KAREN Pryor says "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 faster, and better, and be more fun, if you know how to use reinforcement."
And of course she is right. Praise fills the receiver with pride, whereas yelling and demeaning either animals or people usually causes them to lose confidence in their own abilities.
The underlying principles of behavioural training are explained in this very informative book and through vivid examples Karen reveals how they can be applied to most situations - and without yelling, threatening, punishing, or dumping huge blobs of guilt on the victim.
Among the very useful instructions on the use of positive reinforcement are: Putting an end to undesirable behaviour; shaping behaviour with affection training; fighting your own addictions - alcohol, drugs, smoking, overeating, even coffee addiction - you may try to fool yourself, but face it, you know the deal!
Other problems that have been bugging you for years can benefit from such training ... the neighbour's cat that keeps coming in to your house, whingeing teenagers, puppy toilet training, an elderly parent or relative who lives with you, even training yourself to exercise more "get up and go!"
Karen Pryor first trained dolphins, who can not be trained with leashes, bridles, fists, or yelling for obvious reasons, and she fine-tuned her methods to include other creatures and humans.
Every animal owner and trainer needs to read this book. I am thrilled with the prospects of trying it out on all sorts of people (including myself, especially concerning a certain lack of diet determination) - it explains in a humorous way how to influence and shape behaviour using well-timed reinforcement (when reaching for the cookie jar for instance).
This book will be especially helpful to people training service dogs (or ponies), or animals for films or demonstrations, or for the average Joe Bloggs who wants to train his/her pet to the highest level of interaction. It opens the reader's eyes to a new way a training that is based on understanding the principles of behaviour modification, rather than accepting wrong judgements by others that their dog is too stubborn, too dominant, fearful, aggressive, or even the 'wrong breed to train'.
Those words mean little except that the trainer was unable to work with your dog because of lack of ability and education on his/her part. It is not the fault of the animal. Now you can be successful on your own!
Throughout this book the author's priority is the reinforcement of positive behaviour patterns, and she stresses that the method applies equally when training a dog, cat, horse, your kids, or a grumpy neighbour.
The publisher reiterated that "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!"
It was while she was in the process of becoming a dolphin trainer that Karen Pryor learned that positive reinforcement is more significant than scientific work before then had suggested. It was knowledge born of necessity as you can not put a collar and leash on a dolphin, or yell at it and expect it to respond, or punish it for non-compliance.
Yet they responded because they wanted to. She also realised that the methods that had worked so well on the dolphins should work just as successfully on other animals and even other people, and from there she began to test her theories.
Karen Pryor is an excellent writer as well as trainer - witty and concise. She has written articles for New York magazine, as well as Psychology Today, and her other books include Lads Before the Wind: Diary of a Dolphin Trainer; Karen Pryor on Behavior: Essays and Research.
It is rare to find a trainer of this standard who has written such a guide, one that is easy to follow and written in clear, easy to understand language. I could not begin to visualise a dog this method would not work on, but perhaps there are failures somewhere out there.
This book comes highly recommended for someone trying to train a dog or cat, horse, pony, zoo animal, child, parent or spouse. It does not show you how to dominate, but rather it shows you how to inspire the type of behaviour you want by using praise and reward to boost compliance with the rules of the household.
