanding of the concepts that inform clicker training changed since Karen's time? For instance, is the clicker most usefully categorized as a conditioned reinforcer? Does the clicker acquire its function primarily through classical conditioning? Is the new cue-old cue procedure for transferring cues also a form of classical conditioning? Does differential reinforcement (including shaping, aka differential reinforcement of successive approximations) require the use of extinction? Can we get novel or "creative" behavior (including the next approximation in shaping), without inducing a little "frustration"? Why doesn't "just ignoring" what you don't like always work? Does luring interfere with learning, and if it does, why would that be? Join Kiki for a closer look at what's new (or new again) about how to explain what we do--and why we might consider adjusting some of what we do based on a more nuanced understanding.
Expanding Skills
Aggression & Behavior Management
Solutions for Common Challenges
Pattern Games Unleashed - In Action!
Ran Courant-Morgan, Stephanie Keesey-Phelan
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Foundation
Prerequisite Session: Pattern Games Unleashed: Take Pattern Protocols to the Next Level
Dog/Handler Team Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) Dog/Handler Teams. Dogs should be able to eat in the presence of other dogs and people. Handlers will need treat pouches, ample treats, and ideally a leash that is 8-10 feet long. To participate in this Learning Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite session: Pattern Games Unleashed: Take Pattern Protocols to the Next Level. You can choose to participate with your dog or attend as an observer. However, observers should not bring their dogs to the lab.
Description: Join Ran and Stephanie for this hands-on Learning Lab and apply the concepts from 'Pattern Games Unleashed' in real-time.
Dog/Handler Teams will bring their specific questions and concerns. Ran and Stephanie will work directly with each team, analyzing their dynamics, recommending tailored pattern games, and coaching them on initial implementation. They'll discuss progression strategies and key data points to inform decision-making, ensuring the practical application of your learning for the future.
Expanding Skills
Aggression & Behavior Management
Cup on a Stick for Over-Aroused Dogs
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Dog/Handler Team Prerequisites: We will have up to six (6) Dog/Handler Teams. Teams should be familiar with clicker training, and dogs must be comfortable working in close proximity with people and other dogs. You can choose to participate with your dog or attend as an observer. However, observers should not bring their dogs to the lab.
Description: Kay Laurence developed the "Cup on a Stick" technique to help the handler practice precise reward delivery, thereby increasing clarity for both dog and person. The beauty lies in the simplicity of the process - it allows us to lure behavior without the typical chaos that can sometimes arise.
The Cup on a Stick is exactly what it sounds like—a measuring cup attached to the end of a dowel. Special attention is paid to how the cup is filled and offered to the dog, a process that promotes calmness for both the dog and the handler.
While Cup on Stick can be used to teach a wide range of behaviors, Emma Parsons has found it particularly effective for helping energetic adolescent dogs to focus, as well as for performance dogs that are prone to becoming quickly over-aroused.
In this Learning Lab, Emma will guide participants through the process of loading and presenting the cup properly. We will then delve into how this tool can be strategically utilized to address significant behavioral challenges, including reactivity toward people and other dogs, as well as overstimulation.
Join Emma to experience how something as simple as a treat loaded into a cup can serve as a conditioned reinforcer, offering a practical and effective solution for behavior change, especially in high-arousal scenarios.
Expanding Skills
Behavioral Science
Do You Have A Clue About Cues?
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Foundation
Description: What exactly is a cue? What should you consider when choosing a cue? And, what's the best way to teach a new cue? If the subject of cues leaves you feeling a bit confused, you're not alone! The training world is full of contradictory advice about how cues work and how to teach cues.
In this foundational Session, Mary will discuss some basic and not-so-basic ideas about cues and how they work. We'll start by examining what cues are and how they work differently from commands and poisoned cues. Next, we'll explore different procedures you can use when teaching new cues or changing existing cues. In addition, we'll look at Karen Pryor's four rules of stimulus control and discuss what to do if your animal keeps offering a behavior off cue.
Mary will also share some significant ideas from the science of behavior analysis that may provide you with a new perspective on cues. We'll discuss whether behavior is always on cue, how cues work in two directions, and even why the click is both a conditioned reinforcer and a cue. Whether you're new to training or an experienced professional, this Session will give you a deeper understanding of how cues work.
4:00pm - 5:30pm • Friday, March 20
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Behavioral Science
High-Performance Training
Symposium: Pros and Cons of Using Multiple Markers
Ken Ramirez, Michele Pouliot, Mary Hunter
Course Type: Symposium
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Don't miss this new format, the Symposium, which focuses on the benefits and drawbacks of using more than one marker. First, Mary will discuss the value of thinking of markers as cues and the benefits of having different markers to indicate how reinforcement will be delivered. Michele will share why she uses just one primary marker and how she conveys different reinforcement delivery through other contextual cues. Ken will share how and why he uses as many as six different markers, each with the same meaning, and discuss the value and risks he has seen in their varied uses. Finally, Ken will synthesize these three perspectives, identifying commonalities and distinctions among the speakers' approaches. He will lead all three speakers in an insightful panel discussion that highlights the various ways to view marker use. Attendees will also have the opportunity to engage with the panel with questions.
