Don't Shoot the Dog! : The New Art of Teaching and Training

Rating:
Summary: Simple but not simplistic
Review: This is an overview of Skinnerian behavior mod written in practical terms for everyday life. I found it when searching for resources before getting a new puppy. The book will not only help you train your dog, it will help you understand human and animal psychology - without putting you to sleep with psych class mumbo-jumbo. Kind of an odd book written by an interesting woman. Odd meaning it doesn't really fit a given category of books - many folks will never come across it. That's a pity. There's a lot of useful stuff packed in those few pages. I've kept this book at my bedside to read over and over again. It makes me think.

Rating:
Summary: eh?
Review: everyone told me to buy this book but i didnt want to because of the name. a fine book about different methods of training. note to author: the title put me off for a long time. i bet other people feel the eame way.

Rating:
Summary: not a training book just for dogs
Review: the title of this book is slightly misleading. it sounds like a dog training manual, it isnt. you can use the technique provided in this book for any animal, incl youself, or your family.

clicker training is the method used, encouraged and described by the author. however, this book is not just about clicker training, it is a book that discusses behavioural psychology, and the theories behind it. it is 183 pages long, the chapter describing how to use clicker training has only 30 pages. the rest of the book discusses behavioural psychology and modification, examining the power of reinforcement methods, which clicker training is an example of.

karen pryor talks more about behaviourial psychology and the reinforcement methods of training rather than simply clicker training. she talks about using the reinforcement methods to not just shape dogs' behaviour, but other animals, including humans. obviously, you do not use clickers to try and shape say, an athelete's faulty swings/positioning. it is the idea of using behavioural science and reinforcements that she is trying to sell in this book, not solely 'clicker training'.

One chapter compares how 8 different methods (from the oldest method of `shooting the dog' to the behavioural modification methods) are used to deal with a same set of 10 problems; from untidy room-mate to grumpy spouse to cat jumping on kitchen table. It is a very honest comparison, and readers can decide for themselves which methods are reliable.

in this book, you will learn the general CONCEPT of how to use reinforcement methods to better improve trianing methods. however, you will not learn directly, how to make a dog run circles, 'drop dead', fetch the slippers etc.

the excellence of this book is that this concept's use is not limited to just dogs. horses, birds and fishes (as claimed by the author) and humans (family, yourself, trainee) can be trained using these methods.

i am glad i read this, now, time to motivate myself to quit smoking!


Rating:
Summary: Teaching this ol' Dog New Belly Dance Tricks
Review: I found this in the psych/self-help section of the bookstore following a nightmare dance rehearsal, in which I'm trying to learn a troupe choreography for a competition, but repeatedly screwing up and beating myself up.
Stop barking up the wrong tree and debating on whether this stuff works on dogs or not. Use this book to help train YOURSELF do the things you've wanted with all your heart but couldn't because you ran up against some vauge and insurmountable psychological barrier.
I was sold on the book because it discusses the things you will experience in the course of learning, like when you suddenly are unable to perform anything right after appearing to have climbed the learning curve successfully (prelearning dip), and you're getting so frustrated you're in tears and throwing your dance shoes across the floor (prelearning temper tantrum). Knowing this is a normal progression (but if you're a horse, you'd be kicking and swishing your tail, a dog, you'd be growling, and if you're a dolphin, you'd be breaching and bellyflopping), and not something to feel guilty about.
P.S. Thanks to the patience my wonderful dance teacher, we have
won the dance troupe competition.

Rating:
Summary: Now: Someone that actually read the book
Review: Believe me when I tell you that those that criticized this book never read it and integrated its principles. Instead, these are people that might have vast experience with different systems that give them good results. The techniques they use have become second nature to them. They conclude: my system is different, my system works, therefore every thing else is crap. One reviewer rambled about how it mainly applies to dolphins because they are confined to a tank. The kindest thing I can say about him is that he never read DON'T SHOOT THE DOG. If he did, I would have to insult his reading comprehension. Little of what he rants about is even in the book. Instead of ranting about hearsay on the somewhat different topic of clicker training, allow me to tell you about "Don't Shoot the Dog". This book teaches far reaching techniques with universal application. I have trained dogs, horses, and wild caught birds of prey (which were flown free daily not confined to pools or tanks). Though I understand alpha dog training, use negative reinforcement, and have employed many successful techniques, this is one of my all time top 10 books on any subject and it is a MUST READ even for those that will never own a pet. Karen Pryor was in fact a trainer at Sea World but contrary to the title this book is not about the specifics of animal training. It is instead a handbook on behavioral modification complete with an introduction written by B.F. Skinner, the father of behavioral psychology. While he was not a man without faults, he was a huge contributor to some profoundly simplified techniques for modifying behavior. While an easy read (one long afternoon) the power of this book lies in studying the principles and then training yourself to modify behavior. In an entraining and practical manner Karen explains a principle, explains its applications and LIMITATIONS and then gives a scenario that illustrates how to apply this principle with an animal, an adult, and a child. A lay person soon learns that most instinctive responses to unwanted behavior are non productive. We have many roles in life and it is a rare person in which some of these roles don't require us to influence behavior. While people are not animals, behavior modification is behavior modification and we all use it. Unfortunately, more often than not we make critical mistakes that result in the opposite result we want and expect. I read this book 10 years ago. As soon as I did I wished I had read it about 25 years sooner. It brought greater success to training at opposite ends of the animal kingdom. It worked on free flying wild birds of prey that are not social creatures and interpret any negative reinforcement as a death threat. These wild animals can easily leave the trainer and return to the wild to fend for themselves. They get this chance every day. In fact it is nothing but unnatural that they will return from being a tiny speck in the sky just from operant conditioning and positive reinforcement. More amazing, they can be properly trained to do this within 10 days of being trapped from the wild, so much for the hilarious comment about it won't work on things that can run loose like dogs. Speaking of dogs, I have used it on Setters and Springer's not to mention a very strong willed, male Jack Russell Terrier, with a well developed alpha dog mentality. Karen never implies that negative reinforcement is not a legitimate tool. She simply fine tunes its use, timing, and consistency to give you an even more powerful tool. The principles in this book have greatly enhanced what was decades of successful training. Finally, don't under estimate these principles when it comes to inter- personal relationships. If you do, you missed a great part of what makes this a must read.