ClickerExpo kicks off on Thursday evening with a complimentary Welcome Reception. Join us for light bites, access to a cash bar and networking as you check in at registration and settle in for an exciting weekend.

Plus, check out the latest and greatest in training gear, treats, books, DVDs, and toys at the ClickerExpo Store.

This event is open to all attendees; we hope to see you there!

$20 per person

Jump-start your day by joining us for breakfast! Breakfast on Friday includes:

• Breakfast burritos with egg, sausage, peppers and cheese (or egg, peppers and cheese)
• Assorted muffins
• Sliced fresh fruit
• Assorted juices, coffee, decaf and hot tea

Breakfasts are prepared by the hotel and available for advance purchase only (no on-site purchases will be available). The last day to change meals is Thursday, February 20, 2020.

Note: Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available. Your meal preference is based on your selection during registration. We will make every attempt to accommodate allergies and other special needs. Alcoholic beverages are not included in any meal or event unless otherwise noted.

Newcomer Orientation

Aaron Clayton

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: General

Welcome to ClickerExpo! Aaron Clayton will help you make the most of your experience in this Session designed specifically for newcomers to ClickerExpo. He will cover topics that include how to maximize your chances of winning the daily raffles, navigating ClickerExpo with your dog, choosing courses and changing your schedule, and attending special events.

This practical but humorous 45-minute introduction to ClickerExpo is a “must” for those experiencing the magic of ClickerExpo for the first time. The Session is a wonderful refresher for Expo veterans, too!

Opening Session: Hello Basics, My Old Friend, You’ve Made Me Seem Advanced Again!☆

Aaron Clayton & Ken Ramirez

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: General

Self-assessing your own skill level can be daunting! What constitutes an “advanced” or “experienced” trainer? Does everyone else see your skills the same way you do? Ken’s perspective has always been that advanced training is just the basics done “really, really, really well!”

Is it the tools used that are advanced? Or, is the advanced designation reserved for a certain number of years of experience—and, if so, how many? Looking at years of experience, how does the quality of that experience fit into the equation? After Aaron kicks off 2020, Ken will launch ClickerExpo with a discussion of advanced training and how it impacts work in the real world as well as your experience at ClickerExpo.

Head to the ClickerExpo Store for this break’s live demonstration by one of our fantastic sponsors. Details will be announced shortly!

Inside Their Shells: Working with “Shy” or “Skittish” Animals☆

Ken Ramirez

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic:  Aggression & Behavior Management, Science, Shelter & Rescue, Skill

Trainers often must work with an animal that is uncomfortable around people or reluctant to participate in training sessions. How do you deal with that and where do you start? What strategies are the most effective at drawing an animal out of its shell and gaining its trust? Do these strategies differ from strategies for 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 issue by looking at various case studies where 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 and will also point out several common tools and approaches deployed in each case.

Precise Heeling Deconstructed

Hannah Branigan

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Advanced
Topic: Competition, Skill

Related Learning Lab:

• Precise Heeling Deconstructed – In Action!

Can we reverse engineer beautiful heeling? When you see a team moving together in sync, heeling looks almost like a dance. Flashy, top-scoring heeling requires fluent understanding of the position combined with complex movement skills that allows dog to seamlessly adjust his body to stay in position as the handler moves. Are dogs born with the floaty, animated gait that makes their heeling so flashy, or can we train it? (Spoiler: We can train it!)

In this presentation, we will deconstruct the complex behavior of precise heeling, analyze the differences between an adequate performance and a breath-taking one down to the atomic level. Then we will isolate the component behaviors that are needed and develop a plan to teach them so that we can optimize any dog’s movement and skills and bring that team closer to the magical ideal.

Jumpstart!☆

Kathy Sdao

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Foundation
Topic: Science, Skill

If you’re new to clicker training, or if you’ve been using it but are confused by the terminology or uncertain why we do things the way we do, this Session is for you. This is a concise course covering key scientific principles that govern clicker training and the practical implications that flow from those principles. The information you’ll learn will inform the many choices you make as a trainer and will improve your application of clicker training techniques. Start your ClickerExpo experience on Friday with this Session and you will have the foundation and vocabulary to help you understand, enjoy, and benefit from the rest of the program.

My Question Is… Getting Started with Horses and So Much More

Alexandra Kurland

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All levels
Topic: Equine

How do you introduce clicker training to your horse, and how do you use it to solve training puzzles? In this Session, you will find the answers to your questions.

Most attendees come to ClickerExpo with specific questions. You’ve hit a stumbling block that you’re just not sure how to solve, or you can’t quite visualize the next step in training a new skill. Perhaps you’re new to horses and you want to know how to get started. Or, you have a horse that gets nervous out on trails, or that won’t load on trailers or stand for the farrier. What do you do? You want more than general theory. You want practical answers. You want to know how to connect the dots between all the wonderful presentations you’re going to attend during ClickerExpo and the puzzles you’re trying to solve at home.

If that describes you, this is YOUR presentation. You will get to present the problem and Alexandra will demonstrate a process for creating an organized path to a solution. At the end of the Session, attendees will have not just the answers to their specific questions, but generalizable knowledge they can turn to for training guidance. Your questions will take us deep into an understanding of clicker training core concepts and training techniques. Next time you encounter a training puzzle, you will know how to design a training plan that is tailored to your needs and those of your horse. You will know how what it means to be a constructional trainer.

Come ready to engage! Whether you are solving a training problem or building toward a performance goal, you’ll be learning how to identity and train the components that lead to success.

Bait and Switch: Advanced Luring Skills☆

Michele Pouliot

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Topic: Competition, Shelter & Rescue, Skill, Teaching Others, Veterinary

Participant Notes:

We will have approximately 4 dog/handler teams. Participating dogs should already understand the click/treat relationship and be comfortable with and able to work in close quarters with other dogs (no reactive dogs please). Working handlers should have experience with shaping via clicker training. You may participate with your dog, or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab.

NOTE: Food rewards should be of a consistency and size that allow the handler to hold several rewards in one hand, dispensing one at a time.

This Learning Lab mixes a PowerPoint presentation and video demos with hands-on training with human/canine working teams. The Lab is open to four (4) working participants and their dogs.

The use of luring in clicker training has long been a controversial topic, with an extreme end of the opinion spectrum stating that “using lures is not clicker training.” Many clicker trainers believe lures are problematic, in that lures become required cues for responses and distract learners from an awareness of their behavior. Other clicker trainers claim that lures let them prompt desired behavior quickly, making the training process much faster. This Lab will demonstrate that both opinions can be accurate. The focus will be on the effective use of lures in a positive reinforcement program, in harmony with clicker training, while avoiding problems that hinder training progress.

This Lab will also focus on advanced lure handling skills for the trainer. Did you think that luring a dog to perform a behavior is a simple process of holding food near the dog’s nose? There is much more. Advanced luring skills offer the handler the ability to direct a learner’s specific body parts in precise directions, something that is beneficial for training a variety of positions and behaviors. Come learn how subtle differences in the location of lures and the timing of dispensing lure rewards can advance training.

The food lures will be thoughtfully omitted as visual cues evolve. As lures are omitted, effective timing of the click will continue the training progress of the behaviors.

Failing the Marshmallow Test: A Thoughtful Approach to the Teaching of Impulse Control 

Sarah Owings

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Science, Skill

Participant Notes:

We will have approximately 8 dog/handler teams. Teams should have some basic clicker training experience using both verbal markers and clickers. Dogs should be able to work calmly in close quarters with other dogs around food, and food tossed on the floor. Any dogs that seem stressed or disruptive may be asked to leave. You may participate with your dog, or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab.

The Marshmallow Test was devised by Walter Mischel in the 1960s as a way to study delayed gratification in young children. Many of the conclusions drawn from this test have come under scrutiny, and impulse control remains a sticky concept in popular culture today. Impulse control is a hotly debated concept in the world of positive reinforcement training as well, because the way we train for it often resembles a marshmallow test for our animals.

In this Lab, we will focus on practical teaching strategies that avoid some of the frustration and emotional conflict that can come along with negative punishment and extinction. Depending on what each dog and handler team inspires, exercises may include:

• Building trust in the reinforcement process via patterned food delivery
• Back-chained Zen Bowl
• Leave it without the “Leave it”
• The “Let’s Go Shopping” Game

$31 per person

Don’t miss out on the networking roundtable lunch, where you will have the opportunity to dive into more detail on topics of mutual interest with faculty members and fellow attendees. Check out the topics here.

Lunch on Friday includes:

• Caesar salad
• Penne pasta with meat or vegan marinara sauce
• Radiatorre pasta with mushrooms, artichokes and cream sauce or vegan marinara sauce
• Squash medley
• Focaccia bread
• Assorted cookies/brownies
• Coffee/tea and decaf

Lunches are prepared by the hotel and available for advance purchase only (no on-site purchases will be available). The last day to change meals is Thursday, February 20, 2020.

Note: Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available. Your meal preference is based on your selection during registration. We will make every attempt to accommodate allergies and other special needs. Alcoholic beverages are not included in any meal or event unless otherwise noted.

Training in Loops (TeamTaught)☆

Alexandra Kurland, Michele Pouliot, Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz, Emelie Johnson Vegh & Eva Bertilsson

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic:  Aggression & Behavior Management, Competition, Equine, Science, Skill, Teaching Others

Training in Loops or “Loopy training” represents an image of the effective clicker training process. Cue => Behavior/Click => Reinforcement => Cue => Behavior/Click => Reinforcement => Cue …the loop repeats.

You want clean loops. That means there is no unwanted behavior creeping into the loop and all the behaviors are performed promptly and fluidly. Training in loops reminds you that both sides of the click must be clean for a loop to be clean. All parts of the cycle are important. In this team-taught presentation, each presenter will focus on a different part of the loop.

Dr. Jesús Rosales Ruiz will look at the overall structure of loops, their connection to movement cycles, and more. It is often said that good training has a rhythm to it. What is at the heart of good training and what creates this rhythm are “training loops.” This section of the presentation will focus on the science behind training loops.

Alexandra Kurland will focus on the “behavior” part of the loop. If you want clean loops, you need to find a starting point where you can get consistent “yes answer” responses. This may mean starting with a very small kernel of a loop. These small beginnings grow very quickly through the loopy training process. Then, the question is, have you embedded the right movement cycle into your loop so you achieve your performance goals?

Behavior leads to click leads to reinforcement… Michele Pouliot will demonstrate how the reinforcement delivery section of the loop is as important as all of the other portions of the loop. The delivery must flow smoothly and efficiently in order to prepare the learner to repeat the desired behavior again. The trainer’s awareness of reinforcement-delivery requirements that allow the loop to flow effortlessly into the next repetition of the preferred behavior is essential. Strategic, thoughtful use of reinforcement delivery can span one portion of the movement cycle, setting the learner up well to repeat a desired action.

