--- product_id: 577941 title: "Don't Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training" price: "VT12199" currency: VUV in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.vu/products/577941-dont-shoot-the-dog-the-new-art-of-teaching-training store_origin: VU region: Vanuatu --- # Don't Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training **Price:** VT12199 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Don't Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training - **How much does it cost?** VT12199 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vu](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/577941-dont-shoot-the-dog-the-new-art-of-teaching-training) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description 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. Review: For Dogs, Kids, Parents, Teachers, and Dolphins - 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. Review: Great writer -- this book rescues her field - Karen Pryor is a terrific writer. This book is an excellent summary of the field of behavioral science, a field that is largely misunderstood. I certainly didn't appreciate its value until I read this truly excellent treatment of the topic. Before I read this book, I had a general bias against behaviorism. I had heard that some behavioral techniques had gotten good results for some types of mental problems, but it seemed inappropriate to apply such simplistic ideas to humans on a regular basis. Boy, was I wrong! Pryor explains in this slim, fun-to-read volume that behavioral science is real and important. Behavior has its own set of rules, and we are subject to them just as surely as we are subject to the laws of gravity (regardless of how well we understand either). Pryor understands these underlying principles very well, and has a wealth of knowledge about how to apply them. This short book covers so much! It provides an excellent overview of the laws that govern the behavior of all creatures. It gives us a short course in animal training, pointing out the differences among animals. (Training cats is very different from training dogs, training dolphins, Pryor's specialty, brings additional challenges, elephants are incredibly smart; there are some wonderful animal stories in this book.) And it's a really nice short course in how to apply the laws of behavior and the options for reinforcement to our own lives. Pryor makes it clear that much of our character and many of our actions are shaped NOT through language or understanding but through our experiences. Pryor's clear explication of exactly how this works gives us a new language to think with and to experiment with. It was really eye-opening to me. A better understanding of behavior and reinforcement gives us a whole new toolkit to explore. Both a realist and an optimist, Pryor writes absolutely delightful prose. It's uplifting and inspiring, which is pretty amazing for a book that also shows just how far we are from having a good shared understanding of this topic. This book makes a huge contribution toward rescuing an underappreciated body of knowledge. ## Features - Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #118,289 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #55 in Leadership Training #140 in Dog Training (Books) #1,848 in Success Self-Help | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 523 Reviews | ## Images ![Don't Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71UWQas3dqL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ For Dogs, Kids, Parents, Teachers, and Dolphins *by B***S on March 18, 2011* 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. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great writer -- this book rescues her field *by S***H on July 5, 2006* Karen Pryor is a terrific writer. This book is an excellent summary of the field of behavioral science, a field that is largely misunderstood. I certainly didn't appreciate its value until I read this truly excellent treatment of the topic. Before I read this book, I had a general bias against behaviorism. I had heard that some behavioral techniques had gotten good results for some types of mental problems, but it seemed inappropriate to apply such simplistic ideas to humans on a regular basis. Boy, was I wrong! Pryor explains in this slim, fun-to-read volume that behavioral science is real and important. Behavior has its own set of rules, and we are subject to them just as surely as we are subject to the laws of gravity (regardless of how well we understand either). Pryor understands these underlying principles very well, and has a wealth of knowledge about how to apply them. This short book covers so much! It provides an excellent overview of the laws that govern the behavior of all creatures. It gives us a short course in animal training, pointing out the differences among animals. (Training cats is very different from training dogs, training dolphins, Pryor's specialty, brings additional challenges, elephants are incredibly smart; there are some wonderful animal stories in this book.) And it's a really nice short course in how to apply the laws of behavior and the options for reinforcement to our own lives. Pryor makes it clear that much of our character and many of our actions are shaped NOT through language or understanding but through our experiences. Pryor's clear explication of exactly how this works gives us a new language to think with and to experiment with. It was really eye-opening to me. A better understanding of behavior and reinforcement gives us a whole new toolkit to explore. Both a realist and an optimist, Pryor writes absolutely delightful prose. It's uplifting and inspiring, which is pretty amazing for a book that also shows just how far we are from having a good shared understanding of this topic. This book makes a huge contribution toward rescuing an underappreciated body of knowledge. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Don't be mislead by the title! *by S***P on November 14, 2010* 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. ## Frequently Bought Together - Don't Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training - The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs - Culture Clash: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding the Relationship Between Humans and Domestic Dogs --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.vu/products/577941-dont-shoot-the-dog-the-new-art-of-teaching-training](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/577941-dont-shoot-the-dog-the-new-art-of-teaching-training) --- *Product available on Desertcart Vanuatu* *Store origin: VU* *Last updated: 2026-06-05*