Product Description

Great news for those of you who have wanted to read a book that explains animal learning in a manner that is easily understood and entertaining. With the freedom of understanding 'how your dog learns' comes the ability of making the process easy, efficient and enjoyable for your dog. You'll be in a position to excel-erate your dog's learning! Agility enthusiast, obedience competitor and psychologist Dr. Pamela Reid introduces you to cutting-edge scientific techniques in dog training including, autoshaping retrieval (i.e., letting the dog train itself), and 'errorless discrimination learning' for teaching scent articles and directed jumping. The combination of a relaxed writing style and numerous examples that relate to dog training makes learning theory actually fun to learn.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53218 in Books
• Brand: James & Kenneth
• Published on: 1996-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .80 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 172 pages

Features

• Classical conditioning
• Operant conditioning
• Factors that affect learning
• Aversive control of behavior
• Behavior modification techniques

About the Author
Pamela Reid earned her PhD in Psychology from the University of Toronto, where she specialized in animal learning, behavior and cognition. Dr. Reid teaches at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph. Dr. Reid is a certified animal behaviorist and operates a Toronto-based private practice for problem pets. Pam competes in agility, obedience and flyball and lives with Shaahin (the Saluki), Ciaran (the Border Collie), Eejit (the Border Collie/Border Terrier mix, and Carmen (the cat).

Customer Reviews

Fascinating reading
Very well written with good, specific examples. Presents a very well-rounded historical perspective about animal behavior in both scientific and practical examples. I have already read it a couple of times to allow all of the info to sink in. There is a LOT here!! It has very useful information whether you are a professional trainer or just fascinated by animal behavior. Buy this book and be nice to your dog.

For the serious student of dog training.
Dr. Reid's book is the next step to take after you think you understand what operant conditioning is all about. You'll find that you didn't know it all! She explains complex concepts in an accessible manner, with many excellent examples. It's a book to keep handy for those times when you just can't remember what negative punishment is!

Learning Theory You Can Understand
This book is a very thorough presentation of learning theory. Yet, by referring to experiments and to dog training, the author makes a difficult subject very approachable. I had a number of "ah-ha!" moments and will re-read to get more out of it.

I was concerned about all the abbreviations I saw when browsing the book, but they are not used to such excess that you get lost/confused.

As I said, the book is thorough, so it does present the negative end of the scale -- aversives and punishment. I understand why the author had to include this information, but it is still difficult reading for those of us who consider our dogs our friends -- and who applies electric shock to their friend? I only wish she had placed the caveats of using these methods at the beginning, rather than at the end, of their respective sections.

If you are looking for more depth and science than found it dog training books or "Don't Shoot the Dog," in a book that won't bore you to tears, get a copy of Excel-erated Learning, well worth it's reasonable price.