Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$7.75

Paperback
$8.54 - $38.48

Audio CD
$33.00 - $39.95

$38.48

FREE Returns

FREE delivery Saturday, May 18

Or fastest delivery Friday, May 17. Order within 14 hrs 24 mins

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$38.48 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon

Ships from

Amazon

Sold by

Positive Tutors

Sold by

Positive Tutors

Returns

30-day easy returns

Returns

30-day easy returns

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

$8.54

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

Shipped fast and reliably through the Amazon Prime program! Book may contain some writing, highlighting, and or cover damage. Shipped fast and reliably through the Amazon Prime program! Book may contain some writing, highlighting, and or cover damage. See less

FREE delivery May 23 - 29 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Or fastest delivery May 21 - 23

Select delivery location

$$38.48 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Sold by -OnTimeBooks- and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (125) from $1.99 + $3.98 shipping

Follow the author

Karen Pryor

+ Follow

More books from this author

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Don't Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training Revised Edition

by Karen Pryor (Author)

4.6 513 ratings

See all formats and editions

There is a newer edition of this item:

Don't Shoot the Dog! : The New Art of Teaching and Training
$15.48
(2,183)
In stock

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$38.48","priceAmount":38.48,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"38","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"48","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"eGb%2B51g3brWbjj90tc1wYCb0D%2FSTCl%2F3Z6K4LFWhjDuB7Imji79AHdROAi3eLlDCqsPX7%2F7AgHrSzgMwIe8m%2FfI2A7%2FLiYnxtjDXoJOk8Xosr2iht15s8TXhhSV6acRwPTFTU1Qxm3vzW7tSQvXGgxHsu6goq8x8G%2Bfh3aIM77vYUHFp%2FOZOPImJzw3UFpxZ","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$8.54","priceAmount":8.54,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"8","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"54","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"eGb%2B51g3brWbjj90tc1wYCb0D%2FSTCl%2F31Dc9xCZ5SfMxb4S%2F3AKuf5rujzOACKtPlQDgSrzNRmMYDiFHOvvgcFyYuc9X%2BuWnNK9KKzuHzEMwPRLelC9rzWfCqs5S5Xii4bHQm0DKB1qROtm%2B7hMIs8lba33fIZe57wVwroY3xrjb66uKX2Ifu07YqLZw%2F0ne","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

A Better Way to Better Behavior

Karen Pryor's clear and entertaining explanation of behavioral training methods made Don't Shoot the Dog! a bestselling classic. Now this revised edition presents more of her insights into animal—and human—behavior.

A groundbreaking behavioral scientist and dynamic animal trainer, Karen Pryor is a powerful proponent of the principles and practical uses of positive reinforcement in teaching new behaviors. Here are the secrets of changing behavior in pets, kids—even yourself—without yelling, threats, force, punishment, guilt trips...or shooting the dog:

•The principles of the revolutionary "clicker training" method, which owes its phenomenal success to its immediacy of response—so there is no question what action you are rewarding
•8 methods of ending undesirable habits—from furniture-clawing cats to sloppy roommates
•The 10 laws of "shaping" behavior–for results without strain or pain through "affection training"
•Tips for house-training the dog, improving your tennis game, or dealing with an impossible teen
•Explorations of exciting new uses for reinforcement training

Learn why pet owners rave, "This book changed our lives!" and how these pioneering techniques can work for you too.

Frequently bought together

$38.48

Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 21

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by Positive Tutors and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.

+

The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs

$14.36

Get it as soon as Friday, May 17

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

Culture Clash: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding the Relationship Between Humans and Domestic Dogs

$16.92

Get it as soon as Friday, May 17

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Karen Pryor
387
Paperback
65 offers from $7.93
Patricia B. McConnell
3,118
Paperback
197 offers from $1.85
Jean Donaldson
561
Paperback
77 offers from $2.34
Pat Miller
655
Paperback
61 offers from $2.70
Pamela J. Reid
519
Paperback
38 offers from $5.01
Sophia Yin
2,600
Paperback
6 offers from $27.99

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This delightful, clear, and utterly helpful book is for anyone who wants to understand or change the behavior of an animal—whether the animal in question is a barking dog, a nosy neighbor, a hostile cat, or you and your own bad habits."—Carol Tavris, Ph.D., author of Anger

From the Inside Flap

A Better Way to Better Behavior

Karen Pryor's clear and entertaining explanation of behavioral training methods made Don't Shoot the Dog! a bestselling classic. Now this revised edition presents more of her insights into animal--and human--behavior.

