What I’m Reading: Don’t Shoot the Dog!

Don’t laugh. After a day spent training bird dogs, guiding grouse hunters or competing in field trials, you might think I’d want to read some easy fiction—a Randy Wayne White book or the newest Daniel Silva. Betsy teases me:  “How can you possibly want to read about dogs?”

While I do, occasionally, read fiction or other types of nonfiction, I really do love to read about dogs, birds and training.

One of the more successful ways to train a dog uses the principle of training with reinforcement. Don’t Shoot The Dog! by Karen Pryor is a 2009-revised edition of a book originally published in 2002.

Reinforcers may be positive, something the learner might like and want more of, such as a smile or a pat, or they may be negative, something to avoid, such as a yank on a leash or a frown.
 ~ Karen Pryor   

While a good share of this book advocates training with “positive” reinforcement, Pryor explains the proper use of “negative” reinforcement to modify behavior. She makes excellent distinctions between shaping, extinction, stimulus control and clicker training. She does so in a practical as opposed to a theoretical manner and uses anecdotal examples to make her points.

The trick to making “No!” effective is to establish it as a conditioned negative reinforcer. For example, anyone who feels it necessary to use a choke chain on a dog should always say “no” as the dog does the wrong thing, and then pause before yanking on the chain, giving the dog a chance to avoid the aversive by changing its behavior.
~ Karen Pryor

This book is informative and an easy read. It’s beneficial to anyone trying to train dogs—or, for that matter, any creature.