My KPA Journey Pt. 1
I was recently accepted into the Karen Pryor Academy's Professional Program and Koa and I have been working hard in preparation for our first workshop. The program is primarily online — we go through online slides, film ourselves working on training exercises with our animals, submit written assignments to our instructors and complete online quizzes. But at the end of each Unit, we get to come together with our dogs, collaborate, show off, and learn from each other.
I was so nervous for our first workshop. My group is small (there are only three of us students) but I knew my classmates had been working with their dogs for much longer than I have. One of them is even a certified therapy dog! On the other hand, my goofy girl is a bundle of energy and sometimes still struggles with impulse control. Plus, there were many human-only exercises, where the dogs would need to be crated. How would my anxious girl do? I nervously spent nearly $200 on long lasting chews, treats, meat to use as treats, hooves, Kongs — the works!
By the end of Day 1, though, I was right at home. Koa did better than I ever could have expected and it was truly wonderful spending the day with my two classmates, our fabulous instructor, Sarah Owings, and our assistant instructor, Kat Camplin. The environment was so friendly and supportive, I felt truly comfortable being my own goofy, anxious, excited self. After around 7 hours of hard, fun work, we drove home in the rain, inspired, exhausted, and happy.
Day 2 was a bit more of a challenge for us. Koa was tired after having spent the previous day working so hard, and she was a little less motivated than before. But if anything, the challenge of Day 2 taught me more than ever, and I experienced no judgement or negativity from my group. In fact, after a few laughably lackluster sessions, I decided to experiment a little and try a new reinforcer for Koa — a long, felted snake toy she had enjoyed playing with the day before. And it worked! I quickly realized that Koa loves to play tug, but it's all about the texture. The hard, knotted tug toys I'd tried with her at home simply weren't going to cut it, she needed something she could sink her teeth into. So for our last few exercises, she came back in full, excited force, and channeled the last of her energy for the day into teaching me more about flexibility and experimentation. This is a super valuable discovery because I am constantly challenged to find treats that excite and motivate her, and while I will certainly continue to work with food rewards, adding this to my repertoire will help me get Koa more excited about training and keep things fresh and interesting for her!
I learned so much at this first workshop — from my incredible instructors, of course, but also from my classmates, from their dogs, who were so very different from mine, and even from Koa. I learned to trust my dog, to trust myself, and to trust the process. Science based training works. Always. Sometimes slower than you expect, sometimes faster, sometimes you have to change your plan and always you have to be flexible and creative, but it works.
If you're interested in clicker training, I highly recommend you check out some of the many KPA courses available online. The Professionals program is awesome for anyone with a fair amount of dog experience looking to take it to the next level, but there is also their wonderful Foundations course to get you started, and even programs specifically for shelter or rescue workers, or for sports like Agility! You can check out their course catalog here.