Expanding Minds
Expanding Hearts
Behavioral Science
Teaching Others
Doing Compassion
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: We say that we care, but "…it is important to make clear that caring is first of all a matter of acting and only secondarily a matter of feeling" (Skinner, 1972). As behavior analysis (BA) is the study of the myriad and powerful ways in which the environment influences how we learn and behave, it is the science that is necessarily at the forefront of our work with animals. However, BA is not a monolith — a single, inflexible entity, slow to change. Instead, its application (ABA) is dynamic, often reflecting changing social values and interests. Like behavior itself, behavior analysis does not exist in a vacuum. Often referred to as "Today's ABA" and "Compassionate ABA," our philosophy and related teaching standards continue to evolve in both process and outcome. For example, the right for learners to say "no", a more extensive antecedent arrangement to elicit "yes," multiple functions assessment, and shaping with a more nuanced dialogue between teacher and learner. We must protect this construct, compassion, from becoming just another pop issue, a straw man, or a finger-pointing Instagram exercise. We need to operationalize exactly what we mean by compassionate training, what we do to earn that label, and how it differs from yesterday's ABA. Join Susan and explore what the promised learning improvements and welfare outcomes look like, and how to achieve them.
Expanding Skills
Teaching Others
How To Teach a Group Tricks Class
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Dog/Handler Team Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) Dog/Handler Teams. Teams should be familiar with clicker training, and dogs must be comfortable working in close proximity with people and other dogs. You can choose to participate with your dog or attend as an observer. However, observers should not bring their dogs to the lab.
Description: Trick classes are a wonderful addition to your school curriculum. They are FUN for all, require minimal space, and can be customized to your client's dogs. Group trick classes are also beneficial for nervous dogs, offering fast-paced activity with minimal movement and an atmosphere of joy.
In this Learning Lab, Melissa Millett, founder of Ultimutts, will be joined by participants who will become students, recreating a group class. Peppered with tips on running the class and teaching humans, attendees get to see how Melissa teaches a tricks class.
Whether you are interested in adding a new class to increase revenue for your business, or looking for tricks to challenge your dogs at home, join Melissa in this Learning Lab, prepare for lots of learning and FUN!
Expanding Skills
Cooperative Care / Veterinary
Solutions for Common Challenges
Teaching Others
Superstar Blood Collection Training
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Intermediate
Dog/Handler Team Prerequisites: We will have approximately six (6) Dog/Handler Teams. Dogs should be comfortable working in a busy group environment, familiar with marker-based training, and accustomed to being approached by strangers. Additionally, they should be comfortable with being touched on their body and legs by their trusted humans. Handlers should bring at least two reinforcement options (e.g., multiple kinds of food, food and a toy, food and a tactile item, etc.), as well as any equipment they have already introduced at home that they wish to incorporate for cooperative care training (e.g., a mat, muzzle, etc.). In addition, one slender object that can be held in the hand to simulate a syringe (e.g., a pen). You can choose to participate with your dog or attend as an observer. However, observers should not bring their dogs to the lab.
Description: Giving blood is an essential part of animal welfare. Blood testing allows us to assess and monitor the health of our companions. When the stress of giving blood prevents the veterinary team from collecting samples, it compromises animal wellness. In this Learning Lab, you'll learn tips and tricks for preparing dogs for low-stress blood collection in the veterinary office. We will demonstrate how to train in common blood collection positions, discuss best practices for preparing for venipuncture, and address some aspects of the blood draw that are often overlooked in training plans. Additionally, we will help teams make informed training decisions to simplify this important veterinary procedure.
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Behavioral Science
Teaching Others
How We Learn: An Introduction to Behavior Analysis and Training
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Foundation
Description: This Session is designed to expand your understanding of behavior and learning as they apply to all learners, regardless of species. It includes an overview of 6 fundamental and inspiring topics in animal behavior consulting and training. These topics are:
1. An evolutionary view of learning and behavior
2. A review of the science of behavior change called behavior analysis
3. Common obstacles to the scientific analysis of learning and behavior
4. ABC assessment to better understand, predict, and change behavior
5. The errorless learning philosophy and training strategies
6. The relevance of the least intrusive principle to guide the ethical use of training procedures.
Join Rick for this big-picture, perspective-altering overview of the science of learning!
Friday Night Networking Event
Course Type: Meal/Event
Description: Come kick back and relax with a networking game, music, socializing, food, a cash bar, and the exciting opportunity to win prizes. Join us for this fun night to kickstart the weekend off right! Event price does not include taxes or hotel service charges; these additional fees will be applied to your registration total at checkout.
The Friday night social event includes a Chef's Selection of passed Hors d'oeuvres, including a cheese display, and a cash bar.
The social event is available for advance purchase only (no on-site purchases will be available). The last day to change meals is Monday, February 9, 2026 at 11:59pm ET.
Note: Your meal will be prepared based on the selection you made during registration under the Meal Preference/ Allergies section. Vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options will be available. We will make every attempt to accommodate allergies and other special needs. Alcoholic beverages are not included with any meal or event unless explicitly stated.
Experience the Joy of Learning Together, In Person!
Discover the inspiration, collaboration, and breakthroughs that only ClickerExpo can deliver.
DAY 2 - Saturday, March 21, 2026
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Behavioral Science
Shelters
A “Freeing Up the Operant” Approach to Environmental Enrichment
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Description: Discrete trial training (DTT) is a crucial strategy for teaching animals to be active participants in their own medical and husbandry care. This approach has resulted in extraordinary welfare benefits and is now the standard of care in modern zoos. However, DTT is restricted by the trainers' decisions. Trainers provide the cue, set the behavioral criterion, deliver the reinforcers, and control the number of repetitions per session. Additionally, DTT occupies a relatively small portion of any zoo animal's day. When training is the high point of their day, animals often do little more than wait for the next session to begin.
