Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Fun & Tricks with Your Dog

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It covers the basic obedience training, with a humane approach and of course gives you step-by-step directions to teach your dog lots of tricks. I started teaching my 3-month old labrador with it and now at 6 mo.I'm amazed how fast she learns. It tells you how to teach your dog to bring the newspaper, turn off the lights, bring her leash, sing, dance, play hide-and-seek, bring a soda from the fridge and the basics: sit, down, stay, no, walk, wait, etc.The author tries to sell her leash and clicker (not needed) but anyway it's a great book.

Wow! What a great and easy way to train your dog! My little Westie has avoided all previous attempts to get her to "fall in line" but using Hodgson's techniques and a little patience my dog is now well mannered and behaved. The text is easy to read and the examples and exercises are even easier to follow.

I higly recommend this book to anyone who is getting started with a new dog or trying to "teach the old dog a new trick"!

A really good book, but as I said above, just two things wrong with it. First, it doesn't give any advice on what to do if your dog KNOWS what to do, but won't. Or if your dog doesn't learn using the method shown. Second, and I realize this isn't a huge problem, it just irritates me that almost the exact same book is published under the title 'Dog Tricks for Dummies'. That annoys me for some odd reason.

I have used Hodgson's tips to teach my 10-month Sheltie to ring a bell to go outside, to shake and to chase his tail. I have not yet been able to convince him to do much else. For example, he knows what roll over means, but begins to bark and dance around instead of doing it. I personally think he feels "out of control" when rolling, but there is little help in the book about how to approach things when your dog understands the command but executes it only under duress.

I borrowed this book from the library and decided I needed my own copy. I found on Amazon for only four dollars! Couldn't be happier!

The book is written nicely and great for beginners.