A groundbreaking behavioral scientist and dynamic animal trainer, Karen Pryor is a powerful proponent of the principles and practical uses of positive reinforcement in teaching new behaviors. Here are the secrets of changing behavior in pets, kids--even yourself--without yelling, threats, force, punishment, guilt trips...or shooting the dog:

The principles of the revolutionary "clicker training" method, which owes its phenomenal success to its immediacy of response--so there is no question what action you are rewarding
8 methods of ending undesirable habits--from furniture-clawing cats to sloppy roommates
The 10 laws of "shaping" behavior--for results without strain or pain through "affection training"
Tips for house-training the dog, improving your tennis game, or dealing with an impossible teen
Explorations of exciting new uses for reinforcement training

Learn why pet owners rave, "This book changed our lives!" and how these pioneering techniques can work for you too.

From the Back Cover

A BETTER WAY TO BETTER BEHAVIOR

Karen Pryor's clear and entertaining explanation of behavioral training methods made Don't Shoot the Dog! a bestselling classic. Now this revised edition presents more of her insights into animal -- and human -- behavior.

A groundbreaking behavioral scientist and dynamic animal trainer, Karen Pryor is a powerful proponent of the principles and practical uses of positive reinforcement in teaching new behaviors. Here are the secrets of changing behavior in pets, kids -- even yourself -- without yelling, threats, force, punishment, guilt trips...or shooting the dog:
-- The principles of the revolutionary "clicker training" method, which owes its phenomenal success to its immediacy of response -- so there is no question what action you are rewarding
-- 8 methods of ending undesirable habits -- from furniture-clawing cats to sloppy roommates
-- The 10 laws of "shaping" behavior -- for results without strain or pain through "affection training"
-- Tips for house-training the dog, improving your tennis game, or dealing with an impossible teen
-- Explorations of exciting new uses for reinforcement training -- including work with children with autism

Learn why pet owners rave, "This book changed our lives!" and how these pioneering techniques can work for you too.

About the Author

Karen Pryor is a pioneer in the development of force-free training methods, and one of the leading proponents of operant conditioning. Karen continues to have an enormous influence in the animal training field, and is much admired for her influential body of work and generous spirit. She is based in Massachusetts.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

What Is a Positive Reinforcer?

A reinforcer is anything that, occurring in conjunction with an act, tends to increase the probability that the act will occur again.

Memorize that statement. It is the secret of good training.

There are two kinds of reinforcers: positive and negative. A positive reinforcer is something the subject wants, such as food, petting, or praise. A negative reinforcer is something the subject wants to avoid--a blow, a frown, an unpleasant sound. (The warning buzzer in a car if you don't fasten your seat belt is a negative reinforcer.)

Behavior that is already occurring, no matter how sporadically, can always be intensified with positive reinforcement. If you call a puppy, and it comes, and you pet it, the pup's coming when called will become more and more reliable even without any other training. Suppose you want someone to telephone you--your offspring, your parent, your lover. If he or she doesn't call, there isn't much you can do about it. A major point in training with reinforcement is that you can't reinforce behavior that is not occurring. If, on the other hand, you are always delighted when your loved ones do call, so that the behavior is positively reinforced, the likelihood is that the incidence of their calling will probably increase. (Of course, if you apply negative reinforcement--"Why haven't you called, why do I have to call you, you never call me," and so on, remarks likely to annoy--you are setting up a situation in which the caller avoids such annoyance by not calling you; in fact, you are training them not to call.)

Simply offering positive reinforcement for a behavior is the most rudimentary part of reinforcement training. In the scientific literature, you can find psychologists saying, "Behavioral methods were used," or, "The problem was solved by a behavioral approach." All this means, usually, is that they switched to positive reinforcement from whatever other method they were using. It doesn't imply that they used the whole bag of tricks described in this book; they may not even be aware of them.

Yet switching to positive reinforcement is often all that is necessary. It is by far the most effective way to help the bed-wetter, for example: private praise and a hug for dry sheets in the morning, when they do occur.

Positive reinforcement can even work on yourself. At a Shakespeare study group I once belonged to I met a Wall Street lawyer in his late forties who was an avid squash player. The man had overheard me chatting about training, and on his way out the door afterward he remarked that he thought he would try positive reinforcement on his squash game. Instead of cursing his errors, as was his habit, he would try praising his good shots.

Two weeks later I ran into him again. "How's the squash game?" I asked. A look of wonder and joy crossed his face, an expression not frequently seen on Wall Street lawyers.

