Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training
Don't Shoot the Dog is Karen Pryor's accessible introduction to the science of behavior and the power of positive reinforcement. Drawing on her background training dolphins and other animals, Pryor explains how rewarding desired behavior, rather than punishing unwanted behavior, can reshape habits in pets, children, coworkers, and ourselves. She lays out the core principles of operant conditioning in plain language, including shaping, timing, and the use of a reinforcing signal, and she catalogs methods for ending unwanted behavior that do not rely on threats or force. The examples range far beyond dog training, touching on relationships, workplaces, and personal habits, which has made the book a favorite well outside animal circles. Practical and often witty, it argues that punishment is usually the least effective tool available. First published in 1984 and later revised, it helped popularize clicker training and remains a foundational text for trainers, teachers, and anyone interested in changing behavior.
What you might want to know about Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A guide to positive reinforcement that shows how to change behavior in animals and people without punishment.
No; the methods apply to people too, including children, coworkers, and your own habits, not only animals.
Positive reinforcement, rewarding desired behavior rather than punishing unwanted behavior, drawn from operant conditioning.
Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training was written by Karen Pryor, published in 1984 by Simon & Schuster.
Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training is 240 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training takes most readers 4 to 5 hours to finish.
Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
