The Eye Of The Trainer (Paperback)

In The Eye of the Trainer, Ken Ramirez brings to life the power of positive reinforcement training to build trust and transform lives. Ken is one of the most creative, cogent, and effective animal trainers in the world. His positive reinforcement training principles and practices are studied, replicated, and applied in settings as diverse as conservation efforts with elephants on the African plains, canine search and rescue in Texas, oil-disaster recovery for sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, butterfly training in England, and animal shelters in Chicago. In this inspiring, heartwarming, and hopeful series of essays chronicling his 40+ years of global exploration and observation, Ken shares not only the intriguing personalities of the animals that shaped his life, but how their unique challenges influenced his training choices, philosophy, and worldview. A must-read for anyone who lives with, studies, or works with animals, Ken's training wisdom, principled guidance, and practical advice call us to see the world through his eyes. Ken's world is one where great training transforms the shy animal into the confident one, the aggressive into the calm, and the mistrustful into the trustful--and even the unsupportive boss into an ally. See the world better. See it differently. See it through The Eye of the Trainer.

As the Executive Vice-President (EVP) and Chief Training Officer of Karen Pryor Clicker Training (KPCT), Ken Ramirez develops courses and programming for the Karen Pryor Academy and The Ranch (the Karen Pryor National Training Center) in the state of Washington. A 40+-year veteran of animal care and training, Ken is a biologist and animal behavior specialist who has overseen or consulted on zoo training projects globally, including 25+ years as EVP of Animal Care and Animal Training at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. There he developed and supervised animal care, staff training and public presentation programs for more than 32,000 animals. A prolific and popular author, Ken wrote Animal Training: Successful Animal Management through Positive Reinforcement, and taught a graduate course on animal training at Western Illinois University for 20 years. Ken began his training career working with guide dogs for the visually impaired. He continues to work with organizations training dogs for service work, search-and-rescue, bomb detection, and narcotic detection, consults on zoological projects, and pursues innovations in the fields of pet training and wildlife behavior management.