Behavior leads to click leads to reinforcement leads to more behavior… but, not so fast! When you thin slice the movement cycle, you discover an important step. Emelie Johnson Vegh and Eva Bertilsson will look at strategies for ending the reinforcement process and transitioning to the next iteration of the target behavior.

As each presenter adds another piece to the overall understanding of training in loops, you will make your way to the goal behavior—a full understanding of the power of training in loops.

Understanding, Managing, and Modifying Aggressive Behavior☆

Chirag Patel

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: intermediate, Advanced
Topic:  Aggression & Behavior Management, Shelter & Rescue, Science, Skill, Teaching Others

Related Learning Lab:

• Understanding, Managing, and Modifying Aggressive Behavior – In Action!

In this Session, using behavior science we will focus on assessing and understanding aggressive behavior. Chirag will share how he goes through this process with his clients, using presentation, video, and discussion. In the Lab that follows, he will focus on practical management and modifying aspects to aggressive behavior.

Don’t Get Burned by Blazing Clickers☆

Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D.

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic:  Science, Skill, Teaching Others

Trainers in the Karen Pryor tradition have learned that when a clicker is used correctly it marks precisely the animal’s behavior that controls the reinforcer. Behavior is strengthened when the clicks becomes a reliable predictor of backup reinforcement. This is accomplished by ensuring that every click is followed by a well-established reinforcer.

However, some trainers repeatedly mark behavior without backing up the marker, a practice we call blazing clickers. Blazing clickers weaken the predictive value of the marker, resulting in slower learning, increased aggression, and, sometimes, giving up. In this Session, the science-based rationale for following every click with a backup reinforcer will be reviewed, and we will explore the faulty reasoning often used to support the practice of blazing clickers. With this information, you will be able to teach others why and how to avoid getting burned by blazing clickers.

Building Behavior: Shape the Future

Laura VanArendonk Baugh

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Foundation
Topic: Skill

Related Learning Lab: 

• Building Behavior: Shape the Future – In Action!

Some of the most common questions about clicker training relate to obtaining a new, desirable behavior to mark and reinforce. Luring, modeling, capturing, and prompting can take us only so far, and shaping seems like such a complex challenge. Let’s talk about splitting a behavior into many tiny steps and progressing smoothly through a training plan to a goal behavior. In this way, animals discover their own creativity, power, and desire to work with a trainer. Shaping is fun for both trainer and learner. It builds a great relationship, but requires awareness and comprehension of the game by the animal, and both conceptual and mechanical fluency in the trainer. We will work on concepts in the Session first, and then on mechanical and technical skills in the Learning Lab.

Precise Heeling Deconstructed – In Action!

Hannah Branigan

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Advanced
Topic: Competition, Skill

Prerequisite Session:

• Precise Heeling Deconstructed

Participant Notes: 

We will have approximately 6 dog/handler teams. Teams must be clicker-savvy and have experience with both front-foot and full-body platforms. Dogs must have fluent chin and nose target behaviors with at least 3 seconds of duration, and experience with rear-paw targeting. Dogs must be experienced working successfully in a busy group setting and in close quarters with other working dogs, even when excited. You may participate with your dog or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab. To participate in this Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite Session.

In this Learning Lab, you will use targeting and shaping to teach your dog to shift his weight back, pivot independently with clean hind leg steps, and build and refine movement skills and component behaviors that contribute to precise and flashy heeling.

Make the Transfer: Problem-Solving Through Cue Transfer

Laura Monaco Torelli

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Shelter & Rescue, Skill, Teaching Others

Participant Notes: 

We will have approximately 8 dog/handler teams. Handlers should have intermediate or advanced training skills and be able to work their dogs effectively in a distracting environment with other dogs and people nearby. Dogs should be able to settle with relaxed behavior on a mat, and be comfortable with sounds played over a microphone, sound system speaker, and by working dog teams. You may participate with your dog or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab. Laura Monaco Torelli will email working teams basic training tips to help them prepare for this Lab.

Cue transfer, a foundation behavior for active trainers, is too often overlooked as a tool to help clients address problems. When we teach the cue transfer skill to clients, though, we can make a huge contribution to clients’ harmonious relationships with their animals and the environments they live in.

As professional trainers, we receive many inquiries from puppy or dog owners reaching out with common concerns. These concerns might be common for us as teachers, but they are quite frustrating for the owners. As we advocate for their canine companions and relationships, we should also communicate how easy it is to incorporate foundation behaviors into the problem-solving model. Does the dog bark when the doorbell rings? Does the enthusiastic puppy jump on the counter while a delicious meal is being prepared? Is an older dog aging into his/her Golden Years while demonstrating diminished visual or auditory acuity? Is your client not sure what to do? Teach these pet owners to transfer a cue!

Participants will learn how to set and quickly adjust criteria while transferring cues with a variety of basic behaviors.

This Lab will include lecture, video presentations, demonstrations, working-dog participation, and assistance from another team member attending the Lab.

In this Lab, you’ll learn:

• The benefits of cue transfer
• The process for transferring a cue
• Effective fading techniques
• How to incorporate practical applications into your teaching curriculum
• The value of foundation behaviors
• How to integrate video as a supportive tutorial
• Cue variety: verbal, visual, non-verbal auditory, and scent
• Tips toward safe management and training in a multi-animal home
• Engaging exercises to utilize in your personal training or course curriculum

Head to the ClickerExpo Store for this break’s live demonstration by one of our fantastic sponsors. Details will be announced shortly!

From One Reward to the Next: Get Seamless in Your Agility Training… and Beyond☆

Eva Bertilsson & Emelie Johnson Vegh

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic: Competition, Skill

The bottom line in positive reinforcement training is setting up for success and making sure desired behaviors are followed by reinforcers, which strengthen the behavior in the future. In this Session, Emelie and Eva go back to their roots in agility training. They dive deeply into making the best possible use of a reward-based paradigm, from one reward to the next.

The examples will be from agility, but the concepts are valid for all venues and all species. Attendees will learn how to work deliberately, with small but significant details, paying attention to all the parts of the training loop and using the parts to create seamless training sessions. This Session will help you develop your own training sessions. Your planning will get better, your training will become smoother, and both you and your learner will enjoy the process even more than before!

This Session will include lecture, video examples, and time for questions.

Smallest Success Point: Using Capturing for Management & Problem-Solving☆

Laura Monaco Torelli

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic:  Aggression & Behavior Management, Science, Shelter & Rescue, Skill, Teaching Others

Related Learning Lab:

• Smallest Success Point – In Action!

We don’t advocate flooding techniques with an animal learner. So why overwhelm an animal handler with too many steps in a caregiver plan?

Capturing behavior that an animal offers naturally on its own is common practice in zoological programs, but less common in canine handling and teaching. This invaluable approach can help reduce stress for everyone involved in the training process. In many cases, capturing identifies a small but crucial point of success that helps people understand how to change the conditions to change behavior.

This Session will include lecture, video presentations, demonstrations, and practical applications that relate to everyday problem-solving.

In this Session, you’ll learn:

• The benefits of capturing behavior
• Management and behavior-modifications plans that complement each other
• Useful tips that demonstrate classical and operant conditioning
• Through discussions and examples, how to use environmental conditions to benefit hands-on sessions with clients, handlers, and animals
• Considerations about when and how to apply capturing techniques
• How to integrate video and data as a supportive tutorial
• TAGteach application for the handler side of shaping plans
• How to incorporate practical applications into your teaching curriculum
• Record-keeping strategies to help jump-start training session plans
• Tips about animal introductions and a multi-species environment
• Engaging exercises to utilize in your personal training or course curriculum and more!

Naked and Afraid: What If We Are Wrong About Counter-Conditioning?☆

Lindsay Wood Brown

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic:  Science, Aggression & Behavior Management, Skill, Shelter & Rescue

“Classical beats operant” when you work to change emotional behavior. I’ve heard this for years in both academic and practical behavior settings. I’ve lived and breathed it, practically shouted it from the rooftops. And then, BOOM! Typical for my professional journey, I realized I know nothing.

These moments when I become aware of my knowledge gaps are “like the most fun thing ever.” They’re also a bit painful. Pushing against the counter-conditioning barriers I’ve found in my work with shelter animals, really listening to my mentors, and looking beyond what I thought I knew because “science said so,” I find that the science is evolving to support a shift in perspective.

Historically, classical counter-conditioning is often cited as a preferred strategy for changing emotional behavior, behaviors thought to be symptoms of negative emotional responses in certain conditions. The premise is that you can change the animal’s emotional response through counter-conditioning, and this emotional change results in behavioral change. Maybe.

Is classical counter-conditioning really the best intervention strategy for behaviors labeled as aggressive or fearful or (insert any emotion word here)? Does the implication of emotion as a cause of behavior help provide effective intervention? Effective counter-conditioning may rely on the selection (and reinforcement!) of new, desirable behavior. This puts you squarely in operant territory. Can you use counterconditioning effectively as an intervention strategy, with eyes firmly focused on observable behavior? Possible? Totally. Powerful? Heck yes.

Mark My Words

Kathy Sdao

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Skill, Teaching Others, Human, Business

Related Learning Lab:

• Mark My Words – In Action!

Does the core ethic “positive reinforcement works, and coercion is dangerous” include verbal behavior, the words you choose when you speak and write? Are you as force-free with clients and colleagues as you are with the animals in your care? Can the unconditional positive regard you have for furry and feathered animals extend to every man and woman you speak with? Even on social media? Even when you think that person is ignorant, cruel, or just plain wrong? And might your answers have any bearing on the high rate of burn-out in the training profession?

Training and behavior consulting work often takes place in emotionally charged situations. The stakes can be high, and clients may be upset, argumentative, or unpleasant. At times, these same characteristics describe colleagues and competitors as well. Even so, when you speak with challenging people, you can apply the core skills of careful observation, controlled emotionality, gradual shaping, and timely reinforcement of alternate behaviors.

In this Session, we will examine a specific format for compassionate communication. Should you choose to extend “do no harm” to include verbal behavior, we will discuss key practical changes to support your commitment.

Building Behavior: Shape the Future – In Action!

Laura VanArendonk Baugh

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Foundation
Topic:  Skill

Prerequisite Session:

• Building Behavior: Shape the Future

Participant Notes:

We will have approximately 8 dog/handler teams. Dogs should already understand the click/treat relationship, be comfortable with normal handling, and be able to work in close quarters with other dogs. To participate in this Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite Session. You may participate with your dog or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab.

Some of the most common questions about clicker training relate to obtaining a new, desirable behavior to mark and reinforce. Luring, modeling, capturing, and prompting can take us only so far, and shaping seems like such a complex challenge. Let’s talk about splitting a behavior into many tiny steps and progressing smoothly through a training plan to a goal behavior. In this way, animals discover their own creativity, power, and desire to work with a trainer. Shaping is fun for both trainer and learner. It builds a great relationship, but requires awareness and comprehension of the game by the animal, and both conceptual and mechanical fluency in the trainer. We will work on concepts in the Session first, and then on mechanical and technical skills in the Learning Lab.

