Customer Reviews

101 Dog Tricks: Step by Step Activities to Engage, Challenge, and Bond with Your Dog

5 star:		(148)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I received this book as a Mother's Day gift from my sons. I train my dog for competition obedience and they thought I might like to have some "fun" things to train. The book is fantastic! There are lots of pictures and easy, step by step instructions for every trick! I love the way the tricks are categorized as being easy, intermediate, advanced and expert, there are tricks for dogs at every skill level. Also, for each trick the prerequisites are listed, some troubleshooting questions and answers and a small section called 'Build On It' that explains how you can build on, or improve, the featured trick! This book is a wonderful addition to my training library! You'll love it!

I suggest buying 3 copies of this book... not 1...
First, because its a great coffee table book... hey, Chelcy (the author's dog) is a Weimeraner - - and both are very photogenic - - on top of it, the graphic design and lay-out of the book are not only sensitive and informative, but very visually appealing... You can feel the excitement and enthuisiasm

Second - - its a fantastic reference book... and the idea of thinking "tricks" instead of cut and dry obedience I think is great for both the trainer and the dog. Though most of the tricks do have elements of obedience to them, they are presented in a way that makes training your dog more fun and lightharded and you're not thinking, "good dog"/"bad dog"/"leash correction" - - In fact, I like the way the author not only has troubleshooting tips for each tricks, but will even give some ideas how difficult the trick is, what tricks need to be learned first, and how long it takes some dogs to learn. - - Also, all descriptions use simple, practical and effective language... The descriptions match up with the photos and the points are gotten across in a way that communicates the ideas to you and teaches you to teach them to your dog.

Finally... buy a third copy because... some dogs *cough* have tendencies to nibble on certain people's reading material, especially when allowed in the bed. (o.k. that's an obedience issue.)

As for the tricks, they range from basic sit/stay/rollover agility type tricks - - to classics like "bring me a beer"/"bring the newspaper" as well as a few parlor tricks/routines. The book also explains standard hand signals as well as commands.

Incidentally - - there I would like a refund for 2 of the tricks. One involves the human doing a handstand, the other a cartwheel... Trust me, if you're the "bring me my beer" trick type, you won't be doing those two...

All in all, this is one book that lives up to its own hype! Highly recommended!

All I can say is WOW!!! This book is very well done, the pictures are so clear and colorful. A great book for beginners or professional trainers.
Each trick is detailed with easy to follow instructions.
I have been a trainer for 30 years and have never found a book like this one!
I am just very impressed!
Kudos to Kyra Sundance and her performing dog, Chalcy!
Debbie Abbenante
Action Pets USA

This is a great looking book, the pictures are lovely. Beyond that, I don't think it's a very good training book overall. The step by step instructions are often lacking clear details to teach the tricks and I find it depressing that the author advocates using physical corrections. For instance teaching shake, she recommends "bopping" the dog in the face if she sniffs your hand instead of pawing and to teach heel she recommends "popping" the collar if your dog strays out of line. They're just not necessary and even gentle corrections can destroy a softer dog's motivation so why include them? Presumably people getting this book want to have fun with their dogs.

There's also no mention of using a clicker in the steps, which I think would make it easier to teach some of the tricks...for instance using shaping if you have a dog who doesn't automatically mouth toys.

Though it is a pretty book, I don't recommend it as anything more than a picture book. It does have some good ideas but a better training book is "The Only Dog Tricks Book You'll Ever Need." I'm glad I bought both of them at the same time so I'm not stuck with this book by itself, though it seems fine with other books so I'm kind of neutral on it I guess.

Edited to add...the more I read this book the more I dislike it. Maybe I'm just stupid but I fail to see how pushing my dogs nose down teaches him to bow. Meanwhile shaping accomplished it in a week. Wish I had known the methods employed before buying this. Just a warning to anyone with similar concerns. Maybe I'm just crazy but I do wonder about the rave reviews here.

This a great book of ideas for tricks that might work for you and your dog if its a large breed and you are already successful at training your dog. The "step-by-step" directions are weak, with little on how to resolve any issues.