After a training session has ended, animals are typically turned out into less controlled habitats where trainers have prearranged so-called enrichment opportunities (devices and other conditions) intended to induce active animals who behave similarly to their wild counterparts. However, the goals of environmental enrichment, as suggested by Markowitz (1982), have yet to be realized.
The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, in collaboration with Behavior Works, has taken a free operant approach to environmental enrichment. With this approach, trainers engineer environments so that animals are free to make any possible operant response and to vary those responses as described by Lindsley (1996), such as the freedom to form and to speed responses. Two important dimensions have emerged when selecting and creating enrichment opportunities, i.e., time to satiation and time to depletion.
Both strategies together, that is, 1) borrowing animals for discrete training sessions to meet our medical and husbandry goals, and 2) returning them to environments that free up their operant behavior, can significantly improve the welfare of animals in human care, whether in the zoo or the home environment.
Join Rick and explore the benefits of 'freeing up the operant' in your training.
Expanding Skills
Teaching Others
Solutions for Common Challenges
Backstage Pass: Working with New Clients
Ken Ramirez, Juliana DeWillems, Monique Feyrecilde, Emma Parsons
Course Type: Backstage Pass
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Ken, Juliana, Monique, and Emma are renowned for their expertise in helping clients train their dogs. Backstage Pass offers an exclusive opportunity to witness real-time training sessions led by ClickerExpo Faculty and Speakers. Experience unscripted training and insightful narration as each demonstrates how they work with new clients and get to know their dogs.
Delve into the minds of Ken, Juliana, Monique, and Emma as they analyze, decide, and adapt their strategies for each client. They will be working with dogs and their guardians, demonstrating how they begin a consult with a new client. Discover how they question, critique, and learn from one another. Explore their decisions and alternative approaches.
Backstage Pass is designed to enhance the observation skills of every audience member. The process of observing, asking questions, and discussing training techniques can be tremendously helpful for all parties involved. However, it can also be challenging and perplexing. There are many skills at play in terms of what to look for, how to interpret observations, and how to communicate your findings to others. Acquiring information like this is a valuable skill set! But what does skillful observation entail? How do you focus your attention and thoughts? What questions are relevant, and how do you provide feedback that aligns with the trainer's intended goal?
Ken, Juliana, Monique, and Emma invite you to join this illuminating journey into observation, analysis, and dialogue in dog training. Step behind the scenes with us — your backstage pass awaits.
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Aggression & Behavior Management
Dogs in the City: Dealing with Fear in a Busy Urban Setting
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Description: Living in a busy, urban environment is difficult for many dogs. Unfortunately, this is common for many urban-dwelling dogs and their people. More often than not, medication is a necessary part of the behavior modification program. Working through complex behavior cases presents multiple challenges. How do you counter-condition and desensitize a dog to an entire city?! From limited space and access to green areas to heightened levels of noise and air pollution, urban environments present a host of obstacles for our canine companions. We delve into the implications of crowded streets, stricter regulations, and the lack of socialization opportunities, shedding light on how these factors contribute to higher stress levels and behavioral issues in urban-dwelling dogs. Bobbie will share her experiences working in New York City and helping her clients deal with such a challenging environment. Join Bobbie as she shares strategies for coping with fear in the big city.
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Aggression & Behavior Management
Cooperative Care / Veterinary
Maximize Success: Finding Your Way Out Of Training “Traps”
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Every learner deserves a positive and empowering experience, but that's far easier said than delivered.
You can't "accept" everything your learners offer. The overuse of redundant clicks can build a "glass ceiling" that is hard to break through. Reinforcing everything can lead to stagnation. It can prevent your learners from truly progressing.
Alternatively, when you stop reinforcing certain behaviors, you may fall into the "extinction trap". Now your learner is becoming frustrated because the expected reinforcers are no longer happening. To avoid this, many trainers fall into another kind of trap. They get stuck in the "defensive-click trap". To prevent unwanted behavior, these trainers end up clicking on every small effort their learner presents.
These two "training traps" pose a critical challenge for many of us: how to progress toward a complex goal without stalling out or creating frustration.
This session will show you how to build a positive training experience from the ground up, starting with small, precise training loops that generate consistent "yes" responses. You will learn how to nudge behavior forward through small approximations that add up to significant changes over time. You will learn how to become a selective sifter. Instead of clicking everything and getting stuck, effective selective sifters know how to shift criteria seamlessly to create ever more complex behavior.
The session will delve into the art of the "reset"—that is, returning to the beginning of a movement cycle. Taught well, resets are just "part of the dance". They become integrated, highly reinforced components that allow your learner to try again without creating frustration. They are a power tool that is often overlooked in training.
Join Alex to explore strategies that keep you from building glass ceilings or falling into training traps. Instead, you'll be learning how to develop increasingly complex behaviors using strategies that minimize frustration and maximize success.
Expanding Skills
Do You Have A Clue About Cues? - In Action!
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Foundation
Prerequisite Session: Do You Have A Clue About Cues?
Dog/Handler Team Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) Dog/Handler Teams. Dogs should be comfortable working in close proximity to other dogs and people, have at least one behavior already on cue (Example: sit, come), and should also know how to touch a target. To participate in this Learning Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite session: Do You Have A Clue About Cues?. You can choose to participate with your dog or attend as an observer. However, observers should not bring their dogs to the lab.
Description: At first glance, the topic of cues can seem like a simple concept. However, teaching an animal to perform a behavior on cue reliably can sometimes be a challenge. In this lab, Mary Hunter will help you understand more about how cues work.
