In the beginning there was Col. Konrad Most - arguably the father of modern "traditional" dog training. Most trained military dogs in Germany at the turn of the 20th Century. His book, Training Dogs - A Manual, was published in German in 1910, but wasn't translated into English until 1954, the year of his death.
Most training apporach was adopted as the model for military training throughout the world, and is still used today for many military, police and service dog training programs. Although his techniques, which rely on collar corrections and punishment are considered and heavy-handed from today's perspective, Most's methods are based on the principles of operant learning that form the basis of clicker training.
Most's training techniques spread throughout the world as his students and disciples emigrated to other countries. Coming to the U.S. were Josef Weber (The Dog in Training, 1939) and Hans Tosutti (Companion Dog Training, 1948) who opened schools for training dogs in Philadelphia and Boston respectively. (In 1936, Tosutti founded the New England Dog Training Club in Boston - the oldest existing AKC member obedience training club in the country.)
One of Weber's students in the U.S. was Blanche Saunders (The Complete Book of Dog Obedience, 1954 and The Story of Dog Obedience, 1974). Saunders and Helene Whitehouse Walker are the originators of AKC Obedience trials, and traveled around the country spreading the concept of companion dog training to the public. Among Saunders' students and followers were many of the well-known trainers of the 1950's and 60's, including Winifred Strickland.
It's important to have this historical perspective to understand the global nature of so-called "traditional" training - based on the teachings of Konrad Most.
So what of clicker training? A video produced by Bob and Marion Bailey called "Patient Like the Chipmunks" offers an outstanding view of the history of operant conditioning of animals. Marion Bailey and her first husband, Keller Breland, were graduate students of B.F. Skinner. Leaving graduate school in the early '40's, they started Animal Behavior Enterprises - a business that trained and provided scores of animal species for commercial purposes.
Keller Breland was the first dog trainer to use a clicker - a tin cricket to, as he said, "bridge the time between the behavior and the delivery of the reinforcer." (Quote from a conversation with Marion Breland Bailey). He used the sound to mark the desired behavior when training field dogs and herding dogs work in a field away from the handler. Breland called the click sound a "bridging stimulus."
Most training apporach was adopted as the model for military training throughout the world, and is still used today for many military, police and service dog training programs. Although his techniques, which rely on collar corrections and punishment are considered and heavy-handed from today's perspective, Most's methods are based on the principles of operant learning that form the basis of clicker training.
Most's training techniques spread throughout the world as his students and disciples emigrated to other countries. Coming to the U.S. were Josef Weber (The Dog in Training, 1939) and Hans Tosutti (Companion Dog Training, 1948) who opened schools for training dogs in Philadelphia and Boston respectively. (In 1936, Tosutti founded the New England Dog Training Club in Boston - the oldest existing AKC member obedience training club in the country.)
One of Weber's students in the U.S. was Blanche Saunders (The Complete Book of Dog Obedience, 1954 and The Story of Dog Obedience, 1974). Saunders and Helene Whitehouse Walker are the originators of AKC Obedience trials, and traveled around the country spreading the concept of companion dog training to the public. Among Saunders' students and followers were many of the well-known trainers of the 1950's and 60's, including Winifred Strickland.
It's important to have this historical perspective to understand the global nature of so-called "traditional" training - based on the teachings of Konrad Most.
So what of clicker training? A video produced by Bob and Marion Bailey called "Patient Like the Chipmunks" offers an outstanding view of the history of operant conditioning of animals. Marion Bailey and her first husband, Keller Breland, were graduate students of B.F. Skinner. Leaving graduate school in the early '40's, they started Animal Behavior Enterprises - a business that trained and provided scores of animal species for commercial purposes.
Keller Breland was the first dog trainer to use a clicker - a tin cricket to, as he said, "bridge the time between the behavior and the delivery of the reinforcer." (Quote from a conversation with Marion Breland Bailey). He used the sound to mark the desired behavior when training field dogs and herding dogs work in a field away from the handler. Breland called the click sound a "bridging stimulus."