Human Behavior: Now that I Know—What Do I Do?

Theresa McKeon

Course Type: Learning Lab 
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Teaching Others, Human

Participant Notes: 

We will have approximately 25 spots for participants. 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.

You know the saying, “Training the dog is the easy part. It’s the human that’s the challenge.” But behavior can be identified and reinforced—no matter the species. In this Lab we’ll discuss how to observe and acknowledge human behavior, and then practice using that information to build a supportive learning environment for the student and the teacher.

• Identify human behaviors that can influence learning.
• Identify human body language and what the learner is trying to “tell” you.
• Practice breaking down the constructs: clumsy, scared, overwhelmed, excited, or unwilling.
• Explore: “Now that I know, what do I do?”
• Learn to use TAGteach tools WOOF and the Focus Funnel to respond to your learner with just the right amount of instruction, information, and reinforcement.

These tools are not just for those who teach people to train their animals. TAGteach tools are now being used in the medical field, corporate training, classrooms, on the sports field, and in the home to help those who teach, identify learner behavior, and fine-tune their response.

SOLD OUT

$44 per person

Come, kick back, and relax with a networking game, music, socializing, food, a cash bar, plus the chance to win prizes.

The Friday night social event includes:

• Cherry tomato & mozzarella skewers
• Tandoori chicken meatballs
• BBQ pork sliders served with pickle chips and mini buns
• Teriyaki chicken wings
• Vegetable spring rolls
• Pastry cups filled with a tomato chutney
• Handmade grit cakes w/ tomato jam
• Iced tea

The social event is available for advance purchase only (no on-site purchases will be available). The last day to change meals is Thursday, February 20, 2020.

Note: Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available. Your meal preference is based on your selection during registration. We will make every attempt to accommodate allergies and other special needs. Alcoholic beverages are not included in any meal or event unless otherwise noted.

$20 per person

Jump-start your day by joining us for breakfast! Breakfast on Saturday includes:

• Croissant with eggs, cheese and turkey bacon (or croissant with eggs and cheese)
• Yogurt and honey
• Fresh fruit and berries
• Assorted juices, coffee, decaf and hot tea

Breakfasts are prepared by the hotel and available for advance purchase only (no on-site purchases will be available). The last day to change meals is Thursday, February 20, 2020.

Note: Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available. Your meal preference is based on your selection during registration. We will make every attempt to accommodate allergies and other special needs. Alcoholic beverages are not included in any meal or event unless otherwise noted.

Psychopharmacology And The Trainer

Debbie Martin

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Science, Veterinary

If you are a trainer working with a pet that is taking behavioral medication, it is important to know potential side effects. This Session will discuss some of the common classes of behavior medication and how these medications may affect the pet and your training plan. This Session will not discuss dosages or medication choices for behavioral conditions.

Making Your Way: Professional Education with Karen Pryor Clicker Training

Ken Ramirez

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Business, Competition, Equine, Health & Wellness, Human, Science, Shelter & Rescue, Skill, Teaching Others, Veterinary

Feeling jazzed by your experience at Expo? This is just a taste! The core mission of Karen Pryor Clicker Training (KPCT) is to help people “train better. In support of that mission, we provide a variety of educational opportunities for professional trainers and training enthusiasts, including ClickerExpo. But there are more opportunities! Join Ken Ramirez, Chief Training Officer for KPCT, as he shares the many opportunities that are available for ongoing learning, training, and even certification.

Ken will discuss key components of the Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) Dog Trainer Professional certification program, the new online Dog Trainer Comprehensive course, and specialty online courses—including courses about teaching puppy classes and preparing for canine sports, and in-depth courses on reinforcement and teaching your dog concepts, taught by Ken himself. Ken will also share information about the hands-on courses available at the Karen Pryor National Training Center, aka The Ranch. Feed your early morning craving with a look at how to continue your learning experiences after ClickerExpo.

Rope Handling: Skills for Reins, Leashes & Ropes☆

Alexandra Kurland

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Equine, Skill, Teaching Others

Participant Notes: We will have approximately 60 spots for participants. This Lab is for people; no need to bring your dogs—let them rest! The focus will be on trainer skills. If you typically handle horses, bring a halter and lead (at least a lead). If you typically handle dogs, bring a leash.

Tactile cues are part of working with dogs and horses. We put halters and leads on animals and expect them to walk beside us without crowding into us or rushing ahead. With positive reinforcement we can teach great walk-beside-me-at-liberty manners. So there is a question—why use a lead at all? The answer is that leads are more than a safety net. They do more than keep your dog from running into a street, or your horse from pulling away to eat grass. Leads are communication tools.

We can shape behavior using many different teaching strategies. We can free shape. We can use targeting. And, we can also use the on/off, pressure/release-of-pressure cueing of a lead. The lead provides information that helps the learner get to his reinforcement faster. In this Lab we’ll explore what that means.

In clicker training, when an animal does not give a desired response, the pressure is not escalated. Instead the lesson is broken down into smaller and smaller steps. The lead becomes a tool you can use to feel for tiny shifts of balance.

The rope handling that Alexandra will be sharing in this Lab was developed for horses, but it also translates to the needs of dog handlers. You’ll learn what the lead feels like from the animal’s end. You’ll learn how to use the lead, along with your body language, to develop a complex conversation between you and your animal companion.

In this Lab we will be working in pairs. One person will be holding the horse’s end of the lead. The other will be the handler. We’ll begin with safety. How do you use a lead to help manage your horse when he is being bargy or he’s spooked by goblins? How do you use the lead to develop a wonderfully nuanced communication system that will take you to advanced performance?

In other words, if you put a lead on your animal companion, this Lab is for you.

KONG Company

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Sponsor

Join Mark Hines, Lead Training & Behavior Specialist, to learn more about KONG products.

Atlas Assistance Dogs

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Sponsor

Service dogs seem to be everywhere we turn these days, and we are continually discovering novel and amazing ways dogs can help people that we never imagined or understood before. But even with an increase in the number of service dogs, there are many people who might truly benefit from a service dog but have not been able to get the kind of training and support they need and do not know where to turn for help.

Atlas Assistance Dogs® is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help eliminate obstacles people face in obtaining a properly trained service dog. We respect that disabilities are a part of someone – not something to fight or hide from, but something to claim and thrive with. We work with people with disabilities to help them find the independence and quality of life possible with a well-trained service dog at their side.

Most trainers at ClickerExpo understand how to read and adjust to a dog’s stress signs and how to use compassionate training methods to successfully shape dogs’ behavior. However, there is a whole other art and science to understanding how to work with people with disabilities – be it physical, psychological, or a combination of both – in safe, respectful, and effective ways. Atlas is dedicated to preparing trainers to be successful working with people with disabilities and their dogs.

Come learn about the world of service dogs and the vast array of people, dog, and service specialty skills it takes to be a part of this incredibly rewarding and needed field. Expand your understanding of what service dogs can do and who can train them. Discover important aspects about what you should have in your training program or facilities to meet internationally recognized requirements and to protect yourself, your clients, and their dogs.

Atlas has developed a comprehensive training program for professional trainers wishing to be service dog trainers as well as for our volunteer team facilitators who work hands on with our clients. Learn how Atlas’ team facilitator and trainer programs can help you acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful as a service dog trainer. Hear from some of our clients, facilitators, and trainers about the impact this work has had on them and find out how to get involved.

Smart Animal Training Systems

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Sponsor

Join Smart Animal Training Systems to learn how the application of positive reinforcement methods combined with technology open up new approaches to training, behavior mod and enrichment. as well as increasing training accessibility for those with disabilities.

Pitfalls in Socialization: When Best Intentions Miss the Mark☆

Dr. Christopher Pachel

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Science, Shelter & Rescue, Veterinary

The consequences of insufficient socialization may include behavior patterns such as increased emotionality and a predisposition toward fear- and anxiety-based emotional states. The process of socialization is about more than “exposure,” and social exposures need to be provided in just the right quantity and quality, and at the right time for maximum benefit. What happens when we miss the mark? Is it possible to create problems while trying to provide socialization experiences? This presentation will cover socialization guidelines and possible outcomes due to insufficient socialization. It will also focus specifically on two additional potential problems, traumatic experiences and conditioned arousal, outlining how these complications occur and how to avoid them.

Training Backwards: Building Reliable Behavior Sequences with Back-Chaining

Michele Pouliot

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic: Competition, Skill

Training individual behaviors effectively via clicker training can be challenging. Connecting several behaviors into a behavior sequence that will be reliable in performance, without rewards, is a next-level challenge. Every trainer wants behavior chains that result in enthusiastic and reliable responses from their partners.

Joining three to five behaviors into a dependable performance chain is a common goal for many trainers. Imagine creating a behavior chain of 30 to 70 behaviors! The sport of Canine Musical Freestyle requires developing routines (performance chains) comprised of many behaviors. The more advanced a Freestyle team becomes, the longer the performance chain.

In 2007, Michele first learned about applying back-chaining for putting sequences together, but she did not use it extensively. However, over the past 10 years, Michele has experienced impressive results from the back-chaining tool, expanding her use and confidence in its application. In addition to improved reliability with back-chained behavior sequences, she has also experienced its effect on improving performance duration without primary reinforcers.

In this Session, Michele will share her step-by-step process of building very long behavior sequences (60+ behaviors) via back-chaining. The presentation will use video examples of chains being built as well as the outcomes of those chains in actual performance. You do not need to take part in canine freestyle to appreciate the task of building performance chains of more than 50 behavior cues in succession.

Come and learn about “training backwards!

What a Cue Can Do: Developing Cueing Skills

Kathy Sdao

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Foundation
Topic: Skill

Related Learning Lab: 

• What a Cue Can Do – In Action! – with Sarah Owings

Effective cueing is essential for achieving reliable responses. The process of adding cues in clicker training is different than in other training methods. Getting behaviors on cue is often the most difficult concept for new clicker trainers to understand because the process is somewhat counterintuitive.

This Session is about choosing and maintaining effective cues for operant behaviors as well as understanding how cues are integral to more advanced training applications. Kathy will show you how to use cues to gain control of operant behaviors. You’ll learn what a cue is—and isn’t—and how cues differ from commands. We’ll discuss how to choose cues to maximize clarity and how cues function in behavior chains.

Alone and All Right: Separation Anxiety’s Myths and Solutions☆

Terrie Hayward

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Science, Teaching Others, Veterinary

Separation anxiety is a debilitating condition for both dog and caregivers, often confining both to home for weeks, months, and years. In this Session, we’ll explore the myths about separation anxiety and dive into protocols that work. We will discuss the options and advantages to remote work and outline a comprehensive approach to helping clients deal with this stressful situation. We’ll also address the isolation concurrent to separation anxiety and talk about client support and empathetic approaches, vital to establishing a working relationship with clients dealing daily with the issues associated with a dog that suffers when separated.

