Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer
The clicker which Bryan uses to train dogs.

Avia Collinder, Outlook Writer

Theresa Bryan has always loved animals, and worked summers as a keeper at the Hope Zoo while attending high school in Kingston. Now in her 50s, she has found her life's calling as a clicker trainer for animals.

Attending specialist classes since 1988, the mother of two is now teaching basic and advanced obedience for animals with the clicker or positive reinforcement method.

Essentially, Theresa has introduced into Jamaica the training model made popular by Cesar Milan, the 'Dog Whisperer', featured on National Geographic.

The most fascinating aspect of her work, it seems, is behaviour modification, which changes aggressive and destructive behaviour traits into behaviour patterns which are more suited to the lifestyle of their owners. Behaviour modification is most frequently used for pets, zoo animals, sniffer dogs and dogs used to provide assistance for the blind.

Clicker training, or operant conditioning, was developed in the United States and is based on Pavlov's theory about positive reinforcement and the effect it has on behaviour.

It is now used widely across the world to make animals in captivity happier.

Social worker

After leaving St Andrew High School and then living in the United Kingdom (UK) for a while with her family, Theresa returned to Jamaica to take up a career in social work in the '80s.

It was only in 1988 that Theresa decided to get serious about her real love for working with animals.

In that year, she pursued the kennel management diploma in the UK, later becoming a member of the International Association of Canine Professionals in the USA. She also pursued certification in canine training and behaviour modification in that country in 2004.

In 2005, Theresa additionally received certification at Triple Crown Academy (School for Dog Trainers) in Texas, USA.

Theresa was the oldest student at Triple Crown and at first felt awkward, but soon, her years of experience and natural love for animals kicked in.

"My experience was a plus," she recalls.

Theresa Bryan says that her certification was a normalisation of her consistent work with animals during the last 30 years, which continued even while she had pursued a career in social work.

Training wild animals

Working at the Women's Centre of Jamaica Foundation in Kingston for seven years, she continued to train and breed dogs, including Rottweilers and German Shepherds. She also worked with several security companies in Jamaica, training their dogs and security guards.

Between June 2005 and December 2007, Theresa did behaviour modification and clicker training of animals at the Hope Zoo, specifically working with the lions, monkeys, macaws, a peccary and a rescued pelican.

The trainer taught the older lion at Hope Zoo (now deceased) to roll over and open its mouth. "I train stage by stage, all the while using positive reinforcement," she explains.

The clicker methods is easy, she states. "You use food, praise and toys as incentives. When you get the behaviour that you want you reward it."

Sooner rather than later, the dog or animal identifies feelings of pleasure with the activity, and is able to do them with the use of the clicker or of food.

Reinforcement

If the animal backslides into undesirable behaviour, Theresa states that the clicker can be used by owners to reinforce earlier lessons learnt.

In Florida, she also worked with the Humane Society to rehabilitate abandoned dogs for rehoming. One dog which she adopted was abused and did not even know how to play, but after two years of patient work, there was a "complete turnaround", Theresa boasts.

She has also done volunteer work with pit bulls in Broward County, Florida, where these dogs - previously abused by people who bred them in captivity - also recovered to the point where they could be placed in homes.

Locally, Theresa is often called on to deal with dogs with a severe aggression problem, or dogs which are fearful and inclined to bite. There are also shy dogs who will go and hide as soon as they see strangers. Other mutts get excited and pee themselves. All of this can be addressed through behaviour modification training, using positive reinforcement.

Locally, owners of dogs also call on the trainer for pets which suffer from separation anxiety and behave in 'crazy' ways, including ripping furniture when their owners depart.

"A lot of the behaviour cannot be completely cured, because of the length of time it has been left untreated, but it can be managed," the trainer states.

Spoiling animalsheresa notes that, while a lot of Jamaicans are now more into pets, especially those which are small and cute, they expect their behaviours to be also adorable, but this is unlikely to happen if pets are raised without boundaries, and spoilt.

"Too much cuddling leads to trouble. There is nothing wrong with loving a dog, but they also require discipline. Otherwise you are setting yourself up for a life of grief."

Some dogs, as a consequence, become so unmanageable that owners have to "put them to sleep or give them away. It's a matter of balance", the trainer notes.

Agility training

Theresa Bryan also provides agility training which, she states, is a wonderful sport both for animals and their owners. Putting the animals through their paces (using athletic style and other sporting events with a stopwatch) is fun and, if taken to a competitive level - as it is done in the US - it can be also rewarding.

"It's a way to get out of the house and exercise. It is exhilarating and feels good both for animal and owner."

The trainer is the divorced mother of two children, Dania and Alexi, and grandmother of one - Asia.

Her son, who resides in Los Angeles and works as an assistant dean of administration at the tertiary level, has also adopted dogs which have been abused.

"He has taken after his mother in that sense," Theresa states.

Her daughter who works with Air Jamaica, she says, is not afraid of lizards and loves animals and insects.

The trainer enjoys reading books about nature, watching documentaries Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. "You never stop learning," she explains.

"I have many more wonderful life experiences with animals," Theresa adds.

"Once you have the know-how and know how to read dogs, it's fantastic."