At a seminar I gave in Wichita, Kansas, one of the attendees was Dr. Ogden Lindsley – brilliant pioneer behaviorist, inventor of “Precision Teaching” and donkey trainer extraordinaire. Og’s influence on clicker training and operant conditioning and training has been significant though not always recognized. When you hear clicker trainers talk about “fluency”, they are unknowingly using Og’s terminology and frame of reference. Og is one of the few behavior analysts who is an expert at actually teaching real animals in real surroundings to perform dependable and intricate behaviors. His jack donkey, Silver Butte Jack, played basketball, carried a full size miner’s pick in his mouth on cue and fetched the mail from the roadside mailbox – about 200 yards from the house. Other than a little drool and slobber, the mail arrived in better shape that some scent articles I’ve seen. Continue reading →

The world of anti-punishment ideology exists across a broad spectrum of our culture. It is codified in such sacred places as the rules for treatment of psychological disorders, education and now, dog training. Chief among the rules that harm people and animals is this concept: Punishment may only be used as a last resort. Continue reading →

Let’s pretend for a second that you are a positive trainer who uses methods based on science. That is a pretty big club. It’s also a pretty handy business strategy. Continue reading →