- ISBN13: 9780553380392
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
A Better Way to Better Behavior
Karen Pryor’s clear and entertaining explanation of behavioral training methods made Don’t Shoot the Dog! a bestselling classic. Now this revised edition presents more of her insights into animal—and human—behavior.
A groundbreaking behavioral scientist and dynamic animal trainer, Karen Pryor is a powerful proponent of the principles and practical uses of positive reinforcement in teaching new behaviors. Here are the secrets of changing behavior in pets, kids—even yourself—without yelling, threats, force, punishment, guilt trips…or shooting the dog:
•The principles of the revolutionary “clicker training” method, which owes its phenomenal success to its immediacy of response—so there is no question what action you are rewarding
•8 methods of ending undesirable habits—from furniture-clawing cats to sloppy roommates
•The 10 laws of “shaping” behavior–for results without strain or pain through “affection training”
•Tips for house-training the dog, improving your tennis game, or dealing with an impossible teen
•Explorations of exciting new uses for reinforcement training
Learn why pet owners rave, “This book changed our lives!” and how these pioneering techniques can work for you too.
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Don’t Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training
5 comments
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V. Kelley says:
06/16/2010 at 8:47 PM (UTC -5)
I was hoping for some clear, bullet sort of points. This was not found in this book. It was a boring read. I can usually zip through a book in no time but this one seemed to be longer than War and Peace. There are far better books on the subject out there.
Rating: 2 / 5
Christy Witt says:
06/16/2010 at 7:35 PM (UTC -5)
Do NOT waste your money. This book is written like a novel, but it is very, very dry and repetitive. I found nothing in this book that I don’t already know, not that I’m a know it all. All the examples are human scenarios, nothing related to dogs and there’s nothing in this book that actually says, “ok, this is how you can train your dog.” No specifics or useful tools to help you, the dog owner, help your dog. Bad, bad book, if there was a negative rating, I’d rate this book a “-2 stars”
Rating: 1 / 5
Anonymous says:
06/16/2010 at 5:49 PM (UTC -5)
Although behaviorism has largely fallen out of favor because of the very limited picture it presents of the psyche, nonetheless people like Pryor persist with the idea that operant conditioning is the solution to all of our problems. This book has very few insights about dogs (indeed, her advice is sometimes dangerously misleading because she doesn’t pay attention to the way dogs are hard-wired to behave). And the advice she gives about modifying human behavior are often unintentionally hilarious. (For instance, she recounts that in order to give herself incentive to get out of bed for an early class, she would feed herself small squares of chocolate.) There is much more to the mental life of dogs than this book would suggest. For a book that does them justice, try the Monks of New Skete.
Rating: 1 / 5
Anonymous says:
06/16/2010 at 5:24 PM (UTC -5)
Sooner or later, this fad will die out, mercifully. Dogs are not dolphins, to train them requires an understanding of who they are, not who we’d like them to be. I am a professional trainer and much of my practice is devoted to fixing problems caused by this book.
Rating: 1 / 5
Bookreader says:
06/16/2010 at 4:15 PM (UTC -5)
This book is great if you want to train animals. It cannot do anything – ANYTHING – other than that. Behaviorism is lifeless and stifling, and causes just as many problems as it “solves.” Pryor, a Skinner disciple, agrees with his philosophy that we have nothing to do with our actions. She states that our own creativity is actually a factor of reinforcement by others or the environment. That’s not really creativity, if you think about it. This book disgusted me, especially when Pryor started her lifeless rampage that we are “evolved social animals,” which may explain why she equates human behavior with animal behavior. She even goes so far to say that sex is a “mutual exchange of positive reinforcers.”
Rating: 1 / 5