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

by Karen Pryor (Author) "A reinforcer is anything that, occurring in conjunction with an act, tends to increase the probability that the act will occur again..." (more)
Key Phrases: using reinforcement, faulty tennis swing, clicker trainers, Don't Shoot the Dog, Developing Super Performance, Cooperation Without Coercion (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"In the course of becoming a renowned dolphin  trainer, Karen Pryor learned that positive  reinforcement (the only kind useable with dolphins, who can't  be reached with leashes, bridles, fists, or yells)  is even more potent that prior scientific work had  suggested. . .This new book looks like the very  best on the subject--a full-scale  mind-changer."--Stewart Brand, The Coevolution  Quarterly .

Product Description
"Whatever the task, whether keeping a  four-year-old quiet in public, housebreaking a puppy,  coaching a team, or memorizing a poem, it will go  fast, and better, and be more fun, if you know how  to use reinforcement."--Karen  Pryor.

Now Karen Pryor clearly explains the  underlying principles of behavioral training and through  numerous fascinating examples reveals how this art  can be applied to virtually any common situation.  And best of all, she tells how to do it without  yelling threats, force, punishment, guilt trips--or  shooting the dog. 8 methods for putting an end to  all kinds of undesirable behavior. The 10 laws of  "shaping" behavior--for results without strain  or pain through "affection training."  How to combat your own addictions to alcohol,  drugs, cigarettes, overheating or whatever, how to deal  with such difficult problems as a moody spouse, an  impossible teen, or an aged parent. Plus. .  .House training the dog, improving your tennis game,  keeping the cat off the table, and much more!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (August 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553253883
• ISBN-13: 978-0553253887
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (120 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #776,653 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

113 of 119 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've just read most of the new version., August 6, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Dallas Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training (Paperback)

All of the reader reviews currently on the page deal with the first edition. I just received the new edition.

First, for those who are looking for a cook book to solve specific problems, this may not be it -- as a response to people who felt mislead by the title.

This ISN'T a dog training book, what it is, is a manual and a philosophy for solving the problems in your life caused by other's behavior, whether it is your husband, your children, your pets, or your co-workers.

The new edition brings in our new research and our ideas. Anecodotes are more relative and talk about people we all know and have met through the click-l list and other internet interactions.

This is definately the definitive book on behavior modification, and it is infinitely readable.

<CLICK> Good job Karen!

129 of 137 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars not just for the dogs, January 29, 2004

By	cammykitty "cammykitty" (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training (Paperback)

I've read quite a few dog behavior, training and intelligence books and always had this on the to read list because of its reputation of being the "bible" of dog training. But I didn't really want to read it because of the title, and hey, the cover isn't too imaginitive either. I know don't judge a book by a cover, but to be honest, reading has a sensual side too -- good clean lines, fits nice in the hands, smooth paper. You bookaholics know what I'm saying.

So, I finally got around to reading this and I can see why people say this book is life-changing. Pryor spent very little time talking about dogs specifically but showed many examples on how these methods could be used with people with disabilities, your own kids, spouse, cat etc.

I'm a trainer's assistant at a dog obedience school, and as I read this, it all looked familiar. It is basically the foundation philosophy of our school. It's a method of communication. A way to build a relationship and communicate what you want from your dog in a positive, punishment-free manner. Reading this book helped me clarify why we at the school do things as we do. And as I finished the book, I was thinking of one of the comments a woman made at a trainer's funeral. The gist was that she had learned from his gentle approach to the dogs, and this had spread to the way she approached people as well.

It's true. "Clicker training" as some people call this training philosophy will spill outside of your doggy life and into other areas... if you come to this as a dog trainer. As a dog trainer, your dog doesn't sit when you say sit. Instead of getting mad and saying sit sit sit! jerking on the collar or pushing on the butt, first you think "does my dog understand 'sit?'" Then you'd break it down into it's components -- sit is an action (head goes up, butt goes down) and responding to the command requires that 1. the dog knows the action 2. the dog knows the word is connected to the action. Then you'd find a way to get your dog past whatever is hanging him up. So, if this is your habitual style of response to other's "mistakes," you will start to develop patience, compassion and clear communication. And those skills will take you far in life.

And extra bonus -- besides learning training methods, you'll read alot of funny anecdotes about frisbee-playing elephants and bell-ringing hermit crabs too.

70 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, intellectually stimulating and fun to read, March 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Don't Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training (Paperback)

I recently bought this book on the advice of a doggy foster "parent", as a prelude to adopting from a local rescue organization. While this is not a how-to or step by step guide for training your dog, it is an excellent and clear book about behavior and how to shape it in a positive way. I was surprised at how much information I found useful for understanding my own relationship with my parents and how to be a better manager. The anecdotes help clarify the concepts, as well as making for very entertaining reading, and I especially appreciated the series of charts comparing different training methods and showing what can work best for a slew of different behavior problems. My next purchase will be a clicker training instruction manual, and I think it will be all the more valuable because Pryor's book has helped me understand WHY positive reinforcement works. Her book really explains the philosophy behind the methodology. Kudos.