Backstage Pass: Live Training Sessions Deconstructed☆

Eva Bertilsson & Emelie Johnson Vegh, Hannah Branigan & Chirag Patel

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Topic: Skill, Teaching Others

Participant Notes:

Register your dog for free as a demo volunteer for the chance to have the speakers work with your dog. There is no guarantee that your dog will be chosen, but it is important that your dog is comfortable working with strangers. Dogs must also be quiet and comfortable while other dogs are working. You may register your dog to participate or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab.

Emelie, Eva, Chirag and Hannah are very excited about this workshop! After conversations during last year’s Clicker Expo, the foursome decided to get together in a format where they could explore the details of training and showcase their thought processes underlying the training. The group has never trained together (apart from a few brief sessions with some fish in a hotel lobby at ClickerExpo) and each trainer is genuinely curious to observe and discuss how the others go about their training sessions.

To learn from someone else’s training (or to help someone advance his or her training) a thorough understanding of what’s actually going on in the training session is fundamental. How do you reach this understanding? How do you observe, and what questions can you ask?

During this workshop there will be unscripted training sessions offered on stage by each faculty member, one at a time. The training will then be discussed. What was going on? Which details were critical, and which were irrelevant? What decisions were made, and why? Flowcharts and inquiries about what, when, where, how, and why will help articulate the training process, as will questions about goals and priorities.

E & E, Chirag, and Hannah invite you to join them in a joyful, yet thoughtful, workshop designed to find ways to observe, think, and talk about training. This Session will help trainers understand each other’s set-ups and develop them further.

Smallest Success Point – In Action!

Laura Monaco Torelli

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Science, Shelter & Rescue, Skill, Teaching Others

Prerequisite Session:

• Smallest Success Point: Using Capturing for Management & Problem Solving

Participant Notes:

We will have approximately 8 dog/handler teams. Handlers should have intermediate or advanced training skills and be able to work their dogs effectively in a distracting environment with other dogs and people nearby. Dogs should be able to settle with relaxed behavior on a mat and be comfortable with sounds played over a microphone or sound system speaker and sounds made by working-dog teams. You may participate with your dog or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab.

Laura Monaco Torelli will email working teams basic training tips to help them prepare for this Lab. To participate in this Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite Session.

We don’t advocate flooding techniques with an animal learner. So why would we overwhelm an animal handler with too many steps in a caregiver plan?

Capturing behavior that an animal offers naturally on its own is common practice in zoological programs, but less common in canine handling and teaching. This invaluable approach can help reduce stress for everyone involved. In many cases, capturing identifies a small but crucial point of success that helps people understand how to change the conditions to change behavior.

This Lab will include lecture, video presentations, demonstrations, working-dog participation, and assistance from another team member attending the Lab. In this Lab, you’ll learn:

• The benefits to capturing behavior
•  Considerations about when and how to apply capturing techniques
•  How to integrate video as a supportive tutorial
• TAGteach application for the handler side of shaping plans
• How to incorporate practical applications into your teaching curriculum
• Record-keeping strategies to help jump-start session plans
• Engaging exercises to utilize in your personal training or course curriculum

Head to the ClickerExpo Store for this break’s live demonstration by one of our fantastic sponsors. Details will be announced shortly!

Hippo-Cratic Oath: Training for Medical Behaviors☆

Ken Ramirez

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic: Veterinary, Skill

This Session will explore essential tools for training and maintaining successful medical behaviors. The first half of the Session will focus on key training tools such as stationing, targeting, desensitization, gating (kenneling), recalls, and improving general tactile acceptance. The Session will then shift to focus on specific techniques for successfully training behaviors for blood-taking, injections, medication administration, working around the mouth and head, removal from the environment, and passive restraint.

Throughout the presentation, common questions will be addressed: How do you keep a behavior with any type of discomfort from breaking down with frequent use? How do you prevent an animal from discriminating against the medical team? Can you teach animals to anticipate the novelty associated with medical behaviors? When restraint is needed—and should that be done by the primary trainer or is it better handled by someone else, to prevent a breakdown in the relationship? This Session will be a combination of lecture, video, and discussion.

Emotions: Inside Out

Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D.

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Topic:  Aggression & Behavior Management, Science

What does joy feel like to you? Is it the same feeling for the person sitting next to you? Is it the same feeling for your dog? Are emotions pre-wired in the brain or are they learned? These are just a few of the interesting and important questions that surround the topic of emotions. In this Session, we focus on contemporary approaches to understanding emotions, which have upturned the commonly held classical account. The benefit of gaining a more contemporary understanding about human emotions is clear, but what does it all mean in terms of the animals you care for?

Too Many? Training and Living with Multiple Dogs☆

Emma Parsons

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Foundation, Intermediate
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Skill

Living with multiple dogs can be quite a challenge! Taking care of their basic needs, as well as training them, can be all-consuming. How do you manage multiple dogs? What if one of the dogs doesn’t get along with the others? Can you train the dogs all together? If so, what does this training session look like? How do you prevent the mayhem?

These are the questions that will be answered in this Session. We will look at daily activities like feeding, transporting, and training the dogs. What if someone comes to the door? How do you manage four dogs (or more?) How can you stimulate a group of dogs mentally? How can you play with them all at the same time? This presentation will give you practical advice on how to make living with your multiple dogs much more manageable.

Riding with the Clicker

Alexandra Kurland

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Equine

For many riding with the clicker seems mysterious. How do you deliver treats? What do you click? Doesn’t your horse have to stop to get his treat? How is that going to work? You click when he’s cantering, and suddenly he’s slamming on the brakes. How can that be right?

Clicker training is all about breaking our lessons down into small steps. Every time you click the clicker you are creating a step in the training. On the ground those steps are often easy to understand. You want to teach your foot-mover of a horse to stand still next to a mounting block. You can see all the preliminary lessons you need to teach him before you ever take him near a mounting block. It’s easy to click and hand him a treat. You’ve taught that lesson well, and you’re ready to put your foot in the stirrup and climb aboard. You want to take clicker training along for the ride. How do you do that?

This program will look at the universals of riding and how to teach them using the clicker. This crosses all riding disciplines. It doesn’t matter if you ride english or western; if your dream is to ride in a dressage arena or on back country trails, there are basics we need ALL of our horses to understand. Remember the very first lessons a beginning rider is taught? This is how you ask your horse to go. This is how you stop him, and this is how you turn.

Stopping, starting, turning, moving in balance: those are the universals. What separates a novice horse from an advanced performer is how well he responds to those basic requests. So in this program we’re going to tease apart the universals of riding. We’ll see how to introduce them to a horse and how to develop them into performance excellence. Again, this is independent of riding discipline. We’ll be looking at the overall structure of using clicker training to build performance under saddle.

(Does this mean this program is only for riders? Not at all. If you are interested in how to break a complex behavior into its component parts, and then how to teach those parts separately so you can recombine them to create performance excellence, this program is for you even if you never intend to put your foot in a stirrup.)

Understanding, Managing, and Modifying Aggressive Behavior – In Action!☆

Chirag Patel

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Shelter & Rescue, Science, Skill, Teaching Others

Prerequisite Session:

• Understanding, Managing, and Modifying Aggressive Behavior

Participant Notes:

We will have approximately 4 dog/handler teams. Teams should bring with them: (1) a water bowl that is familiar (one that the dog drinks from daily at home); (2) water that the dog is familiar with; (3) a blanket, mat, towel, or bed that is familiar to the dog; (4) a selection of (3-6) items/toys for the dog; and (5) a selection of treats that will function as reinforcers for the dog’s behavior. 

We are NOT looking for aggressive dogs or dogs with problems for this lab, Chirag will demonstrate these techniques on dogs without behavioral concerns to illustrate what can be done with dogs who need help. Only dogs who meet criteria for attendance at ClickerExpo should come to the event.

You may participate with your dog or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab. To participate in this Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite Session.

In this Lab, Chirag will describe how he works with clients to help manage and modify aggressive behaviors. Working with participants and their dogs, Chirag will demonstrate these steps practically. Dogs participating in this Lab will not be aggressive dogs or have behavioral challenges. However, Chirag will use the dogs to demonstrate how these techniques can be used with dogs that do have challenges.

What a Cue Can Do – In Action!

Sarah Owings

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Foundation
Topic: Skill

Prerequisite Session: 

• What a Cue Can Do: Developing Cueing Skills – with Kathy Sdao

Participant Notes: 

This Lab will accommodate 8 dog/handler teams. Dogs and handlers should have some basic clicker training experience and at least 3 basic behaviors more or less on cue. Dogs should be comfortable working in close quarters with other dogs and people. Any dogs that seem stressed or disruptive may be asked to leave. To participate in this Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite Session.

Understanding cues is key to becoming a skilled clicker trainer. In this Lab we will explore what cues are and how they set the stage for behavior by asking the age-old question: “Does your cue really mean what your dog thinks it means?”

Working in small discussion groups along with observers, participants will be guided through teasing out the most salient aspects their cues by testing the parameters of those cues one by one. We will then use what we learn from these “saliency tests” to clear up any cuing confusions or communication glitches evidenced by dogs making mistakes.

Depending on time and the skill-level of participants, we may also go through the process of shaping a simple behavior, putting it on cue, and teaching the dogs how to wait for that cue. Behaviors taught cleanly right from the start, with cues added at the correct time, rarely need any cleaning up later on.

SOLD OUT

$31 per person

Don’t miss out on the networking roundtable lunch, where you will have the opportunity to dive into more detail on topics of mutual interest with faculty members and fellow attendees. Check out the topics here.

Lunch on Saturday includes:

• Vegetable Soup
• Salad Bar with Mixed Greens, Chicken, Black beans,Tofu, and More
• Rolls and Butter
• Dessert
• Coffee, Iced Tea and Hot Tea

Lunches are prepared by the hotel and available for advance purchase only (no on-site purchases will be available). The last day to change meals is Thursday, February 20, 2020.

Note: Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available. Your meal preference is based on your selection during registration. We will make every attempt to accommodate allergies and other special needs. Alcoholic beverages are not included in any meal or event unless otherwise noted.

Uncensored: Let’s Talk Canine Sports☆

Hannah Branigan, Aaron Clayton, Sarah Owings, Emma Parsons, Michele Pouliot, & Emelie Johnson Vegh

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic:  Skill, Competition

Join a live, wide-open discussion of canine sports with a panel of top-level trainers and authors who compete in and/or coach Obedience, Freestyle, Agility, and Nose Work.

You’ll get the backdrop and backstory on great triumphs and failures, learn how these experts navigate roadblocks and what they think about “winning,” and what principles of great training are applicable across sports. Maybe we will even hear what these veteran participants and coaches really think about the judges!

This Session is unscripted and uncensored, so no topic is off the table. Listen in on the lively discussion and, during the last portion of the Session, throw your hat in the ring by asking questions of the panel.

