Clicking with Your Dog: Step by Step in Pictures (Book Review)
Clicking with Your Dog is one of those books I wish I had when I had my dog. The concept of training here is simple, easy and scientific. It’s easy thanks to the use of a small clicker that makes a unique sound when pressed. This is scientific because this type of learning is based on “operant conditioning”, a term coined by B.F. Skinner, who was an experimental psychologist and behaviorist.
Clicking is based on the reward system and the owner’s friendly and positive relationship with their dog. The book can be used as a manual and the trainer can pick up from anywhere in the book to learn each trick once the dog gets used to receiving a reward with each click. Unlike traditional correction-based training, clicker training is based on common sense and respect for the dog’s needs and character. The step-by-step illustrations explain the clicking process very clearly, and people who can’t wait to get started can get started right away.
Whether you start with a dog that is still a puppy or a dog with already established behavioral problems, the clicker training program produces impeccable results because the dogs become motivated and eager to learn. By using the clicker, both trainer and dog have fun and learn to bond with each other.
Clicking Your Dog has ten chapters. The first chapter introduces the reader to clicking. The second chapter is the quick start chapter on the tools and skills you and the dog will need. Chapters three and four are about teaching the dog good behavior and practical skills. The fifth chapter shows games and tricks to make your dog useful. Chapter Six is an overview of the click process plus some additional tips and advice.
Chapter seven is about training the dog to avoid disturbing or hurting people. Chapter eight deals with the needs of the dog and its rights.
Chapter nine is a glossary of click tips and terms. Chapter Ten directs the reader to other training resources such as websites, books, videos, clicker training supplies, and dog-related sites and associations.
Whether the author is talking about understanding dog food labels or helping your dog curb unnecessary barking, her delivery is direct, pleasant and very understandable. It doesn’t matter whether the book is read cover to cover or by skipping; the reader’s understanding will remain intact in either case.
Clicking with Your Dog: Step by Step in Pictures is in paperback with ISBN 189094808X. The book is 209 pages with excellent, uncluttered illustrations and easy-to-read text.
The author, Peggy Larson Tillman, worked for many years as an elementary school teacher. She discovered clicker training when she got her dog Charles. She then went on to teach classes to pet owners, developing her visual teaching material in the process. Peggy L. Tillman and her husband Barry Tillman are also pioneers in the science of ergonomics.
This highly effective book with precise instructions and illustrations deserves a place among most other dog training publications.
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