To begin, participants will practice checking existing cues using Karen Pryor's four rules of stimulus control as a guide. Mary will teach you a set of rules so that you can use these exercises to gather valuable information without frustrating your dog. These activities will help you assess, "Does my animal really understand this cue?"
In some circumstances, even if a behavior seems like it is perfectly on cue, your animal may be responding to something different than what you think is the cue. Mary will guide participants through activities that can help them investigate, "What really is my dog's cue for this behavior?" These exercises will also help participants explore ways to narrow or change an existing cue.
This Learning Lab is a follow-up to Mary Hunter's earlier session, Do You Have a Clue About Cues? Attendance at this prior session is recommended before attending this lab.
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Behavioral Science
Shelters
20 Years of Putting the Hierarchy to Work: Evidence Based and Values Driven
Ken Ramirez, Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D.
Course Type: Key Conversations
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Join us for a lively discussion between two leaders and friends in our community as they discuss the Hierarchy of Behavior Change Procedures. The hierarchy results from the commitment to reduce force and coercion in the training profession. It contributes an answer to the question, "When we, as a profession, decide to put down our punishment-based tools, how do we meet our medical, husbandry, and other behavior goals?" The hierarchy makes clear that although nature may not rank consequences from most to least preferred, we can do so based on science and values. The hierarchy provides a structure for actively and creatively selecting behavior change procedures according to the least intrusive principle, a widely accepted ethical doctrine across many professions that we should adopt. With the hierarchy, we prevent dogmatic selection of procedures. Rather, professionals are sensitized to the side effects of the different procedures and encouraged to brainstorm solutions, prioritizing those that give animals some control over their outcomes rather than those that curtail control. In this discussion, with their collective experience spanning over 80 years and several shifts in training methodology and philosophy, Ken Ramirez and Susan Friedman will demonstrate how they apply the hierarchy to benefit the animals we care for so deeply.
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Behavioral Science
Solutions for Common Challenges
Component Skills for Modern Leash Walking
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: For many in our community, the goal of "loose leash walking" is no longer a short-tethered march down a long sidewalk. But giving a dog maximum freedom to explore while still keeping them (and other people and animals) safe entails a complex set of interactions between the dog, the handler, and an ever-changing environment. It can be thought of as a kind of ongoing improvised dance—to stay graceful on the fly, both partners need specific solid skills and an understanding of how to use them to respond to each other and the physical setting.
The first and sometimes hardest step is figuring out what that will look like for an individual team. From there, we can break out and teach the individual component skills—for both dog and handler—and then link them together as needed using chaining principles and reinforcers that come from the other end of the leash and the larger environment.
The Session will provide an overview of this approach to conceptualizing loose-leash walking, as well as some of the most commonly functional skills and how to teach them. The companion Learning Lab will help Dog/Handler teams hone in on those skills with games that are easy to take home to clients.
*This Session was presented at a prior in-person ClickerExpo. The course content will be similar, but the experience will be unique—and you’ll likely learn something new!
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Solutions for Common Challenges
Shelters
Enrichment on a Budget: Cheap or Free Alternatives for You and Your Clients
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: In our mission to improve the welfare and well-being of animals and guardians, trainers often provide clients with enrichment plans that recommend a number of products, tools, and toys. Yet, the reality is that these items, while highly beneficial, can be financially out of reach for a significant number of clients and the organizations with whom we partner. Scaling back our recommendations feels like a profound disservice to all involved. So, what's the answer?
Empower your clients with ingenious, low-cost, even free DIY alternatives that achieve the same powerful, positive outcomes! By smartly upcycling "trash" and repurposing ordinary household items, we can dramatically enhance accessibility for our clients while simultaneously delivering top-tier care, regardless of economic constraints. It's a true win-win for everyone.
Join Emily and dive deep into a treasure trove of DIY solutions for training and enrichment. In this Session, Emily explores creative enrichment toys, adequate equipment, and practical management tools. Learn to assess the risks of these alternatives and how to coach clients through their options and decisions, enabling them to make informed decisions. Finally, Emily will share how this approach can also ignite a movement of resource pooling and sharing among households, strengthening communities.
Expanding Skills
Aggression & Behavior Management
Solutions for Common Challenges
Attention as a Gateway Behavior: Default Attention As a Path to Solutions
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Foundation
Dog/Handler Team Prerequisites: We will have approximately five (5) Dog/Handler Teams. Teams should be familiar with clicker training, and dogs must be comfortable working in close proximity with people and other dogs. You can choose to participate with your dog or attend as an observer. However, observers should not bring their dogs to the lab.
Description: Sometimes the most basic behavior has the most possibilities! Join Juliana in this hands-on Learning Lab, where she will teach you the ways the simple behavior of "attention" can help you accomplish your training goals and build other behaviors. Juliana will coach teams through the process of teaching this behavior from scratch to incorporating it into the teaching of more advanced skills.
From dealing with distractions to teaching loose-leash walking, building a recall cue, and reducing reactive behavior, a lot is possible when your attention behavior has a strong reinforcement history. You will leave this Learning Lab with practical tools for working on a variety of behaviors with your clients, all starting with the foundation behavior of attention.