Solving Husbandry Dilemmas☆

Debbie Martin

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Advanced
Topic: Science, Skill, Aggression & Behavior Management, Veterinary

Working on husbandry training, there are a variety of ways to time the presentation of treats. Should the food come before, during, or after a procedure? Debbie used to think there was only one way to do this effectively. However, over the years she has seen the benefits of being open to a variety of timing choices, depending on the situation and goal. In this Session she will dissect the ins and outs and the pros and cons of different treat/food delivery timing. While there is no guarantee that you will come away from this Session with more answers than questions, Debbie will clarify some of the confusion around a topic that she struggled with for years and offer more techniques for you to consider.

Goldiamond in the Rough: History and Insights from Skinner to Goldiamond

Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Topic: Science

The history of operant conditioning is fascinating—full of people, their personalities, and their insights. With a little look at “hidden” or lesser known history, we can see both the direct line of connection between the giant mind of B.F. Skinner to current practices, as well as the links and breakthroughs of great behavior scientists, like Israel Goldiamond, that also directly influence (or should) practices today.

For example, the idea that behavior could be built bit by bit was a central tenant of B.F. Skinner’s operant conditioning. Skinner showed that by arranging a suitable environment and then carefully selecting certain responses, completely new behaviors could be taught. Unlike the trial-and-error learning of other theorists, Skinner didn’t think that errors were necessary for learning. Skinner first began with the concept of response differentiation. Over time, he developed this into the concept of shaping! He then further refined it into the concept of errorless learning. Together, these concepts formed the basis for programmed instruction and the foundation for Israel Goldiamond’s highly influential constructional approach which solves problems by building behavioral repertoires (instead of by eliminating problem behavior). While shaping is deeply embedded in training circles, gems like the constructional approach are less explicitly influential. Yet they could (and do) form the basis of modern training protocols for problem-solving. In this presentation, Jesús will tell the story of how these ideas evolved and discuss implications for the future of animal training.

On Your Mark, Get Set, Start Button

Peggy Hogan

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Equine

As positive reinforcement trainers we search continually for ways to create partnerships with our horses. However, there can be a huge difference between simply gaining an animal’s cooperation and giving the animal true choice! “Start Button” behaviors are behaviors that are taught to an animal partner to direct the pace and progress of another behavior or procedure. Start buttons are an integral piece within the training philosophy, highlighted in the last few years through Animals In Control and other Sessions at recent ClickerExpo conferences. They provide greater control to the animals themselves over aspects of the training process.

In this Session, which combines lecture, personal examples, and videos, Peggy will introduce ways of teaching horses to “give you permission” to proceed or to indicate that they are “ready” to participate in an activity or procedure. She will also move to the next step, actually teaching the animal to signal or “invite” you to continue.

Encouraging horses to enter into this type of dialogue lets you be more aware of and responsive to a horse’s body language. Start buttons can be taught and used in a wide variety of applications. You will see illustrations that range from husbandry to riding behaviors.

This lecture will benefit anyone who wants to learn techniques to reach the place where you and your animals are harmonious participants in a teaching and learning process.

Join Peggy and saddle up for the journey!

Mark My Words – In Action!☆

Kathy Sdao

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Skill, Teaching Others, Human, Business

Prerequisite Session:

• Mark My Words

Participant Notes:

We will have approximately 20 spots for participants. 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. To participate in this Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite Session.

Let’s say you aspire to be consistently and skillfully force-free speaking and writing to students, clients, and colleagues. You’ve resolved to learn more about compassionate communication techniques. But you face challenges: choosing easy criteria to ensure that you’ll experience successes and finding places to practice your new habit. This is a situation all trainers know well! In this Lab, we’ll work together using demos, role-playing, and games to explore ways to expand our verbal repertoires.

Breaker of Chains, Builder of Behavior☆

Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D. & Theresa McKeon

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Topic: Science, Skill, Teaching Others, Human

Participant Notes: 

We will have approximately 24 spots for participants. 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.

Just like links in a chain, complex behaviors can be broken down into component parts to facilitate instruction and improve learning outcomes. Once each link is mastered, links are reassembled as they are performed in a specific order, which leads to reinforcement.

Teaching behavior chains successfully and efficiently depends on at least two critical teaching skills:

1. an ability to do an accurate task analysis of the component behaviors that comprise the chain, and

2. an effective instructional strategy as exemplified by the TAGteach methodology

In this no-dog Lab, participants will conduct a task analysis and instruct their lab partners to perform the behavior chain. After evaluating the outcomes, participants will revise their analyses and instructions to improve their partners’ learning outcomes.

Head to the ClickerExpo Store for this break’s live demonstration by one of our fantastic sponsors.  Details will be announced shortly!

The Most Important Concept In Nose Work You’ve Never Heard Of: Stimulus Control☆

Sarah Owings

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Competition, Skill

Nobody likes hearing the dreaded “NO” from a judge during a nose work search. Disappointed at losing a title, or points, sometimes we accuse our dogs of “lying” when they indicate in the wrong place. In this Session, we will explore how to prevent false alerts proactively, based on the science of behavior, not blame.

Stimulus control occurs when an organism behaves in one way in the presence of a given stimulus and another way in its absence. If we think of birch, anise, clove, and cypress as discriminative stimuli or odor cues, then knowing how to get reliable stimulus control on those cues is key in avoiding false alerts. A false alert happens when a dog cues off the wrong thing in the environment—handler movement, dog slobber on a box, or pooling odor. Clarifying and isolating the odor cue from all other environmental cues early on in a dog’s training is the best way to set that dog up for consistent success throughout his or her career.

Unlock the science behind “trust your dog.” Stimulus control is the most important concept in nose work you’ve never heard of!

Don’t Fight Extinction☆

Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Advanced, Intermediate
Topic:  Science

Clicker trainers often talk about first teaching a behavior and then adding a cue to that behavior later. However, learning a behavior is never independent of the environment. As soon as you begin teaching a behavior, it starts acquiring cues. The presentation of these environmental cues tells the animal to engage in the behavior. If you try to teach a new behavior under the same conditions, the learning will be slow. This is because the original behavior will interfere with teaching the new behavior. The original behavior will have to be extinguished before you can teach the new behavior. You will be “fighting” extinction.

Instead, you can speed up learning by changing the environmental cues. This presentation will describe how reinforcement interacts with environmental changes and will explain strategies for using environmental changes to speed up learning.

Training Light: Use Training Science to Help You Eat Smart, Lose Weight, Feel Great

Aaron Clayton

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Health & Wellness, Science, Human

Related Learning Lab:

• Training Light (Part 2): The Bearable Being of Lightness

The development of healthy habits is a struggle for many people, particularly habits around eating mindfully and maintaining a healthy weight. In aggregate, published statistics about successful sustainable weight loss deliver a consistent message; somewhere between 70% and 95% of people who try to lose weight and maintain the loss are not successful.

Much of the food and weight loss industry wants people to believe that a lack of “willpower’’ is the reason for failure. But that characterization is both inaccurate and counterproductive. Blaming willpower is not a science-based approach to the problem, and it blames the “learner” for failure. It ignores the evidence that the only reliable method of healthier living is one that is built on the science of behavior change.

Join Aaron for this two-part Session focused on helping apply behavior-change science and clicker training principles to the goal behavior: making consistent healthy choices every day. Part 1 is a standalone Session. Part 2 will build on part 1. We think you’ll be hungry to get started, and then hungry for more.

In Part 1, learn how trainers and teachers who already understand and use training principles use them to tackle the big problems that trip up most efforts to develop healthy eating habits, lose and keep off weight, and feel the benefits of better health. Learn to put the powerful systems of biology and behavioral science to work for you instead of against you, to deal with hunger pains, and to avoid overindulgence—even at Super Bowl parties! Learn why tools like antecedent arrangements, cues, behavior chains, tools we already know and love, are all the tools you need.

If you attended Part 1 last year and don’t need a refresher, feel free to come to Part 2.

Background
For more than a decade, Aaron tried and failed to lose the 55 pounds he had gained since college. But, in 2015, he set out to lose 15% of his body weight and used a new approach. Less than 12 months later, he had hit his goal—losing more than 30 pounds, which he has kept off and is confident that he will in the future. Aaron approached his goal like a clicker trainer with a program of behavior change that was based on the science and then customized for his challenges. Now he has a fluent new goal behavior—healthy eating.

Note: These Sessions are not recommended for people whose weight gain was sudden or potentially triggered by trauma, or for people with eating disorders.

Uncensored: Let’s Talk Other Species – Insight from Outside the Canine Kingdom☆

Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D., Alexandra Kurland, Chirag Patel, Ken Ramirez, Kathy Sdao, & Laura Monaco Torelli

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Equine, Science, Shelter & Rescue, Skill, Veterinary

Join us for a panel discussion on working with species other than dogs. What lessons carry over across all species? What can dog trainers take away from what non-dog trainers do? Are there key techniques used specifically with certain species that don’t transfer, and, if not, why not? This discussion is unscripted and uncensored and no topic is off the table. Listen to the lively discussion and, during the last portion of the discussion, participate yourself by asking questions of the panel.

This One, Not That One: Discrimination Tasks☆

Hannah Branigan

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Advanced
Topic: Competition, Skill

Participant Notes:

We will have approximately 6 dog/handler teams. Dogs must be experienced working successfully in a busy group setting and in close quarters with other working dogs, even when excited. You may participate with your dog or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab

We will be using the following foundation behaviors, and all working teams must have these behaviors fluent and under stimulus control to participate: nose target to an object (with duration); paw target; and going around a cone (both directions).

Can you teach “this one” without worrying about “not that one?” Does learning to discriminate between modifier cues require knowledge of what is “wrong” or can the concepts be taught without references to error?

In the advanced levels of competition obedience, there are several exercises that require the dog to discriminate between cues to perform the task correctly. The Directed Jumping, Directed Retrieve, and Scent Discrimination exercises all function this way. Jumping a jump and retrieving an object are behaviors in themselves, but in the context of the exercise, the dog must identify WHICH jump to jump and WHICH object to retrieve. Separately from training the skills for the core behavior, you can teach your dog to respond to functional modifier cues that give him the information he needs to retrieve THIS glove or jump THIS jump.

In this combination Session/Lab, we will discuss how modifier cues work together to provide a complete set of instructions to the dog so that he can perform the exercises successfully. We will explore strategies to teach these concepts “errorlessly” in order to build confident, robust performance with minimal frustration.

You Are Not Uncoordinated! (Just Not Fluent—Yet.)☆

Laura VanArendonk Baugh

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Foundation
Topic:  Business, Skill, Teaching Others

Participant Notes:

In this lab everyone will participate! We will have approximately 60 spots for participants. This Lab is for people; no need to bring your dogs—let them rest! The focus will be on trainer skills.

On the surface, clicker training is simple! Just click and hand out a treat. How hard can it be? But when you start considering accurate timing, balancing a leash or lead, carrying and picking out those treats, a target stick, walking… Suddenly there are late clicks, slow or dropped treats, inaccurate target placement, and a host of other “coordination” issues that slow or frustrate simple training.

