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?

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 & Schuster, more than 2 million copies in print) along with several other books and many scientific papers and pupular articles on learning and behavior. (see www.clickertaining.com)

Karen has three grown children and lives in Boston with two clicker-trained dogs and a clicker-trained cat.

Praise for Reaching the Animal Mind: Clicker Training and What It Teaches Us About All Animals…

“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

“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