Dog Consult
Expanding Minds
High-Performance Training
Teaching Others
Dog Consult with Michele Pouliot
Course Type: Dog Consult
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Do you have a trick you have been dying to train? Is there a cooperative care behavior you have been wanting advice about? Are you having a challenge with your dog and want some direction? Sign up for this unique new style of session, which combines the Learning Lab experience with Office Hours. Get approximately 20 minutes with Michele and have her work with you and your dog! Alternatively, you can attend as an observer and watch the training consultation take place, and join in on the discussion. Spots are limited, with only four Dog/Handler Teams per Session.
Cooperative Care / Veterinary
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Let's Talk: Practical Approaches to Cooperative Care
Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D., Ken Ramirez, Monique Feyrecilde, Rick Hester, Emma Parsons
Course Type: Panel
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Join moderator Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D., and panelists Ken Ramirez, Monique Feyrecilde, Rick Hester, and Emma Parsons as they discuss training approaches and practices related to cooperative care. How does cooperative care in the pet world differ from cooperative care in the zoo world? What is realistic for pet guardians and trainers to expect from their dogs or cats? Let's Talk!
Expanding Minds
Behavioral Science
Aggression & Behavior Management
Resurgence in Acquisition and Extinction: New Discoveries
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Advanced
Description: Resurgence is defined as the reoccurrence of a previously reinforced behavior when the current target behavior is put on extinction. In plain English, this means that when one behavior doesn't work, the learner will revert to behaviors that have been successful in the past. For example, imagine that an owner teaches a dog to ring a bell to go outside, rather than barking at the back door. However, today, the owner is in the middle of an important task, and she ignores the dog when the dog rings the bell. What happens? The dog rings the bell several more times, then starts barking and barking! While resurgence has been studied extensively in the lab, many questions still remain about how resurgence works in more complex situations and applied settings. In this Session, Jesús will share several recent research projects that he and his graduate students have been working on related to resurgence. These projects have explored the role of resurgence while teaching new behaviors and how cues influence what behaviors reappear during extinction. Understanding resurgence can help you understand why some behaviors are learned almost immediately, while other behaviors are acquired much more slowly. Additionally, understanding the relationship between resurgence and cues will help you better predict the behaviors your animal might offer in certain situations.
Expanding Skills
Cooperative Care / Veterinary
High-Performance Training
Teaching Others
Apply One, Apply All: Tricks, Cooperative Care, Guide/Service Dog Training
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Many cooperative care behaviors are similar to trick behaviors used for enrichment, fun, and entertainment. As these behaviors progress, the requirements for the goal behavior can be quite different. An example would be the duration required in a chin rest behavior while the animal is being examined. The trick chin rest may have a low difficulty level with brief duration. An examination chin rest requires a strong history of confident duration in the presence of potentially stressful environments. Basic husbandry for a guide / service dog can be challenging for disabled handlers. Training a dog to present specific body parts to the handler is very valuable to a guide or service dog handler. Those same grooming behaviors can be valuable and appreciated by handlers without disabilities, and worthwhile to train. Join Michele in seeing how many training disciplines are alike and discover some behaviors you never imagined being useful for your needs and desires.
Expanding Skills
Solutions for Common Challenges
Component Skills for Modern Leash Walking - In Action!
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Prerquisite Session: Component Skills for Modern Leash Walking
Dog/Handler Team Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) Dog/Handler Teams. Teams should be familiar with the use of a clicker or verbal marker, and bring a leash that is at least 10 feet long. They should bring treats that are easy to toss accurately, kept in a treat pouch or a quickly accessible pocket. Dogs should be comfortable working around people and other dogs who may be moving quickly and should not have a history of aggression related to food on the floor. To participate in this Learning Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite session: Component Skills for Modern Leash Walking. You can choose to participate with your dog or attend as an observer. However, observers should not bring their dogs to the lab.
Description: Giving a dog maximum freedom to explore on leash while still keeping them (and other people and animals) safe entails a complex set of interactions between the dog, the handler, and an ever-changing environment. Both partners need specific sets of skills on board in advance, as well as an understanding of how to link them together in response to their environment.
In this companion Learning Lab, Dog/Handler teams will build on the concepts introduced in the prerequisite Session (Component Skills for Modern Leash Walking) by learning and practicing some of the most critical component skills for a pleasant walk—and how to chain them together effectively. Through thoughtfully designed games, teams will explore not just the behaviors they want, but what should cue them and what can reinforce them--both in the short term (during training) and long term (in real-life settings).
Dog Consult
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
High-Performance Training
Teaching Others
Dog Consult with Melissa Millett
Course Type: Dog Consult
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Do you have a trick you have been dying to train? Sign up for this unique new style of session, which combines the Learning Lab experience with Office Hours. Get approximately 20 minutes with Melissa and have her work with you and your dog! Alternatively, you can attend as an observer and watch the training consultation take place, and join in on the discussion. Spots are limited, with only four Dog/Handler Teams per Session.
Book & Media Signing
Expanding Minds
Expanding Hearts
The Courage to Care: Prioritizing Yourself in a Demanding World
Course Type: Meal/Event
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: In a world where daily demands often overshadow personal well-being, it is easy to lose sight of self-care. Dr. Bernice Patterson invites you to explore the transformative power of placing yourself back on your to-do list. Through insightful reflections and practical guidance, this keynote will help you identify barriers to self-investment and discover how extending grace to yourself and others can reignite your capacity to care. Join us for an empowering session that encourages you to reclaim your well-being and inspires those around you to do the same.
The Saturday Night Dinner featuring a choice of either a savory chicken dish or a deliciously crafted vegetarian option; Caesar salad; the chef’s selection of starch and vegetables; dinner rolls with butter; New York cheesecake; and freshly brewed coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and herbal teas.
