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It eventually led to a training method that teaches aggressive dogs how to calm down, a book on the subject, and workshops such as one she will lead this weekend in Oakmont.

The workshop is Parsons' first appearance in this area and is one of a growing number of workshops she has been doing since her book, "Click to Calm," came out in December.

"I just wanted to reinforce the absence of behavior," Parsons says about the twist she put on the well-known process known as "clicker training."

"The best thing about her system is that there is really a solution for the aggressive dog," says Barb Levenson, owner of the Barb Levenson Dog Training Center in Oakmont, where the workshop will be held. "And you can see it's more effective than the old method of just beating it out of them."

Parsons will deliver a workshop Saturday and Sunday in which dog owners will be shown how to use a metallic clicker and an immediate treat to have dogs develop calm behavior.

That click is used to indicate to the dog any time calm behavior is necessary, Parsons says. It is used to sidestep aggressive reactions that emerge for any number of reasons.

"It's a mechanical skill," Levenson says of clicker training, "but it is an art and a science."

Clicker training for dogs was popularized in the mid-'80s through the writings of fellow Massachusetts trainer Karen Pryor. She was a disciple of English behaviorist Ian Dunbar.

"It was a question of zeitgeist," Pryor says. "Its time had come."

She began work on a way to have dogs respond to a click-and-treat pattern that taught them the behavior that was wanted, she says, but keeping in mind the ultimate steps.

"As soon as the dog gets the picture, you don't need the click anymore," she says. "The treat then becomes almost secondary."

Seven years ago, Parsons went to see Pryor about a problem she was having with her 3-year-old Golden retriever, Ben, who was aggressive to other dogs. Parsons didn't know what behavior to click to redirect Ben's attention away from aggressiveness.

"And Karen said, 'Well, he does breathe, doesn't he?'" Parson says. Pryor advised her to try to link Ben to calm moments, to those moments when a dog takes a deep breath and settles down.

It became the rehabilitation of Ben, Parsons says. Tying the click-treat pattern to calm moments, Parsons was able to have Ben pass up the aggressive thoughts.

Parsons, Levenson and Pryor all admit other "markers" -- the term used for the sound of the click -- could be used to get that response. But they all like the click because, as Levenson says, it is precise and doesn't have the variation that can come about with the human voice or changing words.

Clicker training has its critics.

Sam Basso, a trainer from Phoenix, has written a series of pamphlets on training methods and stays away from clicker use. He says it "over-promises, is too mechanical and gets away from the input-output that can develop between a dog and its owner."

Marge Gemerchak, training director of the Golden Triangle Obedience Training Center in Pleasant Hills, agrees it can be mechanical. But she also points out it is effective.

"You can get things accomplished a lot faster that way," she says.

The method fit into Levenson's reward-oriented training techniques.

"It takes away all the negative," she says. "It creates a positive emotional state, and that is great in trying to find a solution for an aggressive dog."

Parsons agrees that curing the aggression issue is a big hurdle for any dog.

"If I can solve that problem," she says, "then I don't see other problems coming along."