Gary’s Bio

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Training and Handling

Gary Wilkes Seminars

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Gary Wilkes has spent many years working with dogs.  His first eight years included working in shelters in the Pacific Northwest. This experience firmed his resolution that shelters aren't the way to fix animal problems. In 1986, Wilkes began offering behavior services to worried pet owners, for problem pets. A chance meeting with then-retired porpoise trainer, Karen Pryor, filled in a critical piece of information about how to connect behaviors to consequences. Wilkes applied the new  knowledge to the specific tasks of behavior modification and training of dogs. By the time of the first-ever clicker training seminar, Wilkes had already clicker trained more than 1000 dogs. His commitment to providing methods based on long-term experience rather than speculation makes him the most dependable authority on  clicker training – if he tells you it works, he's done it enough to know that it will work for you. .

To date, Wilkes has privately clicker trained more than 7500 dogs and their owners. He has successfully applied clicker training to virtually every dog sport and activity, including Delta Forcer war dogs, search and rescue, therapy work, herding,  hunting, assistance dogs, obedience, conformation and agility. His protocol for correcting serious behavior problems was developed in his veterinary referral-based behavior practice in Phoenix, Arizona. A long-time consultant to a veterinary neurological practice, Gary's blend of theoretical and practical knowledge of behavior led MIT's whiz kids in the Media Lab to  use Wilkes' perspective on dog behavior to create a ground-breaking artificial intelligence project. This work was featured on the PBS series, Scientific American Frontiers, hosted by Alan Alda.

 Gary's ready (and sometimes sardonic) wit makes for an entertaining and dynamic presentation. His preference for hands-on seminars insures that the methods work with dogs and handlers regardless of their prior experience. The knowledge gained at a Click & Treat seminar will last for years to come –

For information about hosting a Gary Wilkes seminar, email to wilkesgm@aol.com
 

An unsolicited testimonial from a typical Gary Wilkes presentation -

Hello Gary,
I wanted to thank you as well as give you feedback to let you know you made a difference in someone's life.  I attended and listened to your Thursday presentation at the Chicago Grooming Show. A friend of mine also attended the show and attended one of your presentations. She owns 3 boxers.  All 3 react violently when visitors arrive. Recently, one of the males cracked the picture window when he lunged into it.  I offered to help her utilizing your technique. It took a lot of coaching to get her to buck up to assert herself with the dogs.  She was schooled in the PP koolaide. 

Because the 2 males have had fights, we worked one dog at a time. We started with the worst of the 3. By the fourth attempt, the dog would not cross the threshold. The second dog took 2 attempts. The 3rd dog didn't even attempt to cross the threshold.  It was a life changing moment for her and a huge step forward for her relationship with her dogs. 

I've been reading many of the articles on your website. I appreciate your honesty and clear direction. You've made a profound impact on my dog training career and I thank you for that!

Warm regards,
Eileen

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