Dinner is prepared by the hotel and available for advance purchase only (no on-site purchases will be available). Meal price does not include taxes or hotel service charges; these additional fees will be applied to your registration total at checkout. The last day to change meals is Monday, February 9, 2026 at 11:59pm ET.
Note: Your meal will be prepared based on the selection you made during registration under the Meal Preference/ Allergies section. Vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options will be available. We will make every attempt to accommodate allergies and other special needs. Alcoholic beverages are not included with any meal or event unless explicitly stated.
Energize Your Love for Training, for Teaching Others, and for Learning!
Take your passion for animal training to new heights of creativity and innovation in ways only an in-person experience can deliver.
DAY 3 - Sunday, March 22, 2026
Expanding Minds
Teaching Others
Business
Guaranteeing Customer Satisfaction Without Guaranteeing Results
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: We know it's unethical to guarantee training results, but can we assure other aspects about a client's experience with us? Juliana believes we can! There are so many ways to enhance a client’s experience that have nothing to do with their dog’s behavior. Since word of mouth is often the biggest referral source for trainers, prioritizing customer experience is crucial for building a successful, robust business.
This presentation will cover how to ensure you are providing a top-notch customer service experience to your clients. Juliana will discuss actionable strategies to achieve this while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. You can deliver an excellent client experience while also building the schedule and lifestyle you desire outside of work.
Providing excellent customer satisfaction is essential for all trainers, but it is particularly important for trainers who work with challenging behavior cases where immediate positive outcomes with the dog aren't always possible. In this presentation, you will also learn ways to ensure that clients dealing with tricky behavior cases feel supported, heard, and cared for.
Expanding Skills
Behavioral Science
Solutions for Common Challenges
Teaching Others
Building Reinforcement Systems For Improved Communication
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: A reinforcement system describes the back-and-forth interaction that happens between a trainer and an animal during the delivery of a reinforcer. At each step in the sequence, the trainer's behavior cues the animal's next behavior. Likewise, the animal's behavior cues the trainer's next behavior. Their behaviors join together to create an interconnected chain.
If there are breaks in your interconnected chain, progress will be much slower, and the value of your reinforcer will be diminished. Learning how to recognize and build reinforcement systems and interconnected chains will help you be more responsive to your animal, turning your training sessions into a back-and-forth conversation.
In this Session, we'll look at six steps that you can use to design and teach a reinforcement system as an interconnected chain. This process involves finding a suitable teaching environment, selecting a reinforcer, planning an interconnected chain, teaching your animal where and how to collect the reinforcer, adding a reinforcer signal, and finally utilizing your reinforcement system while teaching new behaviors. In addition, you'll learn about common pitfalls to avoid when building reinforcement systems.
Expanding Minds
Behavioral Science
Aggression & Behavior Management
Assent, R-, and the Matching Law: Exploring the ABA 3-path Model
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: The "Competing Behavior Model" also known as the "Three-Path model", was published in 1997 by Rob O'Neill et al., in their book "Functional Assessment and Program Development for Problem Behavior." The Three-Path model has proven to be an efficient way to outline problem behavior situations and guide effective and humane interventions. Even as we broaden our scope of consideration in an effort to reduce force and coercion, the Three-Path approach remains profoundly relevant.
This Session will explore three important concepts incorporated in the Three-Path framework. These are:
1. Assent, a behavior the learner does and continues to do that communicates we can continue the program (Linnehan, et al. 2023)
2. Negative reinforcement as it relates to a learner's right to say no (Friedman, 2020)
3. The Matching Law, the observation that given the choice between two or more responses, learners will tend to choose the one that results in more reinforcement (Poling, 2017).
Join Rick and explore how harnessing these three concepts in our approach to teaching and training can promote enthusiastic participation from learners across species.
Expanding Skills
Aggression & Behavior Management
Solutions for Common Challenges
Relax, You're in Charge. How Agency Improves Relaxation Protocols
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Have you ever taught a "relaxation protocol" only to achieve a rigid down-stay instead of a truly relaxed, drowsy dog? This common frustration highlights two critical oversights: genuine relaxation isn't assessed by position, and achieving genuine relaxation is more complex than often acknowledged.
In this Session, Emily challenges the conventional wisdom that relaxation protocols alone— even excellent ones —lead to true calm. Join Emily to uncover the frequently overlooked factors that determine protocol success including:
- Context: How the environment and setup profoundly impact a dog's ability to relax.
- Our Dynamics: The subtle ways our actions and interactions influence the process.
- Pre-Protocol Priming: Essential steps to "set the stage" for relaxation before training even begins.
- Strategic Application: Understanding the when, how, and why of any protocol
- Post-Session Continuity: What happens after the protocol ends, and why it matters for sustained calm.
Most importantly, Agency: empowering a dog with choice throughout the process.
Join in as Emily explores why she and her colleagues meticulously modified an already widely regarded relaxation protocol and the remarkable differences they've observed. Emily will detail the refined approach, illustrate the specific contexts where it excels (and where it doesn't), and reveal the additional strategies they integrate to facilitate a genuinely "melty, drowsy puddle of dog." This Session promises practical insights that will transform your approach to canine relaxation, moving beyond mere obedience to foster profound calm and well-being.
Expanding Skills
Cooperative Care / Veterinary
High-Performance Training
Teaching Others
Apply One, Apply All - In Action!