We know skills must be learned, so let’s teach them. In this Learning Lab, we will work on the fundamental motor skills for technically solid training. The goal is to handle target sticks and leashes and clickers all at once while delivering treats accurately, like training superheroes! Learn some techniques for jump-starting clients so that they can get up to speed with their own training more quickly.

This Lab is for people; only service dogs at work are welcome to attend. This Lab is for building motor skills, not training dogs.

ALERT to SEARCH: Back-chaining for Powerful Odor Fluency in Nose Work☆

Sarah Owings

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Competition, Skill

Back-chaining is one of the most powerful tools available to the modern trainer. A nose work search often requires long-duration problem-solving in complex environments. Teaching the chain backwards, alert to search, ensures that the dog is always working toward the behavior he has practiced, and been reinforced for, the most.

Whether your dog has an officially trained final response or not, back-chaining is a great way to strengthen his or her ability to communicate clearly at odor. Every nose work competitor wants what is called “odor obedience,” but what that really means is “odor fluency.” Odor fluency is when a dog can work through all three phases of a search (SEARCH-LOCATE-REPORT) with complete confidence, start line to finish. Back-chaining is also a great way for competitors to learn how to read their dogs better, because a confident nose work dog exhibits clear and unique changes of behavior in each phase of a search.

In this 45- minute Session we will look at back-chaining both as a teaching tool and in terms of the many ways it can strengthen communication between the partners on a nose work team.

Effective Affection: How to Get it Right

Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic:  Aggression & Behavior Management, Shelter & Rescue

Pet owners often reinforce unwanted and annoying behaviors inadvertently (such as petting a dog when he jumps up) by giving attention and affection for these behaviors. When trainers are shaping new behaviors, they often default to food as a reward, and find it difficult to use petting, scratching, or other forms of affection effectively in order to reinforce behavior. Yet, if the problem behavior is maintained by affection, using affection is often the fastest and most effective way to solve the problem. The pieces that are often missing in this kind of problem-solving are teaching the animal how to receive affection and teaching the human how to use affection correctly to shape behavior.

In this Session, Jesús will describe in detail a powerful procedure that can be used to teach animals how to request and receive affection. Then we will discuss how to use affection to shape new behavior effectively, with plenty of video examples from a variety of different species.

Training Light (Part 2): The Bearable Being of Lightness☆

Aaron Clayton

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Health & Wellness, Science, Human

Prerequisite Session:

• Training Light: Use Training Science to Help You Eat Smart, Lose Weight, Feel Great

Let’s go deep into implementing the principles and practices touched on in Training Light: Use Training Science to Help You Eat Smart, Lose Weight, Feel Great.

How can we deploy the Train Light method in the everyday environments and confront the challenges that trip up many of us? What are the three rules for effective goals? What data should you pay attention to? How do you embrace data and use it? What can we expect with successive approximations? What’s your BMR and why is it important?

Part 2 of Training Light will include facilitated group discussion to develop potential solutions, consistent with Training Light principles, to the challenges audience members have encountered. Note: You should have attended the Training Light Part 1 (either this year or last year) to participate in this Session.

“What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?”- Milan Kundera, from his novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Background
Somewhere between 70% and 95% of people who try to lose weight and maintain the loss are not successful. Aaron was one of those statistics. For more than a decade, he tried and failed to lose the 55 pounds he had gained since college. But, in 2015, he set out to lose 15% of his body weight and used a new approach. Less than 12 months later, he had hit his goal—losing more than 30 pounds, which he has kept off and is confident that he will in the future. What changed? Aaron approached his goal like a clicker trainer with a program of behavior change that was customized for his situation and based on universal principles that work, applying the very same behavior-change and training principles used to create his fluent new goal behaviors: healthy eating and weight loss.

Note: These Sessions are not recommended for people whose weight gain was sudden or potentially triggered by trauma, or for people with eating disorders.

Head to the ClickerExpo Store for a book and media signing with your favorite faculty and speakers.  

Whether you pick up a new book, DVD, or tee, or you bring your favorite with you, you’ll get the chance to meet renowned authors and experts one-on-one while enjoying a cash bar.

$59 per person

Dr. Christopher Pachel is our featured speaker for the Saturday night dinner! Join us for this new and inspiring session, entitled: “Working Together: Creating Successful Relationships Among Animal Care Professionals.”

The value of collaboration among animal care providers such as trainers, behavior consultants, and veterinarians cannot be overstated. Yet, creating and fostering those relationships is often easier said than done! This Session will focus on identifying communication strategies that can be used to establish professional and complementary relationships with other animal care providers, and on identifying ways of sharing information that meets the needs of everyone involved.

The Saturday night dinner includes:

• Spinach salad with mandarin oranges, purpled onions, and poppy seed dressing
• Warm rolls and butter
• Choice of:
  • Chicken piccata with a lemon caper sauce, parslied orzo, broccoli and julienne red peppers
  • Portabella mushroom bowl with quinoa, sautéed vegetables, broccoli and julienne peppers
• Coffee, decaf and iced tea
• Dessert

Dinner is prepared by the hotel and available for advance purchase only (no on-site purchases will be available). The last day to change meals is Thursday, February 20, 2020.

Note: Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available. Your meal preference is based on your selection during registration. We will make every attempt to accommodate allergies and other special needs. Alcoholic beverages are not included in any meal or event unless otherwise noted.

$20 per person

Jump-start your day by joining us for breakfast! Breakfast on Sunday includes:

• English muffin with sausage or egg and cheese
• Oatmeal with brown sugar and other mix ins
• Sliced fresh fruit
• Assorted juices, coffee, decaf and hot tea

Breakfasts are prepared by the hotel and available for advance purchase only (no on-site purchases will be available). The last day to change meals is Thursday, February 20, 2020.

Note: Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available. Your meal preference is based on your selection during registration. We will make every attempt to accommodate allergies and other special needs. Alcoholic beverages are not included in any meal or event unless otherwise noted.

Safe and Skilled: Behaviors That Defuse Dangerous Situations☆

Emma Parsons

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Skill

Related Learning Lab:

• Safe and Skilled – In Action!

The right behavior can stop a reactive or aggressive episode in its tracks! It can prevent an episode from happening, or it can shorten the duration of an event. In this Session, you will learn how to teach dogs these essential behaviors, discuss how to use them more effectively, and learn how selecting the proper cues will also solidify the reliability of these behaviors. When foundation behaviors are described, these behaviors, performed at the level of performance criteria, are not what most people think of. But for any dog around other dogs, perhaps they should be! These behaviors include: Get Behind, Back-Up Sit, Recall with Back-Up, Back-Up with Down, and Emergency Recall.

Extinction – Friend or Foe?☆

Alexandra Kurland

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Equine, Science, Skill

What do you do when your computer freezes up, or your normally reliable car fails to start? What kind of learning history have you had? Are you resilient and resourceful, or do you become frustrated and angry? What has your experience with extinction been?

When you think about how frustrating events like those described above can make you feel, it’s easy to understand why you want to avoid extinction in training. Extinction in a training context means you are no longer reinforcing something that was previously being reinforced. Confusion, frustration, and anger are often part of emotional fallout—and sound like things we would want to avoid. So why is extinction often part of training? And is it always something to avoid?

We’ll look at extinction by dividing it into three categories that will help us evaluate and determine whether to work with extinction:

1. Macro-extinction

2. Inadvertant extinction

3. Micro-extinction

In sum, you want to avoid the first two categories and learn to use the third. We’ll explore what these terms mean, and other related questions. When do they occur? What are some of the alternatives that can let handlers avoid the negative emotional fallout that accompanies the use of macro-extinction?

Used well, micro-extinction can help you train animals that are eager puzzle-solvers. When it’s not immediately obvious what is needed to get a click, instead of quitting, these learners keep working at the puzzle. They are confident, clever puzzle-solvers because the trainer has learned to be a resourceful, clever puzzle creator. We’ll be looking at strategies that build both successful puzzle-solvers and creators.

Choice, Control & Empowerment for Shelter Animals

Lindsay Wood Brown

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Shelter & Rescue, Science, Aggression & Behavior Management

Empowering animals by providing opportunities for choices within their daily lives is a popular topic and an important welfare strategy in zoos, aquaria, and, more recently, professional dog-training settings. But in animal shelters, a focus on choice and environmental control is only gaining momentum slowly. Yet, it is in this environment that behavioral-welfare strategies are most essential; shelter animals lose control over their environment and experience significant reduction in choice from the moment they enter the shelter until the time they leave. Empowerment strategies can and should be in practice throughout an animal’s length of stay. However, it simply isn’t enough to say that we provide the opportunities; we need to also acknowledge and respond when an animal makes a choice.

Let’s explore how we can support behavioral welfare from shelter admission to exit through the provision of daily choices and attention to responses. How can we give some control back to the animals in our care? How can we do so in a manner that is both practical to the setting and beneficial for the individual?

How to Like Your Kids While Raising Them☆

Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D.

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Science, Skill, Teaching Others, Human

There is little doubt that your children will grow up to become caring, contributing adults because you, their most influential models for adult behavior, work hard to be positive examples. However, these long-term goals can seem out of reach given the day-to-day stress and struggles of living and learning with children. From simple tasks like picking up toys to complex values like compassion for others, “good” kid behavior makes everything about parenting more exciting and enjoyable. In this presentation, the familiar principles and procedures of behavior and learning will be applied to the special case of training that we call parenting. Topics will include the ABCs of behavior, alternatives to punishment, the intrinsic vs. extrinsic reinforcer debate, why giving children the right kind of control matters, and how to stay in the role of mentor and ally.

Re-Thinking Puppy Socialization (Trainer Perspective)☆

Chirag Patel

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic:  Aggression & Behavior Management, Science, Skill, Teaching Others

Related Learning Lab:

• Re-Thinking Puppy Socialization (Trainer Perspective) – In Action!

Puppy socialization classes are very popular, and rightly so. However, are we stopping to consider critically what it is that we are promoting and teaching in the name of socialization? Or, are we just following the popular information?

In this Session, Chirag will use a “science-sense” approach to ask questions about common suggestions and practices and then discuss his views. Chirag will use presentation, videos, and discussion to explore this topic.

Do You See What I See? Medical Conditions Masquerading as Behavior Problems☆

Dr. Christopher Pachel

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Science, Veterinary

Clients frequently report changes in their pet’s behavior to veterinary staff during appointments. Understanding when to recommend additional diagnostics and when to recommend primary behavior treatment is a valuable skill to have in your tool kit! This interactive presentation will cover common conditions that may appear to be behavioral in origin, when, in fact, they may be occurring due to an underlying medical concern.

