World-Renowned Behavioral Biologist Karen Pryor

By Michele Pouliot, Director of Research and Development at Guide Dogs for the Blind

Guide Dogs for the Blind partnered with the Oregon Zoo last week for a presentation by world-renowned behavioral biologist Karen Pryor, the woman who literally wrote the book on positive reinforcement for all animals. Karen has been an advocate of force-free animal training worldwide since the 1960s, and is author of Don’t Shoot the Dog! and most recently, Reaching the Animal Mind, two bibles of the dog training industry.

After a sold-out presentation before an animal-loving audience at the Oregon Zoo, Karen spent her day at the GDB Oregon campus and met with the training staff. She experienced her first blindfold experience with a Guide Dog-in-training. Karen has been a longtime mentor and she is responsible for introducing me to the animal world of training.

Karen has selected Portland as the site of next year’s Clicker Expo to be held in January of 2012. All of us at GDB are thrilled about sharing the wisdom this amazing woman has brought to the animal training world.

For more information and to learn more about Karen and the upcoming Clicker Expo, please visit ClickerTraining.com.