How to Train Your Dog with Love + Science : A Dog Lover’s Guide to Animal Behavior and Positive Reinforcement

Finally: A dog training book that makes sense—for both dogs and humans—using positive reinforcement techniques based on animal behavioral science. For generations, celebrity trainers have preached that dog owners must “dominate” dogs and have criticized people for daring to treat pets with affection. How To Train Your Dog with Love + Science presents a modern and science-based approach to dog training, showing how behavior can be changed without coercion and force. Annie Grossman, a journalist-turned-dog trainer, breaks down what positive reinforcement actually is and makes the case that “good dog training” may even be a window into understanding ourselves. Grossman offers building-block exercises and tips on how to train effectively using the reward-based methods she’s honed over the last decade with clients at her Manhattan training center, School For The Dogs. Whether you’ve just brought a new dog into your home or you’re wanting to teach an old one new tricks, How to Train Your Dog with Love + Science will help you consider what behaviors you want and help you to achieve your goals using techniques rooted in the science of behavior. Woven into this lively how-to guide is the century-long history of positive reinforcement training, from Pavlov’s dogs and Skinner’s rats to today’s apartment-dwelling dogs using Wifi-enabled devices. By employing the easy-to-understand techniques laid out in this book, you will be able to train your dog to live confidently, comfortably, and happily in your world.