Fifty Shades Deeper: The Sequel to Arousal

Lindsay Wood Brown

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Advanced
Topic:  Science, Aggression & Behavior Management, Competition, Skill, Shelter & Rescue

MORE arousal! Or, maybe, less arousal? What does it mean and, more importantly, what does it even look like? This talk builds on the concepts from Lindsay’s 2019 session, Arousal: Science, Not Sex, and dives deeper into how we can apply our understanding of arousal to meet our training goals. Do we have an arousal problem—or a training problem with behavior we’ve labeled “stressed” or “aroused?” How do conditions and consequences increase or reduce aroused behavior? What’s the role of antecedent arrangement in training for more or less arousal? Can we be strategic about our use of conditions to facilitate the level of arousal we want in behavior? How do the reinforcers we apply impact aroused behavior? Let’s unpack some ABCs and training strategies to find effective and efficient ways to achieve the desired behaviors. Whether we want low arousal or high arousal, it’s all sexy, all day long.

Safe and Skilled – In Action!☆

Emma Parsons

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Skill

Prerequisite Session:

• Safe and Skilled: Behaviors That Defuse Dangerous Situations

Participant Notes:

We will have approximately 8 dog/handler teams. Dogs must be experienced working successfully in a busy group setting and in close quarters with other working dogs, even when excited. You may participate with your dog or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab. To participate in this Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite Session.

This workshop will let participants practice the safety behaviors described in the prerequisite Session with their dogs. Based on the dog’s and trainer’s experience, attendees will either be combining single behaviors into compound cues or teaching the behavior from scratch. Whatever their experience levels, attendees should leave with a clear understanding of how to perfect these very important behaviors.

Deep Impact II: More Behaviors that Profoundly Change the Vet and Groomer Experience

Laura Monaco Torelli

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Health & Wellness, Skill, Teaching Others, Veterinary

Participant Notes:

We will have approximately 8 dog/handler teams. Handlers should have intermediate or advanced training skills and be able to work their dogs effectively in a distracting environment with other dogs, people, and props nearby. Dogs should be familiar and comfortable with basic targeting, general body tactile (head, ears, eyes, mouth, torso, paws, legs, tail), and, with a second person in proximity, approaching, interacting with, and potentially touching them. The dogs 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.) You may participate with your dog or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab. Laura Monaco Torelli will be emailing working teams simple training tips to help prepare them for this Lab.

These days, we know that training is about much more than “obedience” or “manners”—it’s an essential component of animal care. In fact, in the exotic animal world where Laura began her career, the focus of training is cooperative husbandry. Good medical health underpins good behavioral health, but many pets and their owners dread a visit to the groomer or vet. Some owners may also be reluctant to carry out treatment procedures with their animals in the home environment. These problems can be turned around with a simple approach that involves fun training games and engaging activities. It is important to recognize that some procedures (injections, suture removal, ointment or solution application to a sensitive or infected area, consuming medication) may result in aversive or punishing consequences.

In 2017, 2018, and 2019 Laura presented ClickerExpo Sessions entitled Deep Impact and Deep Impact II to a packed house. This year, Laura takes life-changing animal-care behaviors to a new level. Participants will learn how to set and quickly adjust criteria for husbandry behaviors, as well as how to observe canine and handler communication to gauge the dog team’s comfort level and readiness for the next step.

Behaviors and situations covered may include, but are not limited to:

• Resting body on various surfaces

• Integration of a second person

• Benefits of capturing behavior

• Chin rest onto a target

• Body presentation positions

• General body handling

• Eye and ear tactile

Head to the ClickerExpo Store for this break’s live demonstration by one of our fantastic sponsors.  Details will be announced shortly!

Engage! Start Your Training Session with Focus and Enthusiasm☆

Hannah Branigan

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic: Competition, Skill

We all want a dog that leaps into every training session with enthusiasm—focused, ready to work, and actively engaged in the learning process. Engagement is a sexy term in the dog world these days. But what does it mean? What does it look like? More importantly, how do you get it?

In this Session, we will operationalize the concept of engagement and discuss strategies to cultivate engagement in your dog so that you can initiate training sessions as effectively and efficiently as possible. Help your dog get into “training mode” quickly working at home or on the road.

Animals in Control – Start-Button Case Studies

Eva Bertilsson & Emelie Johnson Vegh

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Advanced
Topic:  Aggression & Behavior Management, Competition, Skill, Shelter & Rescue, Veterinary

Related Learning Lab:

• Animals in Control – In Action!: Noise and Movement through Start Button Behavior

“Start-button” behaviors are behaviors that a learner can use to direct the pace and progress of a procedure. For example, a dog that nods her head as a “yes” for a teeter to go bang, a child who initiates a nose spray medication dose through flaring her nostrils, and a giraffe indicating that he is ready for tactile work are all examples of start-button behaviors.

Start buttons are integral pieces of training philosophy, and have been highlighted in the last few years at ClickerExpo conferences. They provide greater control to animals over aspects of the training process, elevate the level of dialogue between the animals and the trainer, enhance the overall level of trust, and improve results. Emelie and Eva help you learn the details of start buttons, case by case.

In this Session, Emelie and Eva will conduct an in-depth exploration of start buttons through case studies that stretch over 20 years and showcase the variety and depth of start-button training in different venues and species. Though the case studies, you’ll gain insight about how trainers work with goal setting, about training strategies, and if you should/how to implement a start-button behavior. Session structures, desensitization protocols, choice of reinforcers and reinforcement procedures, implementing “stop-button” behaviors, and more are all presented and discussed.

Join Emelie and Eva and become inspired to continue the journey of enhancing learner control—no matter the venue, no matter the species! This Session will include case studies, video examples, storytelling, and opportunity for questions.

Problem Solving: A Practical Consultant’s Approach

Ken Ramirez

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Science, Shelter & Rescue, Skill

As a consultant, Ken is called upon to resolve training challenges frequently. These challenges have ranged from problematic zoo animals to difficult working dogs to the more common pet challenges. In every case, he utilizes a problem-solving flow chart or matrix that guides him and his clients to an effective solution. Ken will share that process with participants and describe how he uses that process in client consultations.

Striking it Rich! Gold Nuggets from Popular Horse Training Paradigms

Peggy Hogan

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Equine

Looking back through the techniques and concepts of other horse training philosophies has the potential to be helpful and bring insights for horse trainers transitioning to clicker training. Join Peggy as she mines for usable gold—insights about horses and behavior—buried in other training approaches, insights that are both consistent with and helpful to learning and adopting positive reinforcement-based techniques.

The horse community in general is a relative newcomer to the world of clicker training. By connecting dots between past and future practices, Peggy makes it easier to adopt, adapt, and use clicker training principles with horses. For example, Peggy will look at other horse training processes and protocols, ranging from Dressage to Natural Horsemanship. She will show how to adopt popular techniques like training at liberty, developing a soft feel, and creating tactile cues, all with positive reinforcement.

This 90-minute Session will include video examples and some light audience participation.

Re-Thinking Puppy Socialization (Trainer Perspective) – In Action!☆

Chirag Patel

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Science, Skill, Teaching Others

Prerequisite Session:

• Re-Thinking Puppy Socialization (Trainer Perspective)

Participant Notes: 

This Lab is for people – there are no dog/handler spots. Please do not bring your dog to this Lab – let them rest! The focus will be on trainer skills. Puppies will be brought in so that you can observe as Chirag demonstrates the concepts from the Session. Observers of this Lab are expected to attend the prerequisite Session.

Join Chirag for a practical demonstration working with puppies and their caregivers in this Lab. Explore topics discussed during the Re-Thinking Puppy Socialization Session in a practical way.

Moving Away from Eye Contact

Emma Parsons

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic:  Aggression & Behavior Management, Shelter & Rescue

Participant Notes: 

We will have approximately 6 dog/handler teams. Dogs should already understand the click/treat relationship, be able to work in close quarters with other dogs, and have some simple behaviors already built, such as sit, down, and settle. You may participate with your dog or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab.

Once a behavior has become reliable, it is imperative that those same behaviors are practiced without the presence of eye contact. If you stare at your dogs every time you cue a behavior, then that eye contact can become part of the cue itself. No eye contact. No behavior!

Handlers of reactive dogs need their behavior to be as reliable as possible. They need to have the ability to turn away from their dogs and partake in another activity, like talking to someone else or signing a document. These dogs cannot “make a break for it” when their handler’s backs are turned, as that could be dangerous!

In this fun and challenging Lab, we will work on asking our dogs for behaviors that we think are reliable and testing to see whether eye contact is actually part of the behavioral context.

$31 per person

Don’t miss out on the networking roundtable lunch, where you will have the opportunity to dive into more detail on topics of mutual interest with faculty members and fellow attendees. Check out the topics here.

Lunch on Sunday includes:

• Black bean, corn and cilantro salad with lime vinaigrette
• Build your own fajita: chicken or tofu, sautéed with onions and peppers, served with flour tortillas, cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, sour cream, guacamole and salsa
• Cheese enchiladas
• Mexican style rice
• Tortilla chips
• Tequila lime cheesecake bars
• Coffee, decaf and iced tea

Lunches are prepared by the hotel and available for advance purchase only (no on-site purchases will be available). The last day to change meals is Thursday, February 20, 2020.

Note: Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available. Your meal preference is based on your selection during registration. We will make every attempt to accommodate allergies and other special needs. Alcoholic beverages are not included in any meal or event unless otherwise noted.

5 Bars: Boost the Signal Strength of Your Cues (TeamTaught)☆

Hannah Branigan, Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D., Alexandra Kurland, & Sarah Owings

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic:  Skill, Science

Discriminative stimuli signal that certain reinforcers will be available if you behave in certain ways. Without these cues, behavior would be spraying out like water from a leaky faucet. Cues gain their strength to signal behavior because they lead to reinforcement. In the traditional paradigm, when a learner offers a different behavior than the one that was cued, extinction follows (i.e., reinforcement is withheld). As a result of this double contingency (reinforcement or extinction), cued behaviors increase and un-cued behaviors decrease. However, given the use of extinction, learners can experience detrimental side effects from a too-lean schedule of reinforcement.

Recently, some trainers have questioned the necessity of using extinction to put a behavior on cue. Their alternative strategies include training in pairs, training in highly varied contexts, training a default or standby behavior, and allowing cues to develop from the shaping process itself. In this presentation, four colleagues team-teach and review the traditional approach for getting a behavior under cue control. After that, they share their innovative procedures to boost your signal strength, reduce extinction fallout, and make sure your learners can “hear you now.”

Problem Alarm: Training Dogs that Are Reactive to Home Visitors☆

Debbie Martin

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Veterinary, Shelter & Rescue

Reactivity and aggression directed toward unfamiliar people entering the home is a common behavior complaint of dog owners. Many pet owners are skeptical that they will be able to make training progress, because they do not (or are unable to) have many visitors. Actually, that situation is an advantage! Training should start without unfamiliar people in the home. This Session will explore training and behavior-modification strategies that address this common issue safely, humanely, and effectively—and as part of a complete veterinary behavioral treatment plan.

Location, Location, Location: Refining Behavior with Reward Location

Michele Pouliot

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic:  Competition, Skill

Real estate agents know the power of “location.” Clicker trainers should understand and take advantage of the power of location as well. If you are interested in striving toward errorless learning, location strategies should be part of your training toolbox.

