“You are now about to change the way you look at dog training – the only stipulation is that you need to be open-minded, curious and willing to change, because the magic will happen outside of your comfort zone!”
These are the words of Simon Prins, one of the most influential and innovative trainers of the 21st Century, who has constantly challenged the boundaries of what mankind and dogs can achieve together.
His ground-breaking work includes:
• Developing a training programme for radio-guided camera dogs.
• Fitting dogs with sensors, enabling them to carry small robots into operations.
• Masterminding programmes focused on hard surface tracking, laser-guided attack dogs, and detection dogs for special operations.
In a career spanning more than 25 years with the police and military, Simon has developed both the training protocols and often the accompanying technology to advance the fight against terrorism, drug traffickers and other criminal gangs in many parts of the world, and to improve search and rescue missions. Countless lives have been saved as a consequence.
Simon not only talks the talk, he has walked the walk, playing a leading role in many undercover operations in his native Holland. He continues to pass on his knowledge and experience by lecturing worldwide and training special forces units in a number of countries. Along the way he has gained remarkable insights into both dogs and handlers. Dog Training Decoded is a story about bridging the gap between trainers, dog handlers and scientists. It’s about real-life operations, about failure and success. It’s about discovering the value of collecting and analysing data, and how to draw on scientific research. It is a manual on how to train dogs, but it will also give you new insights into training and behaviour and – perhaps the biggest challenge of all – it will help you to motivate trainers and handlers to work with positive reinforcement and to discard punishment as a means of changing behaviour.
In the book, Simon investigates:
• The power of conditioning
• The learning process, and overcoming problems within it
• Motivation and stimulation
• Problem behaviour
• Working with training protocols
• What makes a good trainer?
Simon’s mantra: Training is simple, but not easy.
Simon’s mission: To help every guardian create a harmonious, balanced relationship with their dog, growing together to be the best they can be. <br.
More about the author- Simon Prins is a specialist in animal behaviour and training, with over 25 years’ experience of handling and training dogs for police and military operations. His ground-breaking work lies at the intersection of robotics, sensors, and canine abilities, contributing to remarkable success in a wide range of missions. He has trained a multitude of dogs and handlers from special units across the world, rooted in his firm belief that science can significantly enhance our interactions and work with animals. He became a patrol dog handler after joining the Dutch police force, and in 1996 he set up an innovative K9 research and development project, integrating it with covert operations. This involved conceptualising and developing a training programme for radio-guided camera dogs, a system that has achieved global recognition and application. In 2002, Simon handpicked and trained 16 dogs and their handlers to initiate USAR, a dedicated search and rescue operation.
His pioneering approach took another step forward in 2006 when he began merging dogs and electronics, outfitting radiodirectional canines with sensors and enabling them to carry small robots into operations. Throughout his career, Simon has written numerous training protocols, invented innovative training apparatus, and is in constant demand internationally both as a speaker and a provider of training workshops. He is a staunch advocate of operant conditioning, and is passionate about empowering trainers through tailor-made coaching techniques, seeking to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and practical training to optimise the effectiveness of operational dogs. Currently, Simon leads his own company, ACT!, where he continues to innovate within the remit of police and military K9 training.
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Dog Training Decoded by Simon Print
At the first reading I was delighted: I discovered several new knowledge despite my experience of several years in tracking, odor detection and hunting with pointing dogs. Thinking about it afterwards, I was disappointed probably because of a slight weakness in the organization of this book, in its structure. Then I read the annotations I wrote in the book: happiness! I had to extract all these notes and put them together in a Word document, which is quite large. There is a lot of information that is new to me: Prins explains how to develop a training plan, how to implement it, how long training sessions should be, how to document training; he shares his experience training police working dogs and the behavior of these dogs. He works mainly with positive reinforcement but clearly explains that it is impossible to work only with positive reinforcement. He uses positive punishment in a very supervised manner and only on rare occasions, for example if the safety of the dog or people is threatened. The relationship with the dog is particularly important to him and this is apparent in all his training methods. His training is based on science. This book will be particularly appreciated by those who do nose work or tracking, want to learn more about those activities and who want to structure and document their training. The beginner will probably find sufficient explanations of the theory of learning and its applications in training. I think Dog Training Decoded will be a reference document for me over the next few months. I recommend studying this book. “Bravo!” to Simon Prins.
