Stylized Clicker Training

Sarah Stiles, KPA

Sarah is a certified Karen Pryor Clicker Trainer, and founder & director of A Soft Place to Land Dog Rescue. In her career as the Director of A Soft Place to Land Dog Rescue, Sarah has worked with hundreds of dogs, transforming even the most challenging pooch to be successful companions. She is especially skilled at determining key motivators for each dog and guardian, using customized approaches. 

 

More About Sarah

My interest in training came with the first batch of retired puppy mill breeding dogs came to my home in early 2010. I wondered how I was going to get through to these almost feral dogs who had never known real love from a human. Luckily I found trainer Laura Brody of Good Family Dog in Castle Rock, Co. She gave me a glimpse into working with dogs on a behavioral level. I started taking my foster dogs to my local Petsmart for socialization and training when a lively German Short Haired Pointer came into rescue. Bo was about a year old and out of hand. It was obvious he  had never been trained and had no focus on humans what so ever. Bo and I worked for almost a year on impulse control until he was ready to be adopted. Bo really taught me a lot about patience and that not all dogs are motivated equally. My training style is largely influenced by Karen Pryor, Dr. Sophia Yin, Ian Dunbar, Jean Donaldson, Laura Brody, and Emma Parsons to name a few. It is scientifically proven that dogs learn better when we ask them for what we do want instead of constantly correcting what we do not like. I love to see the "ah ha!" moment when both dog and guardian see clicker training working and are able to communicate effectively with each other for the first time.