A Great Dog Training Book!

I wanted to share with everyone a great book I just finished reading. Reaching the Animal Mind by Karen Pryor.

This book has taught me a whole lot about clicker training and operant conditioning. I actually wasn't all too comfortable with the thought of using a clicker as a reinforcer but the simple and clear explanations given by the author along with some great examples teaches you just what you can do with a bit of shaping.

This might be an excellent read for those that are reluctant to stop using "traditional" means of training dogs such as dominance or force. There are chapters dedicated to talking about the effect of fear on learning as well as explanations as to how the clicker works in the brain.

If you were like me and weren't 100% convinced about clicker training or have some questions about it there is also a whole chapter dedicated to answering some of the most common questions regarding Clicker Training.

Don't be fooled though, even though this is a great book for those of us interested in dog training; the book itself doesn't only deal with dogs. There are examples including horses, cats, fish, ferrets, hermit crabs and even people!

So if you get a chance, I highly recommend you go and see if you can acquire it. I got mine by searching the county library system.

Lastly, if you want to read some parts of the book here's a link to google that lets you do that: Google Preview

Also, along with this book is a site where you can see videos of the examples used in the book. You can see some of those videos here (ordered by chapters): Reachingtheanimalmind.com

I wrote a more indepth review at my forum: Dog Message Board: Book Review

Hope you guys enjoy!