Positive reinforcement trainers use a variety of methods for reward delivery, depending on the goals for the behavior being trained. Styles of delivery can affect the learner in different ways; they can raise energy, promote stillness, reset for the next repetition, support a specific position, and more. Can the use of reward strategies take training even further?

In this Session, Michele shares her ongoing experiences applying reward strategies. Over the past eight years, Michele has discovered the power of using specific reward locations and deliveries for training and maintaining a variety of behaviors. Thoughtful location strategies support low-error learning sessions and rapid learning of even complex behaviors.

Michele will demonstrate training a variety of behaviors using specific reward strategies for each goal behavior. The results show how amazingly powerful a well-applied strategy can be and how it supports very fast learning. Behavior examples will include distance responses, challenging body poses, and a variety of trick behaviors.

Join Michele as she shares the available power of reward-location strategies and enlightening moments of discovery.

The Art and Science of Non-Auditory Communication☆

Terrie Hayward

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Health & Wellness, Science, Skill, Teaching Others

Communication is both an art and a science. For dogs, a primary mode of communication is body language. This Session will focus on Terrie’s work with deaf dogs and how improving your non-auditory interaction methods can make you a more effective trainer.

Recognizing and understanding that dogs rely heavily on visual communication can enhance your skills with both deaf and hearing dogs. All dogs depend on body language to receive and disseminate information. This Session will address visual and tactile communication options and talk about creating positive CERs. We’ll also look at different types of deafness and discuss how working with non-auditory cues can prepare dogs for possible hearing loss, can add to your repertoire as a trainer, and can help sharpen your visual timing and skill sets, an overall bonus that serves to enhance your expertise as a trainer.

Animals in Control – In Action!: Noise and Movement through Start Button Behavior☆

Eva Bertilsson & Emelie Johnson Vegh

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Topic:  Aggression & Behavior Management, Competition, Skill, Shelter & Rescue, Veterinary

Prerequisite Session:

• Animals In Control – Start Button Case Studies

Participant Notes:

We will have approximately 8 dog/handler teams. Dogs should already understand the click/treat relationship and be able to work in close quarters with other dogs. There will be some noise and movement going on in the Lab room – we will work at low levels, but attending dogs need to be ok with everyday commotion. To participate in this Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite Session. You may participate with your dog or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab.

The life of a dog includes plenty of noise and/or movement. Are the sources of noise and movement distractions that require desensitization or are they valuable experiences we can teach dogs to enjoy and actively make happen? Eva and Emelie take the latter approach and teach dogs “start-button behaviors,” behaviors that dogs can do to make something “happen” (make noise or move).

In this Lab they share their basic protocol for teaching dogs to enjoy and create noise and movement through start-button behaviors. Emelie and Eva developed this strategy for their dog-agility training originally, but this system for transforming potential aversives into something the learner enjoys and strives for makes a huge difference for all learners in all venues.

Come and experience the start-button way of working on counter-conditioning and desensitization for noise and movement! In this Lab E & E will guide teams through the process of establishing noise or movement as something the learner strives to make happen.

This Lab will include short video examples, demos, practical work, and discussion.

Muzzle Tov!

Kathy Sdao

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: Aggression & Behavior Management, Veterinary, Shelter & Rescue

Participant Notes:

We will have approximately 5 dog/handler teams. Dogs should already understand the click/treat relationship, be comfortable with normal handling, and be able to work in close quarters with other dogs. Handlers should have some experience with shaping. You may participate with your dog or you may attend as an observer. Observers should not bring their dogs to the Lab.

We invest time and care ensuring that each of our dogs is comfortable wearing a well-fitted harness or collar because we consider this gear essential for attaching leashes, carrying ID tags and more. Yet we tend to skip ensuring that our dogs are comfortable wearing a well-fitted muzzle because this gear is optional, right? Or only for bad dogs? And ugly and stigmatizing? Well, no… Come learn why muzzle training is a gift we can give every dog.

At some point in their lives, many dogs will be in a situation where fear, pain, or uncertainty makes them more likely to bite (e.g., at the emergency vet clinic or in a novel social situation). Having an easy way to place a barrier between the dog’s teeth and any proximate human or animal increases safety, opens up behavior-modification options, and helps everyone relax. We’ll discuss specific training applications where muzzles are an asset, tips to overcome client aversion, and potential problems to avoid. We’ll also practice muzzle-acclimation techniques.

Inside Pages: A ClickerExpo Book Conversation (TeamTaught)☆

Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Aaron Clayton, & Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D.

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic:  Health & Wellness, Science, Teaching Others, Human

Welcome! Join the discussion of the best-selling book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb. Gottlieb’s book engagingly illuminates the triumphs and challenges of behavior change in humans through the discipline of human psychology and therapy practice. Her language, models, constructs, and solutions are both familiar and new. Can you pick out the tools that are similar to those used in our work? Are the skills that make Gottlieb effective the same or different than the tools that make us effective with clients? Are the behaviors Gottlieb is trying to help her clients with materially different from the behaviors we help clients with?

Join Susan Friedman, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, and Aaron Clayton for this team-taught Session that will help you expand your worldview. We invite you to read the book ahead of time to enrich the discussion and make your challenges and experiences relevant during the Q&A portion of the Session.

Why Book Discussions?
A look through the non-fiction best-seller lists yields a trove of writing designed to help explain, accelerate, and manage behavior, in strangers, employees, customers, families, society at large, and ourselves. Are the ideas and practices contained in these books and the branches of science they represent the same as or different from the books we rely on? Which of them contribute to our understanding? Which ones only contribute to what Dr. Susan Friedman has called “cultural fog?” In this team-taught Session we will curate the selections, structure the discussion and, with your participation, help the light shine through on books that are worth reading and discussing together.

About the Book
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed is authored by Lori Gottlieb, an engaging author with a journalism background and a degree in marriage and family counseling. She takes us through her own work and cases with clients struggling with problem behaviors. We get an intimate view of how to view positive behavior change from the perspective of clinical psychology and we get useful insights into how the tools of therapy are deployed. Get the book. 

All Ears: Protocol for Dogs with Sound Sensitivity

Debbie Martin

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic:  Aggression & Behavior Management, Skill, Veterinary

It is estimated that a third of dogs have noise aversions! If you saw 12 dogs last week, 4 of them are likely to develop noise sensitivities in their life time. Not only can a fear of sounds be physiologically and emotionally damaging for dogs, it can also strain the human-animal relationship.

This Session will provide strategies for how to approach and prevent sound sensitivities, including teaching desired coping skills.

A Complex Animal: Saving Lives and the Future of Animal Welfare☆

Lindsay Wood Brown

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic:  Aggression & Behavior Management, Science, Shelter & Rescue

At shelter and rescue organizations, we work to save lives. It is a driving, personal mission as well as a critical measure of an organization’s success. The animal welfare landscape is continually changing and it’s hard to find solid ground anymore. Behavior problems are now the most common reason for owner surrender. Shelter populations consist of fewer puppies and more adolescent and adult animals in need of behavioral intervention. The public eye is keenly focused on an individual metric: live-release rate. The higher the percentage of lives saved, the better the organization’s reputation among stakeholders.

We navigate slippery slope arguments and debates with colleagues about how best to save lives, how many lives saved is the “right” number, and which behavior problems are even modifiable. Should we do behavior evaluations at all? Should we rehome XYZ type of behavior problem? How do we promote this animal if we try to rehome?

From Lindsay’s perspective as an applied animal behaviorist and shelter consultant, what is needed is efficiency in the flow of animals through the shelter, flexibility in decision-making, and transparency around behavior problems. Above all, we need a philosophy beyond saving lives: one that is rooted in support of the entire community of people, their animals, and their changing relationships.

In this Session, Lindsay will share her thoughts on:

• What are the best behavior practices to flow animals through the shelter swiftly?

• How can we change behavior most efficiently?

• How do we promote adoption and be transparent about behavior problems?

• How can we support the people who may need us most: owners who surrender or return an animal?

Liberty by Default: Training Default Attention Behaviors in Horses☆

Peggy Hogan

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: Intermediate
Topic: Equine

Attention behaviors are utilized in different training paradigms with many different species. The most common and familiar examples can be seen with dogs. Trainers go to great lengths to train attention behaviors, and even develop those behaviors further into “default behaviors,” behaviors that the animal offers during training even if they are not cued directly.

As equine clicker trainers work more and more with techniques such as training at liberty, it’s useful for them to have calm, attentive, and/or default behaviors, too. But how do you define attentive behaviors with a species that can be trained with a trainer sitting on the animal’s back? How do you know that a horse is really paying attention? Obviously, there need to be multiple ways of recognizing and training attention behaviors when you are working with horses.

In this Session, Peggy will demonstrate the usefulness of and the procedures for training default attention behaviors with a variety of horses, including a deaf horse. If you are working at liberty or using verbal cues, gesture cues, or even other tactile cues without pressure, you will benefit by learning about teaching and accessing default attention behaviors. Even if your main method of asking your horse to do a behavior is using pressure on a halter/lead, a clearer understanding of how to establish attention behaviors with your horse through positive reinforcement will be beneficial to your training program.

What Should We Do? Real Cases, Practice Plans, Safe Discussion☆

Emma Parsons

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Topic:  Aggression & Behavior Management

Participant Notes:

We will have approximately 50 spots for participants. 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.

If you want to discuss possible solutions for aggression case studies, this Lab is for you! In this Lab, several case studies will be presented and attendees will be asked to come up with training plans. Ideas will be pushed and pulled until a final plan is created. Once they are complete, the successful training solutions will be revealed. This is a perfect Lab for trainers who are debating if they should take on aggressive and reactive dogs as clients.

Real Skills, Fake Dogs

Theresa McKeon

Course Type: Learning Lab
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic:  Skill, Teaching Others, Human

Participant Notes:

We will have approximately 25 spots for participants. 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.

In this Lab, stand-in animals, mirrors, video, and helpful humans will be the substitutes for live animals while you build your skill set and confidence. Practice to your heart’s content knowing that your partner will never get full, tired, confused, or stressed out.

The Lab will have stations for stress-free practice of clicker mechanics and basic training skills such as cueing, clicker timing, and treat delivery.

Advanced trainers can use the variety of stuffed, blow-up, rolling, puppet, and video animals to develop, practice, or polish techniques before you take on the real thing.

If you’ve ever said, “I understand the theory – I just need a chance to practice the practical,” then this is the Lab for you!

Enjoy a brief break before the conference Closing Session with Ken Ramirez!

Closing Session: Hidden Treasures 2020☆

Ken Ramirez

Course Type: Session
Skill Level: All Levels
Topic: General

Ken will wrap up the ClickerExpo weekend with a new and inspirational story about the trainers and the good training he has encountered or experienced. There are often cool training stories and breakthroughs that may not warrant a full course at Expo, but they are stories worth telling. Ken promises that this is a Session that you won’t want to miss.