Barking Up the Right Tree: The Science and Practice of Positive Dog Training - Hardcover

by Ian Dunbar (Author)

"I am sure Barking Up the Right Tree will be celebrated as the bible of dog training."
-- Marc Bekoff, PhD, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals and Dogs Demystified

When Dr. Ian Dunbar introduced his SIRIUS(R) Puppy Training in 1982, dog training mostly comprised punishing adult dogs for bad habits and lack of compliance. Dunbar focused on verbally cuing and creatively luring to achieve desirable behavior and using "life rewards" -- sniffing, walking, play with dogs, and interactive games -- to reinforce speedy compliance and good habits from the outset. His "dog's point of view" approach revolutionized the field, and today there are few trainers who have not been strongly influenced by it.

While positive reinforcement is now widely adopted, this new book details how other reward-training techniques have strayed from Dunbar's original, quick and easy, highly effective lure-reward approach for teaching dogs ESL, in which we can verbally cue specific responses, offer heartfelt praise for success, and give guidance when dogs err. With Dunbar's method, we can teach dogs when and where to eliminate, what to chew, when and for how long to bark, and when and how to appropriately let off steam.

Barking Up the Right Tree offers proof that aversive punishment seldom works to eliminate undesirable behavior or to get the dog back on track. Dunbar presents numerous nonaversive yet highly effective solutions for misbehavior and noncompliance -- simply by using the words you teach, and without even raising your voice.

The culmination of 50+ years at the vanguard of dog behavioral science, Barking Up the Right Tree is an indispensable guide for anyone who wants harmonious, two-way communication with a calm, confident, well-behaved, happy canine companion.

Author Biography

Dr. Ian Dunbar is a veterinarian and animal behaviorist who developed the SIRIUS(R) Puppy Training method in 1982, which revolutionized how puppies and dogs were trained. His unique lure-reward, off-leash training techniques provided an alternative to leash jerks, alpha rollovers, training collars, and other aversive means. SIRIUS techniques and philosophy have influenced almost all dog trainers worldwide. Dunbar is the author of numerous bestselling books, including Before and After Getting Your Puppy, How to Teach a New Dog Old Tricks, and Doctor Dunbar's Good Little Dog Book. He lives in Berkeley, California.

DunbarAcademy.com