By Heidi Dahms Foster
If you are a brand new pet owner or a long time trainer who is looking for some new insight, Ken Ramirez’s The Eye of the Trainer is sure to enrich your knowledge and understanding of not only dogs, but all animals and how they learn.
Ramirez is the Executive Vice President and Chief Training Officer of Karen Pryor Clicker Training, the effective, positive reinforcement training method that revolutionized not only individual home training but competition training as well for thousands of dog owners.
He is a more than 40-year veteran of animal training and care who started his career working with guide dogs. He still works with organizations that train dogs for service work, search and rescue, bomb and narcotic detection.
He spent 25-plus years as the Executive Vice President of Animal Care and Animal Training at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, where he developed and supervised animal care, staff training, and public presentation for more than 32,000 animals.
Lest we forget why we train in the first place, Ramirez starts his book with a succinct message: “We teach animals how to live in our world. …our goal is to facilitate learning and help animals navigate living among us.”
Four cornerstones, Ramirez writes, form the foundation of a professional training program. They include health care, nutrition, environment, and behavior. As most people who work in rescues and shelters know, the majority of dogs who end up in those situations are those who lack what Ramirez calls “proper behavior management.”
“Training should not be considered a luxury; it is a key component to good animal care,” he writes. “Primary reasons for training are anything that directly benefits the animal in front of me.”
Those reasons include physical exercise, mental stimulation, and cooperative behavior, Ramirez writes. He is adamant that if trainers put animal welfare before any other goals, they’ll be much more successful.
“When we put the animal’s needs first and use positive reinforcement to achieve training goals, the result is a happy and healthy animal. Animals in that state are usually eager to work and end up doing exceptionally well,” he writes.
As you continue into The Eye of the Trainer, you’ll mine not only more basics that will reinforce or perhaps revolutionize your understanding of how animals learn, but you’ll also find that the deeper you delve into his writing, the more Ramirez will challenge you to learn new concepts, offer solutions to behavior problems, and teach you about how your dog’s needs mirror the needs of other animals. He intersperses great stories and insights throughout.
Chapters of The Eye of the Trainer include Training Matters, Tools and Techniques, Creative Solutions to Unusual Problems, Teaching Trainers, and much more. The Eye of the Trainer is an exciting read for trainers of all experience levels. Find it at Karen Pryor Clicker Training, www.clickertraining.com.
