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Reaching the Animal Mind: Clicker Training and What It Teaches Us About All Animals |  | Author: Karen Pryor
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $15.68
as of 11/21/2009 22:16 MST details
You Save: $9.32 (37%)
New (26) Used (5) from $15.68
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Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 19787
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 272
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0743297768
Dewey Decimal Number: 591.513
EAN: 9780743297769
ASIN: 0743297768
Publication Date: June 16, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Karen Pryor has improved the lives of millions of animals. A celebrated pioneer in the field of nopunishment animal training, she introduced an innovative training system in her groundbreaking bestseller Don't Shoot the Dog! Now, after thirty years of training creatures both tame and wild, Pryor presents the sum total of what she knows about teaching animals and what they in turn have taught her.Pryor's all-positive clicker-training system is a safe, effective way to modify and shape behavior. Karen can teach anyone to train animals with a cheap, plastic, handheld clicker, rewarding wanted behaviors -- click! -- and ignoring the unwanted. No leash-jerking. No pushing. No smacking. Animals quickly learn that one behavior gets them a reinforcing click and a bit of food, and undesirable behaviors get them, well, nothing at all. Given the choice, animals quickly focus on what works and abandon what doesn't. Reaching the Animal Mind uses clear, accessible language that will allow anyone to master Pryor's training system. Pryor also entertains by introducing some of her more interesting pupils. Ponies are taught to surf, gloomy birds learn how to play, a rhinoceros routinely leans against a fence for a pedicure, and dogs learn everything with pointed ears and shining eyes that seem to say "You want what? I can do that; watch me!" Throughout the book, Pryor provides Web addresses where the reader can access video of the actual training sessions that she describes. Practical and engrossing, Pryor explains the science behind her system, how it works and why it works, its applications for teaching humans, as well as step-by-step instructions on how to clicker-train your cat to give you a high five or your dog to find your car keys. What could be better than that?
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 53
 A large amount of information November 19, 2009
D. Hamilton (Connecticut, United States)
Let me start by saying that this book is NOT a quick read. If you are looking for a book about how to use a clicker for training your dog, you will find some valuable information here, but it's not a quick training guide. This book goes into detail about training SEVERAL animals, not just dogs. She goes into major detail about the psychology of animals and positive enforcement. Although I loved all the information and agree with a lot of her tactics. I thought I was getting a quick guide to how to train my dog with a clicker. I went out and bought a clicker, and before I read the book, I used the clicker and my two small dogs looked at me like I had a new toy and they wanted to play.
It wasn't until I read the book and started using her technique they understood what it was all about. So I have to say that what she is saying in the book really does work, but I didn't want to read so much information for what I wanted from the book. Although it is good information to have, it just isn't a read and go book. Now that I have a good idea on how animals think, if I ever decide to work at a pet store or a zoo, then at least I know what I'm doing now.
 Brilliant! October 31, 2009
Allie (Chicago)
A wonderful read for all animal lovers!
This is a really insightful look into how to understand the thoughts and feelings of many different species. She shows how clicker training is a tool for all mammals - even humans!
I really love her videos, and I can't get over the video of the fish who throws a small tantrum when he is not rewarded for his trick. She manages to show that all sorts of animals we think of as "dumb" actually have a lot more going on in the head.
This book is great for a general breadth of knowledge, perfect for training nerds like me. It's also great for animal lovers of all kinds. She focuses on showing examples from many different species, so someone who is only interested to a fast track guide to training their dog might not get what they want here. Her methods work great on aggressive dogs and other doggy misbehaviors, but that is not the focus of this book. (If you have a new puppy I'd suggest Ian Dunbar, a fearful dog - Leslie McDevitt, a aggressive dog - Emma Parsons, etc.)
The book is mostly about proper treatment of animals with clicker training thrown in. October 11, 2009
Reuben Gathright (United States)
Clicker training is an important concept to master if you want to quickly control the behavior of your family pet whether it be a Labrador, Mastiff, German Shepherd, Border Collie or even a Chihuahua.
Giving the dog a treat after a good behavior is simply not enough when you want repetition from the animal. Karen Pryor explains to us how to condition animals with a clicker to get not only faster responses to training but also a repeated response the next time. My only problem with this book is the overall negative condescending tone that confronts the casual reader. I feel that this could discourage the reader by making them feel guilty for treating their animals in any other way than what Karen wishes them to.
Overall you are going to buy a book filled with real world clicker training examples and will walk away with a deeper understanding of what it takes to make your animal happier. I gave the book a strong four stars because I just did not feel it was perfect due to the reasons outlined above.
Fascinating look into human/animal communication October 11, 2009
Digby (New England)
This is an utterly engrossing book for the true animal lover. It is not a "how-to" book for dog training, though Karen provides a short chapter on getting started. The book is, exactly as it is titled, on how clicker training enables and facilitates inter-species communication. As well as clicker training uses in sports training and working with autistic and other communication challenged people. I was fascinated by her research into the science underpinning the
"why" of the clicker's power. This will enable me to answer much more cogently people who don't see what the big deal is. PS I trained my dog to read several words using clicker training - words are visual symbols, after all..!
A fantastic "must read" for all animal lovers October 4, 2009
D. Bassett (California)
This is a valuable addition to Karen Pryor's previous books about animal training and behavior. It includes warm stories about her early experience working with dolphings, porpoises and whales, and goes on to cover aspects of communication and feelings in animals. She shares new understanding of the neuroscience behind conditioned reinforces, and using these methods to help humans learn, too (TAG teaching). It's readable, humble, enlightening, and I could not put it down. It's a must-read in my opinion. In fact, read it twice.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 53
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