If you've ever been to a marine park you might have heard the sharp whistle the trainers use to mark a desirable behavior as an orca, or seal or some other marine mammal does 'tricks'. The sound tells the animals that it did a good job and that a treat is on its way as a reward. This method works equally well with dogs, cats, horses and other animals. Instead of a whistle most people use a 'clicker'; a little box that emits a sharp click sound when you press a buttion.

I started experimenting with clicker training with my mare Lyric. What I discovered was with the positive reinforcement clicker training provided I had a very eager and quick learning student. Within a very short time she learned to move away from pressure backwards and sideways (she came to me with non-exisitant ground manners), touch a target, give a kiss and other useful behaviors. Clicker training is easy to learn and a lot of fun. Give it a try and you might find you'll want to clicker train all the four (and two) legged critters in your care. An Introduction to Clicker Training will get you started and point you to some resources for more information. (Photo 2006 K. Blocksdorf)