Karen Ogden- CPDT-KA
Welcome! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via email @ prdogtraining01@gmail.com
Interested in learning what this 'positive reinforcement' and 'clicker training' thing is about?
here are a few great resources to check into:
www.clickertraining.com
Karen Pryor's site which will lead you into the world of animal training without force
www.apdt.com
lots of great information for dog owners
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I have had a love of animals from a young age, at times testing my parent's patience as I brought a steady parade of creatures into our home, including not only the neighbor's cats & dogs but also frogs, snakes and once a bat on a stick (much to my parents horror...).
Like many positive reinforcement trainers today, I didn’t start out training with this philosophy. I am what is referred to as a ‘Cross-over Trainer' . Early on in my dog’s obedience training I trained using training collars such as choke chain or prong collar because that was the only way I knew.
Beginning back in the early 1990’s, I became interested in training my dog for looking for lost people. My interest and involvement in canine search & rescue training lead me to take seminars from trainers such as Andy Redmann and Jonni Joyce and most importantly introduced me to a world new world of training which revolved around using this ‘clicker’ thing.
It was a major turning point in my life - as I explored training and the concept of reinforcement training my list of mentor trainers began to encompass the exotic and marine mammal world populated with trainers like Bob Bailey, Karen Pryor, Kathy Sdao and Ken Ramirez .
Why is this important when all you really want is to teach you dog to sit rather than jump up?
When working with exotic animals – including parrots – you cannot simply force them to do anything – easily.
If you are lucky, they run,fly or swim away from you; if you are not, you are likely to end up kicked, bitten or stepped on as the animal communicates to you that you have over-stepped their comfort bounds.
From this background of learning how to train without using physical or electronic methods, I have become a behaviorally based trainer.
When I work with an animal, whether it is to train obedience behaviors, to teach acceptance for husbandry for routine veterinarian care to behavior modification for aggression, I respect the animal’s space and pay attention to the ‘conversation’.
Understanding the science of how learning occurs and how we influence (directly or indirectly)that learning is a principle trademark of my training programs.
I continue to promote training techniques that not only enhance the learning process, but also build a strong working bond between the animal and the trainer and create a trusted relationship.
Though my primarily work focuses around dog behavior,I also enjoy the challenge of training other species - particularly my two parrots , Theo -a Severe Macaw and Cracker - a Sun Conure.
I maintain and continually learn from my greatest teachers - my multi-dog household of 3 Australian Shepherds and a Golden Retriever.
The journey through life continues onward - welcome aboard!
Karen Ogden, CPDT-KA
Positive Rewards dog training
West Tisbury, MA
mudpuppy.ma.ultranet@rcn.com
Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed
professional member Association of Pet Dog Trainers
AKC CGC evaluator
Massachusetts Rescue & Recovery K9 vice president/K9 handler
