Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 26-30 of 112
 A must for every responsible dog guardian... trainers, too! January 29, 2007
dog res q r (Long Island, New York)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
One of the very few books that present a truly balanced approach for training your dog... or cat... or wife... or husband or your pet tiger. Yes, I am not making that up. That's right from her introduction. Just like children, "raising" a companion animal has to be a balance of both negative and positive responses to behavior. It's not all positive and definitely not all negative...and run away from any book that says otherwise. Ms. Pryor is a legend in the field and is most famous for her work with dolphins. (Try her, Lads Before the Wind for her experiences with Dolphins.) I work with Huskies and Malamutes and they are famous for their intractability. It's not that they can't learn, it's that they don't choose to perform simply because someone is asking. So you have to "encourage" them. And sometimes it's a treat and sometimes it's a scold. But it's never ever angry. Not sure she invented "shaping" but she provides an excellent discription. (if you've seen Eight Below, you've witnessed dogs that are performing actions that were taught as a series of simpler actions that were stacked as they were learned. Incidentally, although I use clicker training, I don't use a clicker. I lose stuff. I use a short word and use that word only in training. I also use thin parachute nylon chokers that are carefully fitted to just barely slip over the dog's head and rest high up, just behind the ears. You never take them off. I like them much better than choke chains, which can be dangerous if used incorrectly and MUST be removed especially in a multi-dog household.
If you only had one book on training, this arguably would be the one. And for those wondering whether to buy the "white cover" or the "blue cover" editions, they appear, to the best of my abilites, to be almost identical. The difference (other than the color of the cover) is the last page. The "new" edition lists Ms. Pryor's web page. You could get that simply by googling... who'da thunk that google would become a verb.
A must for animal trainers, but a great book for anyone January 10, 2007
Melissa Chalek (Cranston, RI USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you have any interest in animal training, from your pet to exotic animals, this book is a must read. Karen Pryor is an authority on training through positive reinforcement, and this is a great introductory book.
When I began my career as an animal trainer, this book was recommended to me as a good starting point. Not only did it organize all of the basic information on animal training, but it also gave great insight on how to use positive reinforcement in your daily life.
Even if you have no intention of ever training an animal, this book can still be of great value for dealing with children/parents/bosses/co-workers.
Buy this book BEFORE you buy any other Dog (or any animal) Training Book!!! January 10, 2007
S. Dvoskin (Summitville, NY USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is exceptional and should be the first book you read if you're considering any kind of opperant (clicker or similar) training for dogs or any animal. It's clear, concise, and gives good foundation information without talking down to you. I'm a huge fan of Karen Pryor after reading this book. It's helped me tremendously working with animals as different as dogs and horses... Can't recommend it highly enough! I've actually bought additional copies and given them to friends because it's that good and helpful. Buy this book!!!
fantastic intro book December 23, 2006
R. Petruzzi
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I owe a great deal to the man who gave me this book several years ago, it was a wonderful way to be introduced to the world of positive reinforcement and different types of training tools. This isn't a "training bible", and shouldn't be read as such; but Karen offers fabulous insight into the world of training that can be useful to anyone. I know that it opened my eyes, and as I am now a professional horse trainer I have been able to further expand on and apply the techniques in this book. A great buy and a worthy read, I highly recommend it.
 Disappointed... December 8, 2006
T. Mc Larty (Milwaukee, WI)
11 out of 18 found this review helpful
As a professional trainer, my collegues often talk about Pryor. Raving about her. If you review her book carefully YOU are the one who has been trained...Trained to buy into her philosophy. As you read this book note how she carefully switches terminology to present her techinques positively and vilify anything that dosent agree with her.
This book was groundbreaking...when it was orginally written in 1984, 20 years later, its a bit behind the times. So much new work has been done in this field. And there are much more insightful and engaging books out there. As one of the other reviews stated this is not a dog training book. It is more of a behavioral modification philosophy. Pryor has some good tips and techniques, but nothing that impressed me.
I had a difficult time finishing this book, I found it very boring. At times her philosophy eluded to manipulating TOTAL control over behavior. I train my dogs with positive techinques to behave well, not be robots. As a result I have an entire wall full of obedience, agility and flyball ribbons and titles. It is possible to overtrain the indivuality right out of an animal or person. Do you really want that??
I think this is a case for pop culture. A group of people are impressed by her philosophy, so everyone else jumps on the bandwagon. Losing their ability to be objective. Pryor is good, but I dont feel she deserves the reputation Pop culture masses have given her.
She spends far too much time telling stories, and anicdotes, and not much time discussing techniques. For a 200 page book she could have thoroughly discussed her philosophy in 50 pages. The rest is filler....
Everyone is entitled their opinion, and has different expectations. Pryor fell far short of mine.
|
