Synopses & Reviews
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?
Review
“A wonderful book that is approachable and user-friendly. A definite must-read for behaviorists, trainers and the general populace.”
--Marilyn Krieger, Certified Cat Behavior Consultant, The Cat Coach, LLC
Review
“Karen has dedicated her life's work to humane and scientifically based animal training and this book provides insights that she is uniquely positioned to supply. Karen's courage, willingness to share, talents as a writer and communicator (and let's face it - downright stubbornness) has changed the lives of millions of animals and hundreds of thousands of humans for the better. This book is a unique gift to the world, with its balance of accessible science and intriguing story telling.”
--Joan Orr, President of Doggone Safe
Review
" Karen Pryor explains positive training methods in an easy-to-understand manner that can be quickly learned by all animal lovers." -- TEMPLE GRANDIN, Ph.D., author of Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human
Review
"Karen Pryor has been at the forefront of humane and science-based training for decades, and this book shows us why. With compelling stories and accessible science, Reaching the Animal Mind is an inspiration for everyone who loves animals and wants to train them with compassion and respect. Whether you're an experienced clicker trainer or someone who just wants their dog to stop barking without having to yell, you really, truly want this book!" -- DR. PATRICIA McCONNELL, author of The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs
Review
"Karen Pryor explores new discoveries in animal learning, looks at old concepts with a fresh perspective, and tells a masterful story throughout. I would put this on the required reading list for everyone who works with or cares about animals." -- KEN RAMIREZ, Shedd Aquarium, and author of Animal Training
Review
"Karen Pryor shows how clicker training has solved problems that traditional training methods could not solve, or worse, that those methods caused. The more that people follow the principles in this book, the better off the world will be." -- JULIE VARGAS, author of Behavior Analysis for Effective Teaching
Synopsis
From the pioneer in the field of no-punishment dog training, comes an illuminating and revealing look into the minds of all animals.
Synopsis
The celebrated pioneer in the field of no-punishment dog training and author of the bestseller "Don't Shoot the Dog!" explains her innovative training method that has changed the lives of millions of animals.
Synopsis
From the celebrated pioneer in the field of no-punishment dog training and author of the groundbreaking bestseller Don’t Shoot the Dog!, Karen Pryor explains her innova- tive training method that has changed the lives of millions of animals.Behavioral biologist Karen Pryor has spent more than thirty years in the business of training animals. First developed for marine mammals, Pryor’s all-positive “clicker” training system is a safe and effective way to modify behavior—by isolating wanted behaviors and ignoring the unwanted—and is now in world-wide use with dogs, cats, horses, birds, zoo animals, and increasingly, humans.
Reaching the Animal Mind explains in clear, accessible language, the background of the ever-widening applica- tion of non-punitive training for animals of all kinds. Pryor introduces us to some of the multitudes that have benefited, including clicker-trained ponies that can surf, a dangerous baboon, a police dog who pulls off a “hat trick,” and, at the Philadelphia Zoo, the world’s gloomiest birds are taught how to play. Thanks to Pryor, readers can teach their own cat how to give a high-five, or get their dog to find the car keys, as well as train their pet to eliminate bad behavior.
Part Animals in Translation, part The Dog Whisperer, this book combines science, mesmerizing stories, and practical how-to information in a book that will become invaluable to anyone who has animals in their life, domestic or otherwise.
Synopsis
From the founder of “clicker” training, the widely praised humane approach to shaping animal behavior, comes a fascinating book—part memoir, part insight into how animals and people think and behave.
A celebrated pioneer in the field of no-punishment animal training, Karen Pryor is responsible for developing clicker training—an all-positive, safe, effective way to modify and shape animal behavior—and she has changed the lives of millions of animals. Practical, engrossing, and full of fascinating stories about Pryor’s interactions with animals of all sorts, Reaching the Animal Mind presents the sum total of her life’s work. She explains the science behind clicker training, how and why it works, and offers step-by-step instructions on how you can clicker-train any animal in your life.
For bonus video clips, slide shows, articles, downloadable exercises, and links expanding on the contents of the book, go to ReachingtheAnimalMind.com.
About the Author
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 igrnore the unwanted) and the all-positive methods developed by marine mammal trainers. Clicker training is not 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.
Pryor is the CEO of KCPT/Sunshine Books, Inc., a publishing, training product and Internet company. In addition to her bestselling Don't Shoot the Dog, Pryor wrote the catagory killer Nursing Your Baby (Simon &
Karen has three grown children and lives in Boston with two clicker-trained dogs and a clicker-trained cat.