Karen Pryor says: anything that makes a click can be used for clicker training, but we sell our own clickers, she adds.
It seems clear enough that she doesn't think this clicker is any special, but it is hard to pass on such a business opportunity: People may want to order the Pryor-certified clicker, having the superstitious belief it will work better than your average retractable pen.
I just ordered a pack of three.
And as we know from studies about the placebo effect, the Pryor clicker might well work better than any other: the trainer will try harder, because he knows he has the exact right tool.
For the record: I trained a cat to follow a chopstick end with its nose -- with a retractable pen.
For the record, that was my cat, Molly. She seemed very happy to be back in her clicker-free home, but otherwise un-scarred.
ReplyDeleteNo, no: it was Bale Bale, not Molly. I trained Molly for a few minutes -- with a pen, true -- and she succeeded to train me to stop trying.
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