Clicking With Your Dog: Step-By-Step in Pictures (Karen Pryor Clicker Books) (Paperback)

9 months on (many books later), and having trained (or at least partially trained ... *grin*) 3 dogs, I'm no longer as convinced that newer operant training methods have as distinct an advantage over classical/traditional methods, as some writers would have us believe. We are discovering that all training methods (including the clicker method) have their respective strengths & weaknesses. What many writers don't say is that much depends on the dog itself or that combination training methods work well too.

But that being said ... the clicker is still the most effective way I have discovered of informing my dogs when an action is approved ... its quick, extremely simple & precise ... one click and the dog knows that it has done right ... no buts, no ifs - that's it!

Depending on time, mood and disposition, voice commands can vary in tone and quality - the clicker is consistency paramount.

When used properly, the clicker is one heck of a communication tool ... and this book's value is that it teaches a beginner very quickly how and when to sound the clicker ...

This is a book consisting primarily of drawn illustrations ... very few words ...

And they say a picture is worth a thousand words - therein lies the secret and effectiveness of this book ... the illustrations are as precise and clear to the reader as the sound of the clicker is to the doggie ... The pictures convey in quite a remarkable manner - a clarity of timing to the reader that might otherwise have been lost had words been used ...

The reader will find all basic commands such as sit, heel, stay & come dealt with in the book, including aspects of (a) how to 'shape', namely, to lead a dog progressively towards a behaviour that is acceptable to the trainer; and (b) targetting, which is teaching our doggie friend how to nose or touch anything we indicate ... teaching a dog to target, allows us to then teach the dog more complicated commands, such as closing doors and turning switches on and off ...

This book is great investment for anyone wishing to start clicker training ... If the reader wishes to progress beyond basic training, or wishes to learn more about how and why a clicker works, then the reader may have to get other books ...

But as start-off manual - this book is one of the best!

Step-by-step instructions do not describe this book at all. The directions are clearly written and suitable for those from about 5th grade on up to the most educated college professor. It is the illustrations though that make this book. Anyone can literally take this book and a dog, and figure out how to teach each behavior with no problem. It is better than a video tape (while those are good), since the illustrations freeze the position the dog, trainer, and other objects in time.

In other words, each behavior is not only described in words, but the individual components of the behavior are broken down. There are seven illustrations alone for teaching the sit.

I really cannot praise this book high enough -- if you want to train a dog, but have no conveniently located classes, or if you want to try clicker training, but can't find someone to teach you, this is the book for you.

This book gets the average American started on the right foot with clicker training. It doesn't bog down the people who "just want to know how to do it" yet directs those of us who can't get enough to further information. It provides excellent guidance to children who are beginning to train and communicate with their dogs. I can only hope 4-H training groups will make it their manual.

The majority of owners who come to see us for assistance with their pet's behavior problems leave with a clicker in their hand. Now they'll be leaving with a clicker in one hand and "Clicking with Your Dog" in the other hand.