I just wanted you to know i have this book and i love it. I am a trainer of 2 years and a vet tech of 10 years. I am pretty new to clicker training and I am currently clicker training my border collie mix pup. I have found this book fun and easy to use. I am talking more and more about clickers to my students at PETsMART. We offer a clicker class there but there is not a big demand for it...? I am really trying to get the word out about clickers. So far 3 of my students have purchased the book! They have all said good things about it also!
This is my first visit to your web page, glad I found it. I also just watched a clicker puppy video with you in it..from Education Direct.
Thank you for your time and all your efforts!
Denise English
"...immediately bought a dozen to pass on to students."
Hi guys,
Regarding teaching plans, philosophies, etc....How many of you have begun to offer Peggy Tillman's Clicking with your Dog to your students as a course text?
I bought the book at Tuft's Animalexpo, waited at least two weeks to pick it up and immediately bought a dozen to pass on to students. Amazing thing is that I have always recommended DSTD, and have had a copy or two to purchase, but the response from my beginners to Peggy's book has been amazing. Thank You Peggy.
The thing I love the most about it is, eventhough I love batting around theory, definitions, discipline...I cannot bring this part of my obcession to my new students...Peggy reminds us about how fun it all can be, and for me it reminds me to KISS (Keep it simple, stupid). Whew, got longwinded there...anyways, consider the option, and if you do...you can get a good deal on multiples from Sunshine Books.
Tam and Tax
PS...saves me lots of time with homework and handouts!
"There is a great list [of clicker tricks] in a new clicker training book by Peggy Tillman "(CLICKING WITH YOUR DOG, Sunshine Press). In fact, I recommend the whole book, especially for new 'clickerheads,' or for those who would like a brush-up on ways of getting certain behaviors."
...a post from the late Marian Breland Bailey, pioneering student of B.F. Skinner and one of the founders of and leading authorities on shaping, positive reinforcement, and modern animal training.
Five Stars from Kathleen Weaver, owner of Click-l
Clicking with Your Dog is the absolute BEST dog training book I've ever seen. That tells a lot because I think I have the majority of dog training books published in the last 10 years, and have had my hands on the rest (usually those who don't say anything new at all, are the only ones that do not end up on my shelf).
Step-by-step instructions do not describe this book at all. The directions are clearly written and suitable for those from about 5th grade on up to the most educated college professor. It is the illustrations though that make this book. Anyone can literally take this book and a dog, and figure out how to teach each behavior with no problem. It is better than a video tape (while those are good), since the illustrations freeze the position the dog, trainer, and other objects in time.
In other words, each behavior is not only described in words, but the individual components of the behavior are broken down. There are seven illustrations alone for teaching the sit.
I really cannot praise this book highly enough -- if you want to train a dog, but have no conveniently located classes, or if you want to try clicker training, but can't find someone to teach you, this is the book for you.
"Highly recommended..." Library Journal
Clicker training is a method of teaching behavior to dogs using positive reinforcement. The successive approximation of desired behavior is marked with a clicker and rewarded with a treat, a toy, or a pat. Inappropriate behavior is ignored, not punished. In 1985, Karen Pryor published the seminal work on this method, Don't Shoot the Dog (Bantam), and issued a revision in 1999. Both editions are highly theoretical and are aimed at the educated, informed lay reader. Tillman, an ergonomics illustrator as well as a dog trainer and clicker-training instructor, has made Pryor's principles and techniques accessible to the rank amateur. Using easily understandable text and clear, step-by-step drawings, she guides the novice through all the steps necessary to teach dogs almost 100 different behaviors, from basic obedience to housebreaking to tricks. She also applies the principles to the elimination of problem behavior. While Paul Owens's The Dog Whisperer (LJ 10/1/99) covered much the same subject matter, Tillman's book teaches the skills through illustrations. Highly recommended for public libraries. Florence Scarinci, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY
A Must Read Reviewer: Kay Yount (kathrynyount [at] hotmail [dot] com):
"I'm a dog trainer, using operant conditioning (clicker training), and I consider this book a must read for dog owners, and highly recommended for trainers, as well. The information in this book is solidly grounded in theory, and corresponds closely with my own experiences in the field. It's well organized and clearly presented. Every dog owner just starting out with clicker training should read this book. No single book can give you all the information you need, but this comes closest of any I've read. I always recommend finding a good instructor; but, if you can't, then take this book, put it together with Morgan Spector's Clicker Training for Obedience, and, if you want to truly understand the theory, Excel-Erated Learning by Pamela J. Reid. You will then have more information than many current clicker training professionals started out with. Join a clicker e-mail list (find them in Chapter 10 - Resources), and Get Clicking! Your dog will thank you for it, and you'll be glad you did!"
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