Training a Thinking Dog: Inspiring Canine Intelligence and Voluntary Good Behavior, Lecture notes of Photoshop

Download Training a Thinking Dog: Inspiring Canine Intelligence and Voluntary Good Behavior and more Lecture notes Photoshop in PDF only on Docsity!   PREFACE      The title of a book matters. It can profoundly affect the book’s impact and influence. Consider if the first edition of Don’t Shoot the Dog! had instead been called Practical Use of Positive Reinforcement in Human Behavioral Interaction. Such a title is unlikely to have sparked a sea change in the world of dog training. While every dog book author certainly hopes their book will have such far-reaching impact as Don’t Shoot the Dog! has had, I am not so arrogant as to imply this one will (‘though I can dream …can’t I?). Nonetheless, a title is important. I advocated for the title The Thinking Dog despite some expressed concern that its meaning isn’t inherently clear to those unfamiliar with how clicker training works, or that some dog owners might fear training a dog that thinks rather than one that simply “obeys.” But this book is about training that inspires your dog—that ignites your dog’s mind. So let me start by allaying such fears and describe what I mean by a thinking dog. A thinking dog works in partnership with the trainer, offering behaviors for the trainer to pursue, to guide and shape the dog’s actions. Once trained, a thinking dog makes choices—the right choices…for us, and for the dog. A thinking dog chooses to leave untouched the food on the table; chooses to greet the visitor at the door with all four feet on the floor; chooses to chew the toy lying next to the expensive shoe rather than vice versa. A trained dog will “obey,” but a thinking dog goes far beyond obedience to commands. It goes beyond training your dog to sit, lie down, and come when called. While teaching responsiveness to commands is a component of any training, achieving voluntary good behavior—what most of us want from our dogs—is about so much more. It’s about when a dog is faced with options he considers them and