I remember my Mum buying this book many years ago. Now she's fostering Chi, she has resurrected it, so I thought I would have a read to make sure it was OK. I downloaded the latest update, which has been edited by Pam Mackinnon (of Talking Dogs Scentworks fame) in 2012. I have only read 31% so far and will struggle through the rest, but I am disappointed at some major flaws in it. I shuddered at a reference to "negative reinforcement" used incorrectly in the earlier pages, but have now reached a whole chapter on it, where he is describing punishment, mostly positive punishment, not reinforcement at all. It astounds me that a founder member of the APBC could make such a fundamental error in both terminology and also understanding of what constitutes punishment - this wasn't new at the time of writing, as BF Skinner described the terms in 1938. Well, I could go on listing reasons not to read this book - introducing a cue before your dog knows what behaviour is expected, advocating raising your voice, using the book as a promotional tool for the noise discs he developed (and calling them "negative reinforcement" - because reinforcement is good, right? )... No. Just, no. I will finish it just to see what other gems it contains, and then tell Mum why she should put it away - or burn it - and suggest something more appropriate.
Is he one of the proponents of throwing noisy stuff at your dog's head when he does something you don't want? I love that almost has much as the "squirt them with a spray bottle" method.
Many years ago I went for a weekend with John Fisher, Robin Walker and a handsome bloke who I cannot remember his name now and cannot remember anything about the course!