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Prerequisite Session: Apply One, Apply All: Tricks, Cooperative Care, Guide/Service Dog Training
Dog/Handler Team Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) Dog/Handler teams. Dog/Handler Teams should be familiar with clicker training, and dogs must be comfortable working in close proximity with people and other dogs. To participate in this Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite session: Apply One, Apply All: Tricks, Cooperative Care, Guide/Service Dog Training. You can choose to participate with your dog or attend as an observer. However, observers should not bring their dogs to the lab.
Description: In this Learning Lab, Dog/Handler Teams will work on training 2 behaviors.
Behavior A will have what seems to be an obvious training goal, but handlers will be given additional requirements for the final behavior, which may alter how training sessions progress.
Although the foundation training parts of one specific behavior can be very similar, the final goals for that behavior and its use can be quite different. We know that effective training relies on clear communication and reinforcement the individual learner enjoys. It also relies heavily on the trainer’s clear focus on the final version and requirements of that behavior.
Behavior B will be a behavior commonly trained in guide and service dog work.
Training specific body movement behaviors can make basic husbandry doable for handlers with a disability. Training the dog to turn around on cue to present specific body parts to the handler is very valuable to a guide or service dog handler. Those same grooming behaviors can be valuable and appreciated by handlers without disabilities, and worthwhile to train.
Join Michele for Apply One, Apply All: Tricks, Cooperative Care, Guide/Service Dog Training In Action! with Dog/Handler teams, training additional requirements for final goal behaviors, and training behaviors used in other disciplines that are useful in many ways.
Dog Consult
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Solutions for Common Challenges
Teaching Others
Dog Consult with Juliana DeWillems
Course Type: Dog Consult
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Do you have a trick you have been dying to train? Are you having a challenge with your dog and want some direction? Sign up for this unique new style of session, which combines the Learning Lab experience with Office Hours. Get approximately 20 minutes with Juliana and have her work with you and your dog! Alternatively, you can attend as an observer and watch the training consultation take place, and join in on the discussion. Spots are limited, with only four Dog/Handler Teams per Session.
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Cooperative Care / Veterinary
Teaching Others
Start Buttons: Yes or No?
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Description: "Start Buttons"- like chin rests, mats, or bucket games- are a popular concept in cooperative care and animal training. A key goal of using Start Buttons is to have the best possible, most informed dialog with our learners during training sessions.
That's a fantastic goal! Often, it's easier said than done because as soon as you start to consider training Start Buttons, tons of questions arise; the answers (and the training choices that flow from them) significantly influence the quality of the dialog between you and your animal.
For example, what, exactly, makes a behavior a "Start Button"? What are the differences and implications between training different broad types of Start Buttons, like training to present a body part, well-proofed stays, or ready/not ready signals? Is my learner REALLY free to opt out of the interaction at any time?
Are you prepared to determine if your learner is genuinely ready to learn?
Let's decide together. Join Monique for a deep dive into Start Buttons.
Expanding Minds
Behavioral Science
High-Performance Training
Why Is It So Difficult To Maintain Conditioned Reinforcers?
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Description: Positive reinforcement animal trainers often use clickers, whistles, or other signals as conditioned reinforcers to select when an animal performs a correct response. Trainers may also spend time and effort developing other conditioned reinforcers that can be used to maintain behavior and serve as substitutes for unconditioned reinforcers. Establishing new conditioned reinforcers can be especially important if the trainer needs reliable behavior in a setting where food, toys, or other reinforcers are not permitted. One standard method for creating a new conditioned reinforcer is pairing, although other methods also exist. However, creating new conditioned reinforcers is not always a straightforward process. In some cases, trainers have difficulty establishing and maintaining conditioned reinforcers or generalizing them to new contexts.
This Session will showcase the research that has examined different ways to maintain behavior using conditioned reinforcers. One key piece of the puzzle that may be missing is that many procedures for building conditioned reinforcers focus on the reinforcing properties of a conditioned reinforcer, while ignoring the discriminative properties of conditioned reinforcers. That is, a conditioned reinforcer works both as a "reinforcer" and also as a "cue" for what the animal should do next. Recommendations will be given for how to establish durable conditioned reinforcers by focusing on the cue properties of the conditioned reinforcer.
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Aggression & Behavior Management
Building Resilience: Beyond Basic Counterconditioning
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Description: As we know, while desensitization and counterconditioning are valuable tools, they can fall short of addressing the root causes of behavior issues. These methods primarily target a dog's associative learning system, focusing on the specific triggers that elicit a stress response, but may overlook the broader dynamics of pressure and the cumulative impact of external factors (not necessarily stressors) on the dog's nervous system. Focusing narrowly on triggers can risk overwhelming the dog's capacity to cope, sometimes leading, counterintuitively, to the strengthening of maladaptive neural pathways. Additionally, dogs often struggle to generalize training gains to new contexts, leaving guardians frustrated by inconsistent progress.
Join Bobbie as she shares strategies to help you identify the root cause of problem behaviors. She will help attendees evaluate how to think beyond desensitization and counter-conditioning to build resilience in their dogs.
Expanding Skills
Aggression & Behavior Management
Solutions for Common Challenges
Teaching Others
Relax, You're in Charge - In Action!
Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Prerequisite Session: "Relax, You're in Charge. How Agency Improves Relaxation Protocols"
Dog/Handler Team Prerequisites: We will have approximately five (5) Dog/Handler Teams. Teams should have basic training mechanics, treats that preferably elicit low arousal from their dog and a designated station for their dog to practice the relaxation protocol on. To participate in this Learning Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite session: "Relax, You're in Charge. How Agency Improves Relaxation Protocols". You can choose to participate with your dog or attend as an observer. However, observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab.