"At first I felt like a damned fool," he told me, "saying 'Way to go, Pete, attaboy,' for every good shot. Hell, when I was practicing alone, I even patted myself on the back. And then my game started to get better. I'm four rungs higher on the club ladder than I've ever been. I'm whipping people I could hardly take a point from before. And I'm having more fun. Since I'm not yelling at myself all the time, I don't finish a game feeling angry and disappointed. If I made a bad shot, never mind, good ones will come along. And I find I really enjoy it when the other guy makes a mistake, gets mad, throws his racquet--I know it won't help his game, and I just smile...."

What a fiendish opponent. And just from switching to positive reinforcement.

Reinforcers are relative, not absolute. Rain is a positive reinforcer to ducks, a negative reinforcer to cats, and a matter of indifference, at least in mild weather, to cows. Food is not a positive reinforcer if you're full. Smiles and praise may be useless as reinforcers if the subject is trying to get you mad. In order to be reinforcing, the item chosen must be something the subject wants.

It is useful to have a variety of reinforcers for any training situation. At the Sea World oceanariums, killer whales are given many reinforcers, including fish (their food), stroking and scratching on different parts of the body, social attention, toys, and so on. Whole shows are run in which the animals never know which behavior will be reinforced next or what the reinforcer will be; the "surprises" are so interesting for the animals that the shows can be run almost entirely without the standard fish reinforcers; the animals get their food at the end of the day. The necessity of switching constantly from one reinforcer to another is challenging and interesting for the trainers, too.

Positive reinforcement is good for human relationships. It is the basis of the art of giving presents: guessing at something that will be definitely reinforcing (guessing right is reinforcing for the giver, too). In our culture, present giving is often left to women. I even know of one family in which the mother buys all the Christmas presents to and from everyone. It causes amusement on Christmas morning, brothers and sisters saying, "Let's see, this is from Anne to Billy," when everyone knows Anne had nothing to do with it. But it does not sharpen the children's skills at selecting ways to reinforce other people.

In our culture a man who has become observant about positive reinforcement has a great advantage over other men. As a mother, I made sure that my sons learned how to give presents. Once, for example, when they were quite young, seven and five, I took them to a rather fancy store and had them select two dresses, one each, for their even younger sister. They enjoyed lolling about in the plush chairs, approving or disapproving of each dress as she modeled it. Their little sister enjoyed it too; and she had the ultimate veto power. And so, thanks to this and similar exercises, they all learned how to take a real interest in what other people want; how to enjoy finding effective positive reinforcers for the people you love.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0553380397
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bantam; Revised edition (August 3, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780553380392
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0553380392
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.3 x 0.6 x 8.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #177,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #165 in Leadership Training
- #313 in Dog Training (Books)
- #2,820 in Success Self-Help

Customer Reviews:
4.6 513 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Karen Pryor

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Karen Pryor is a behavioral biologist with an international reputation in two fields, marine mammal biology and behavioral phsychology. She is a founder and leading proponent of "clicker training," a training system based on operant conditioning (isolate wanted behaviors and ignore the unwanted) and the all-positive methods developed by marine mammal trainers. Clicker training is now in use world wide with dogs, cats, horses, birds, zoo animals, and increasingly with humans, in the teaching of sports and athletic performances and developing behaviors in autistics.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

513 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all photos

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Bradley Bevers

For Dogs, Kids, Parents, Teachers, and Dolphins

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2011

Verified Purchase

Don't Shoot the Dog! The New Art of Teaching and Training is much more than a training book for pets or animals. It is a book that will teach you how to change your own behavior, your children's behavior, your pets behavior, or even a sea lion's behavior.

This book came highly recommended to me, or I probably would never have picked it up. The title certainly makes it look like just a dog training book, and most of the examples do relate to animals. However, this quick read is also a goldmine of the two best kinds of information: valuable and practical.

The purpose of this book is to convince you that positive reinforcement is the best way to shape behavior. Chapter 2 lays out 10 Rules for Shaping. "Shaping consists of taking a very small tendency in the right direction and shifting it, one small step at a time, toward an ultimate goal." (35) These rules can help you do a variety of things for yourself and others. The personal examples that the author lists through her experiences training marine animals and teaching students hold your attention and are varied enough to appeal to everyone.

