Prior to the first world war most dogs were trained using patience, understanding and rewards by civilian trainers. However, during the first war it became imperative to train vast quantities of service dogs - many of whom were killed in action. Replacements were always required and as the dogs' life expectancy in the field was truncated by enemy fire, training techniques became harsher and more abrupt in order to supply the ever increasing demand.

When the war ended there were a great many new dog handlers, trained by the army and the RAF who continued to use these methods.  There were still some civilian trainers using the pre-war methods, but they were ageing and outnumbered by the recently de-mobbed ex-service dog handlers.

Then, in 1939 the second world war broke out and more young men were taught the 'service-dog' training techniques (which included the use of choke chains).  By the end of the war there were now a great number of ex-service trainers and very few people left who could even remember how dogs had been trained before.

Barbara Woodhouse brought dog training to the masses with the advent of widespread use of television. By the 1970's she was fast becoming a household name. Sadly, by this time also, the use of choke chains (sometimes referred to as 'check' chains) and the use of physical 'corrections' had also become accepted practise in dog training.

Throughout the 80's words like 'dominance' had begun to crop up. It appeared that if you weren't dominating your dog - then your dog was surely dominating you. This led to various theories of Pack Leadership.  It was purported that it was impossible to train a dog unless you were the Pack Leader.

During the 90's a quiet revolution started in the USA. Clicker Training was at first ridiculed by most trainers and scorned by the rest.  Fortunately Karen Pryor and Gary Wilks quietly carried on and started to produce spectacular results.  Dogs were winning in the Obedience and Agility Rings, dogs that were 'clicker trained' that is, who knew nothing of force or punishment.

By 1997 Clicker Training began to appear in the UK. I believe Elizabeth Kershaw of Newbury, Berkshire, was one of the first trainers brave enough to make the change and run a course entirely based on Karen Pryor, Gary Wilkes and Gail Fisher's work.

The great irony of this story is that Clicker Training is inextricably bound to the science of Operant Conditioning, a scientific method of training animals which pre-dates both wars.  We appear to have travelled a full circle and are incorporating a method of training which was almost lost in history.

  The Canine Film Academy has taken clicker training one stage further and was the first school in the UK to train lay people how to teach their dogs the behaviours required for Media Work (Films, Television and Advertising.)