Description: This Learning Lab is a follow-up to the prerequisite session Relax, You're in Charge. How Agency Improves Relaxation Protocols. During this Learning Lab, Dog and Handler teams will practice the first stages of the relaxation protocol, paying particular attention to assessing how the dogs experience the process. Then, together, we'll discuss how the handler can set up the rest of the experience for the dog, complete the protocol, and achieve true relaxation. Along the way, we'll discuss the role of preference tests in achieving true relaxation as well as the process of establishing consistent environmental cues.
Dog Consult
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Behavioral Science
Teaching Others
Dog Consult with Kiki Yablon
Course Type: Dog Consult
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Do you have a trick you have been dying to train? Is there a cooperative care behavior you have been wanting advice about? Are you having a challenge with your dog and want some direction? Sign up for this unique new style of session, which combines the Learning Lab experience with Office Hours. Get approximately 20 minutes with Kiki and have her work with you and your dog! Alternatively, you can attend as an observer and watch the training consultation take place, and join in on the discussion. Spots are limited, with only four Dog/Handler Teams per Session.
Expanding Minds
Expanding Skills
Aggression & Behavior Management
Shelters
Let's Talk: Aggression - Practical Solutions for a Modern World
Juliana DeWillems, Bobbie Bhambree, Monique Feyrecilde, Emma Parsons, Emily Strong
Course Type: Panel
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Join moderator Juliana DeWillems and panelists Bobbie Bhambree, Monique Feyrecilde, Emma Parsons, and Emily Strong as they discuss problem-solving tools and strategies for aggression and related behavior issues. Hear their unique perspectives, ask your questions, and enjoy the stimulating discussion from these leaders in the field.
Expanding Skills
Expanding Minds
High-Performance Training
Quick! Think Fast, Decide Fast - Supercharge Your Training!
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Description: Does practice make perfect, or does practice grind in the imperfections we practice? It's an age-old debate, and neither side is entirely correct. We've all known individuals who have repeated the same tasks for years without ever really advancing. Of course, one has to put in practice time, but improving training skills requires more than just time spent practicing. So what helps us steadily and consistently progress?
Successful trainers are skilled at rapid thinking and making split-second decisions. As training progresses and behaviors become more nuanced, trainers must observe and respond to subtle behavioral cues in their learners, quickly and almost reflexively choosing how to respond. Do you raise the criteria? Redirect? Close out the session? Delayed decision-making has its own consequences. Without timely action, we risk confusing our animal learners. In husbandry, a delay in responding to early signs of discomfort can derail a session and significantly deplete the "trust bank" fund you've built.
How do we build these skills? Through constructional training practices. These practices may be most familiar to trainers in the context of building animal behavior, but in this Session, Alex shifts the focus of constructional training from the animal to the handler and explores how constructional training principles can be applied to systematically develop a trainer's decision-making skills. What skills in particular? Decision making. Outstanding positive reinforcement trainers make a stream of real-time decisions that keep the learner successful and engaged. It's a skill you can learn.
Join Alex and learn how to systematically build your decision-making skills — one well-constructed step at a time.
Expanding Skills
Aggression & Behavior Management
Cooperative Care / Veterinary
Shelters
When Things Go Bang! The Eek! Protocol for Recovery and Resilience
Ran Courant-Morgan, Stephanie Keesey-Phelan
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Description: Do you know dogs who startle easily? Many trainers work with (or have!) dogs where the threshold for the unexpected is low. The problem is often not just the threshold for what triggers a response, but also the slow recovery that follows. A passing bike or an unexpected sound can throw off a whole day.
The Eek! protocol is designed for dogs that are startled by sudden changes in environmental stimuli. The protocol helps dogs recover more quickly and can help build resilience over time. We'll share the protocol, explain how it works, and help you learn the adaptations that can meet the specific needs of the dog in front of you. There are several ways to tailor Eek! for individual dogs, taking into account their strengths, challenges, specific needs, and overall welfare.
Join Ran and Stephanie for a deep dive into the specifics of the Eek! Protocol.
You'll leave this Session with a plan for a specific dog so that you can start helping dogs recover faster.
Participant Prerequisites: We will have approximately sixteen (16) spots for participants who will work in groups. You may participate or you may attend as an observer. This Lab is for people; no need to bring your dogs—let them rest! The focus will be on trainer skills.
Description: Would you like to improve your shaping skills? Do you know when and how to raise and lower your criteria when shaping a new behavior? Have you ever wanted to experiment with a specific training technique, but worried about confusing your animal? Are you able to build complex chains of behavior or long-duration behavior without frustrating your animal?
This Learning Lab will introduce you to one tool that can give you more insight into how training works. PORTL (the Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab) is a tabletop game that is played with a collection of small objects and a clicker. It provides a structured curriculum of exercises that will help you improve your training skills.
In this Learning Lab, you will learn the basics of PORTL and get to build several behaviors using PORTL. During each exercise, you will practice planning what to teach and making adjustments based on your learner's behavior. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to play the role of both the teacher and the learner, which will provide you with a deeper understanding of how humans and animals learn.
Not only will you have a lot of fun during this Lab, you will learn new ideas about shaping and see how PORTL is an excellent playground for practicing your training skills.
Closing Event
Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
POST-EVENT - Monday, March 23, 2026
New York Aquarium Excursion
For more details, click here.
Broadway Show Excursion
Get Your 'Wow!'