The section on retrieving a beer (search on "beer" with Look Inside for page 74) is deceptively simple in a critical step with, "Place the beer can on a low shelf in an open, uncluttered refrigerator and have your dog fetch it." Yep, that's the step-by-step training for that part!

I remember reading recently (perhaps in The Power of Positive Dog Training) about a test done with a couple dogs trained for this trick where the beer was moved in the fridge. One dog successfully retrieved a beer. The other came back with the mayo that was on the shelf where the beer formerly was. The idea of generalizing behaviors is skipped entirely in the three pages of the book that actually talk about training techniques.

If you are starved for ideas or are trying to prep your dog for a job in commercials, this might be a good choice. Otherwise, I'd recommend you keep looking.

Addendum: I recently had The Only Dog Tricks Book You'll Ever Need: Impress Friends, Family--and Other Dogs! delivered and suggest that you take a look at it. I find it to be content rich, oriented to success, and provides meaningful steps for learning complex tricks (including the very important idea of back chaining).

This book has been great!! I am on my 2nd copy, as I gave the first one away to a friend who fell in love with it, and am planning on buying a 3rd copy to send to another friend.

This book is very easy to follow and a pleasure to page through. The photo's are fun, and make it a good pick for kids, who might not enjoy reading directions, as you can pretty much just follow the pictures. It includes hand signals and verbal cues, a lists of previous tricks to be mastered, and skill level. Whenever I run into a problem I go to the 'trouble shooting' section in the margin next to each trick, and it always has anticipated the snag and offers a helpful solution.

So far my chihuahua can sit, lay down, beg, shake hands, twirl, and roll over!! Not bad for a breed known for being yappy and being carted around like Cleopatra in handbags! I have had the book for about 5 months. We work all the tricks every night after her dinner. It's her 'school' and she loves it! I think she has become more confident since we started training. I know she feels very proud of herself when she does it right.

I highly recommend this book.

We had been trying to teach our dog some tricks, but ran into some blockages. This book give suggestions for gradually aclimating your dog to the idea of a trick, and then steps towards accomplishing it (especially with the more difficult tricks). There's also a useful introductory section that has some strategies and just good doggie wisdom. She's been at this a while. Helpful photos.

As someone committed to engaging and challenging my own dogs, I found Kyra Sundance's new book "101 Dog Tricks" a marvelous addition to my library. I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to have fun with their dog: there are easy to advanced tricks to amuse friends or to entertain huge audiences as does Kyra and her Weimaraner Chalcy. Kyra's book covers a wide range of tricks with colored photos of each step in the teaching process. This book is exceptionally well done and is superior to the average trick training books on the market. The photography throughout the book is alone worth the price.

As a dog professional I have a large library of training books. This book has made it to the top of my list as one of the best! I have always encouraged owners to train tricks as a way to build the relationship they have with their dogs. This book has very easy to understand instructions as well as showing which tricks are easy or more advanced. The pictures show the enjoyment of both Kyra and Chalcy. I highly recommend this to all dog owners!!!

This is probably the most clear cut and useful book I have ever seen on dog training. I have 2 copies and am planning to buy a 3rd. I have one at home, in my travel trailer and will soon have one at work as well. I want to keep it at my finger tips. 101 Tricks stays away from tedious, clinical jargon that can make training overwhelming and boring. Yet, the training methods are always positive and humane. The real goal of the book is to strengthen the human/K9 bond, while your dog learns to learn and you both have fun. The trick training instructions require no previous experience. You and your dog can jump in and start working on the simpler tricks and build up. More experienced trainers will also enjoy teaching tricks. It is at the least a list of tricks that you may not ever think of teaching, but don't be deceived. You will find yourself feeling happy, joyous and loving your dog more as you see quick results from the step by step instructions Kyra and Chalcy share. I have even used this book in my classroom as a guide to teach my 5th and 6th grade students to set goals and list steps for acheving them. (I am hoping they will take some tips from it and work with their own dogs at home.)101 Dog Tricks is much more than directions for teaching tricks to your dog. It is a book, as the title says, for challenging, engaging and bonding with your dog. Can't wait for Kyra and Chalcy's next book!
Laura Mitobe