Chapter 4 lists the eight methods that you can use to change behavior (the first is Shoot The Dog). These methods are comprehensive and will help you think about how you react to everyone around you. Each of the eight methods include a chart detailing various problems and how to use each method to change them. The problems that are tackled include a dirty roommate, noisy kids on a car ride, lazy employees, a faulty tennis swing, a spouse's bad mood, an ornery cat, and adult children that aren't self-sufficient. Intensely practical problems . . . this chapter will change the way you think about raising your kids. Just being able to visually compare punishment with seven other methods of behavioral change is eye-opening. These eight methods were the highlight of the book for me and helped to shed light on how my reactions were reinforcing negative behavior in others. They are:

Shoot the animal
Punishment
Negative Reinforcement
Extinction
Train an incompatible behavior
Put the behavior on cue
Shape the absence
Change the motivation

The last two chapters detail more real world environments and how these lessons can be applied. The author also answers the objections raised by some that training is a form of brainwashing. She clearly lays out the facts in these chapters and shows that we are always training someone to do something. This book just helps us to be aware of how we are affecting others around us and what to do about it.

This book is highly recommended. It is one that I will refer back to repeatedly in the future.

19 people found this helpful

Helpful

Stephanie Philp

Don't be mislead by the title!

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2010

Verified Purchase

I read the original book some years ago when I'd just started competitive obedience training with my dog. I thought it was about dog training. I've just finished the revised edition.

The truth is it's about changing and shaping behaviour. Whether it be people; partners, children, students, yourself, or animals; dogs, cats, elephants, fish, dolphins, you name it, you can use the principles and techniques in this book to improve relationships and behaviours as well as to train specific skills.

Karen Pryor's work is based on the work of BF Skinner who was a Harvard Professor and largely credited as being the father of behavioural psychology. Pryor's book, however is not some dry theoretical textbook. It's lively, entertaining and with many and diverse examples to inspire you to try out these techniques. It pushes the boundaries of behavioural conditioning (anchoring in NLP terminology) and what you can do with it and applies it to just about any context you can think of; from the way international governments relate to each other, to getting your teenager to keep his room tidy, to teaching a seal to talk! (Yes, really)

A philosophy
Pryor explains the philosophy behind the techniques and answers any questions you might have about `why' positive reinforcement works better than punishment in the majority of situations. While it isn't a step-by-step manual, I gleaned enough to teach my parrot, Shaggy to go to a box, pick up a stick, run through a tube with it and then deliver it to my hand. You can see a video of him doing this here [...]as well as a couple of videos of my puppy, Ragz who is also being taught with these methods.

Pryor has created tables for the eight methods that can be used to get rid of a bunch of undesirable behaviours and explains the pros and cons of each one.

It might be tempting, reading this review to think that the book is about manipulating people or animals. People attempt to manipulate others' behaviour anyway, often unsuccessfully by yelling, punishing, negative reinforcement or ignoring the behaviour (and seething inside!) The information in this book provides you with methodologies that make sense and that you can use immediately to achieve rapid results.

I highly recommend you read it, put the principles and methodologies to use and notice how quickly the relationships improve with the people and pets you have in your life.

17 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Bi Mattiello

Um ótimo livro!!!

Reviewed in Brazil on March 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

Perfeito!
Um livro fácil de ler e compreender.
Vários exemplos em situações com humanos e cães.
Só é preciso tomar cuidado com algumas coisas que ainda era aceitável na época em que o livro foi escrito e que já não se faz mais (spray de água em gatos por ex).

Translate review to English

Leesaw

One of the best dog books available - five bark rating: WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF

Reviewed in Canada on March 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

Every dog guardian should read this book! Positive reinforcement is essential for a good relationship with your dog, and for your dog's relationship to the world at large and this is a good resource and reminder for new and for experienced dog people.

Conducteur prudent

La référence sur le conditionnement opérant

Reviewed in France on October 3, 2002

Verified Purchase

Ce livre très intelligent aborde sous un angle très pratique les méthodes d'apprentissage tel que le conditionnement opérant. L'auteur prend comme exemple ses expériences de dresseuse de dauphins et de chiens. C'est à mon avis le meilleur livre sur le renforcement positif et les différentes manières de l'utiliser.

2 people found this helpful

Translate review to English

Shane

For all trainers!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 18, 2021

Verified Purchase

One of the best books for operant conditioning. Very easy to read and apply. I have a few copies of the book, and now the kindle
version for quick reference!

Cliente Amazon

Páginas de péssima qualidade.

Reviewed in Brazil on April 15, 2017

Verified Purchase

Páginas de péssima qualidade, parece papel de jornal, só que mais fino, fiquei totalmente decepcionado, pois é um livro pequeno e caro.

Translate review to English

See more reviews

Return this item for free

Return this item for free

Follow the author

Image Unavailable