The Power of Positive Dog Training , livre ebook

Table of Contents
 
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Pat’s Positive Training Principles
 
PART I - Partners in Training: Laying the Relationship Foundation
 
Chapter 1 - Dogs Just Want to Have Fun
Chapter 2 - Train with Your Brain, Not Pain
 
OPERANT CONDITIONING
THE PITFALLS OF POSITIVE PUNISHMENT
THE BENEFITS OF POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
DOGS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN, REDUX
 
Chapter 3 - How Can I Answer If I Don’t Understand the Question?
 
SOFT FEATHERS on a DUCK
A DOG’S-EYE VIEW OF TRAINING
 
Chapter 4 - Let Me Hear Your Body Talk
 
CROSS-SPECIES COMMUNICATION
THE GOOD NEWS
A TWO-WAY STREET
 
Chapter 5 - I Read You Loud and Clear
 
BODY PARTS
MAJOR MISUNDERSTANDING
STRESS AND THREAT SIGNALS
 
Chapter 6 - A New Leash on Life
 
TRAINING EQUIPMENT
MANAGEMENT TOOLS
 
Chapter 7 - The Shape of Things to Come
 
OFFERED BEHAVIORS
ELICITED BEHAVIORS
MANAGEMENT VERSUS TRAINING
 
Chapter 8 - Should You Ever Punish?
 
PART II - The Trick Is in the Training: Basic Exercises
Chapter 9 - It’s All Tricks
 
CHOOSING YOUR CLASSROOM—WHERE SHOULD YOU TRAIN?
THE BASIC TRAINING RECIPE
USING YOUR TOOLS POSITIVELY
 
Chapter 10 - The First Week—Sit Happens
 
CORE EXERCISES
BONUS GAME
 
Chapter 11 - The Second Week—On Target
 
CORE EXERCISES
BONUS GAMES
 
Chapter 12 - The Third Week—Take It to the Limit
 
CORE EXERCISES
 
Chapter 13 - The Fourth Week—Everyone Needs Her Own Spot
 
CORE EXERCISES
BONUS GAMES
 
Chapter 14 - The Fifth Week—Up and Over!
 
CORE EXERCISES
BONUS GAMES
 
Chapter 15 - The Sixth Week—Well, Excuse Me!
 
CORE EXERCISES
BONUS GAMES
 
Chapter 16 - Click! and Jackpot!
 
PART III - Ain’t Misbehavin’: Addressing Behavior Challenges
Chapter 17 - The Poisoned Cue (And Other Important Training Concepts)
 
HABITUATION/LEARNED IRRELEVANCE/ THE POISONED CUE
SALIENCE
BLOCKING
FADING THE LURE
EXTINCTION
GENERALIZATION
CHAINING AND BACKCHAINING
THE PRINCIPLE OF PARSIMONY
 
Chapter 18 - Pees on Earth: Happy Housetraining!
 
HOUSETRAINING IS SIMPLE
WHEN HOUSETRAINING ISN’T SIMPLE
 
Chapter 19 - Canine Social Misfits
 
THEY’VE GOT TO BE CAREFULLY TAUGHT
OUTCOMES
 
Chapter 20 - Don’t Worry, Be Happy
 
CHOOSE YOUR CHEWS
CAN YOU DIG IT?
A BARK IN THE PARK
 
Chapter 21 - One Is the Loneliest Number
 
CANINE SEPARATION ANXIETY
BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION
 
Chapter 22 - A Biting Commentary
 
TOO MUCH STRESS = POSSIBLE BITING
CLASSIFICATIONS OF AGGRESSION
CLASSIFICATIONS OF BITES
 
Chapter 23 - The Green-Eyed Monster
 
RESOURCE GUARDING
PAWS OFF MY PERSON!
DOGGONE IT!
 
Chapter 24 - And Baby Makes Three
 
DOGS AND BABIES
DOGS AND KIDS
 
Epilogue
Appendix I - Doggy Day Planners
Appendix II - Delicious Treats and Delightful Rewards
Appendix III - Canine Activity Contact Information
Appendix IV - Resources
Appendix V - Glossary of Training Cues and Terms
Index
Josie. (Photo by Pat Miller)

Other Books by This Author: Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog (Dogwise Publishing, 2004) Positive Perspectives 2: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog (Dogwise Publishing, 2008)

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Copyright © 2008 by Pat Miller. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2008001313
ISBN: 978-0-470-24184-4

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This book is dedicated to the hundreds of thou- sands of homeless dogs who were my teachers during my two decades of animal protection work at the Marin Humane Society in Novato, California; to the millions who still wait for homes at shelters around the country; and to my beloved husband, Paul, who is, always, the wind beneath my wings.
Acknowledgments
I will be forever and deeply grateful to the many people who have encouraged my obsession with animals over the years, which has led me down life’s path to this book. The list by rights begins with my parents, Janet and Hal Nieburg, who indulged my childhood demands for every kind of animal companion imaginable, from mice and rabbits to dogs, cats, and horses; and it certainly includes my husband and best forever friend, Paul, who continues to indulge those demands to this day.
Also at the top of that list is Nancy Kerns, my Whole Dog Journal editor, who believed in me as a writer long before I believed in myself.
Thanks also to the following people, for being there during those times in my life when I needed guidance and illumination: Diane Allevato, Ray Hill, Lynn Dahmen, Joyce Turner, Betsy Dischel (and Simchah), Karen Pryor, Trish McConnell, Karen Overall, Jean Donaldson, Kim Kilmer, my sister Meg, and, last but never least, my irrepressible dog, Josie.
Foreword
When many of us began dog training, almost every available book spoke of the human-dog relationship in ominous terms such as discipline , dominance , and punishment ; or they used euphemistic terms such as corrections, with dogs needing to be made responsible. If you looked up how to solve a behavior problem, the range of options consisted of different flavors of punishment. There were all kinds of frowning discussions about which implements to use (throw chains, keys, booby traps, noxious chemical sprays, one’s hands or fists), where on the dog’s body to strike him (on the muzzle, the backside, under the chin so he doesn’t see it coming, on the part of his body that committed the “crime”), and what sort of collar to put around the dog’s neck in order to deliver pain efficiently and to startle.
If dogs could read, such books would all seem like some sort of dark science fiction. Dogs are, like all living organisms, just trying to get through their days accessing as much pleasant stuff as possible and avoiding as much unpleasant stuff as possible. In The Power of Positive Dog Training, the book you’re about to read, Pat Miller speaks eloquently of her epiphany, the beginning of her crossover to positive training methods. This is the most profound realization a trainer can have—that gaining control of the reinforcers, the pleasant stuff in the dog’s environment, is as effective a means of behavioral control as administering pain and startle. What a great day it is for dogs whenever a trainer crosses over. And what an especially great day it was when Pat Miller decided to trade in her choke collar for a clicker. Her words and work have inspired so many more who have come after her.
I first encountered Pat’s ideas in her many outstanding articles in Whole Dog Journal —always technically sound, always carefully researched, and always demonstrating a keen empathy for the dog and, somewhat remarkably, for the dog’s owner, a party so often trampled on. There are many dog trainers who, in their heart of hearts, view the dogs as victims, the owners as perpetrators (or hapless middlemen), and the trainer as the hero in the play. The truth is that dogs have not been the only victims.
Owners have been victims of the dearth of correct and accessible information about dogs—about the