--- title: Dog Training & Behavior description: Dog training applies learning theory to everyday behavior. You will learn positive reinforcement and marker training, how dogs learn, puppy socialization, and how to approach problems such as reactivity, separation anxiety and leash pulling. category: personal-development subcategory: pets-and-animal-care difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/dog-training-and-behavior --- # Dog Training & Behavior Dog training applies learning theory to everyday behavior. You will learn positive reinforcement and marker training, how dogs learn, puppy socialization, and how to approach problems such as reactivity, separation anxiety and leash pulling. ## Available Resources 5 Books • 1 Papers ## Books ### 1. Be Right Back!: How to Overcome Your Dog's Separation Anxiety and Regain Your Freedom **Author:** Julie Naismith Owner-oriented guide to treating separation anxiety through gradual desensitization to absences: recognizing true separation distress, managing so the dog is never left over threshold, running and logging short departure sessions, and troubleshooting plateaus. Separation anxiety needs a specific systematic desensitization protocol, not general obedience; this is the owner-facing version. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1999296605?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** separation-anxiety, dog-behavior, systematic-desensitization, behavior-modification, positive-reinforcement ### 2. Behavior Adjustment Training 2.0: New Practical Techniques for Fear, Frustration, and Aggression in Dogs **Author:** Grisha Stewart Grisha Stewart's protocol for leash reactivity, fear, and frustration: letting dogs explore triggers at safe distances, reading stress signals, leash-handling skills, and set-up sessions that build calm choices without corrections. Includes troubleshooting for real-world walks. Reactivity is the most common serious owner problem and this is the most complete force-free owner-usable protocol, frequently recommended alongside Control Unleashed and Feisty Fido in reactive-dog communities. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1617811742?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** leash-reactivity, fear-and-aggression, behavior-adjustment-training, force-free-training, canine-body-language ### 3. The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs **Author:** Patricia B. McConnell Applied animal behaviorist Patricia McConnell compares primate and canine communication, explaining how human habits such as hugging, frontal approaches, and repeated verbal cues confuse dogs, and how posture, movement, and voice can be used to communicate clearly. Covers the reading-your-dog and handler-behavior side that Pryor does not; a perennial canon pick grounded in ethology rather than dominance myths. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/034544678X?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** canine-communication, dog-body-language, ethology, human-dog-relationship, handler-behavior ### 4. Before & After Getting Your Puppy (free eBooks and audiobooks) **Author:** Ian Dunbar Two free PDF and MP3 books by veterinarian Ian Dunbar covering puppy selection, developmental deadlines, socialization, bite inhibition, housetraining, chew-toy training, home-alone preparation, and lure-reward basic manners. No sign-up needed to download. The standard free puppy curriculum: organized around time-critical developmental deadlines (socialization, bite inhibition) that owners most often miss. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.dunbaracademy.com/pages/2-free-puppy-training-books-download-links **Tags:** puppy-training, socialization, bite-inhibition, housetraining, lure-reward-training ### 5. Don't Shoot the Dog: The Art of Teaching and Training **Author:** Karen Pryor The canonical learning-theory primer behind modern reward-based dog training; it explains why marker training works rather than giving recipes. Karen Pryor's account of operant conditioning for non-specialists: reinforcement schedules, the ten laws of shaping, stimulus control, and eight ways to stop unwanted behavior. The foundation text of clicker (marker) training, applicable to dogs and people. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1982106468?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** operant-conditioning, clicker-training, shaping, positive-reinforcement, learning-theory ## Papers ### 1. AVSAB Position Statement on Humane Dog Training **Author:** American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior Primary source that settles the 'positive vs balanced' debate with cited research, so learners can filter the slop-heavy field themselves. Four-page evidence review from the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior concluding that reward-based methods should be used for all dog training, summarizing research on the welfare risks of prong, choke, and shock collars, and advising on choosing trainers. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://avsab.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AVSAB-Humane-Dog-Training-Position-Statement-2021.pdf **Tags:** humane-training, reward-based-training, aversive-tools, veterinary-behavior, animal-welfare ## Youtubes ### 1. Kikopup (Emily Larlham) YouTube Channel **Author:** Emily Larlham Short demonstration videos by trainer Emily Larlham showing reward-based methods step by step: marker training, loose-leash walking, recall, puppy manners, impulse control, calming exercises, and behavior problems such as reactivity and barking. Watching mechanics (timing, reward placement, criteria splitting) is what books cannot convey; this is the free, humane, high-quality video counterpart to Pryor. Hundreds of free tutorials, no aversive methods. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/@kikopup **Tags:** marker-training, reward-based-training, loose-leash-walking, recall, impulse-control, reactivity --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/dog-training-and-behavior