Customer Reviews

Dog Problems: The Gentle Modern Cure

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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If you have a dog who is already set in his "ways" this book is a waste of time. The emphasis is on how to prevent your dog from developing bad behavior. Some of the tips are not practical at all and did not work on my dog. The beginning of the book WAS informative, however, and might be useful to a puppy owner or buyer.

This book has a brisk, no nonsense attitude to encourage positive training. I like the easy references (and cross references), so that you can go directly to the behavior you're interested in right away, and also the insightful explanations. A very useful addition to the shelf. They do often proceed from the starting point and may not be able to solve deeply ingrained problems (and of course I disagree with their assertion that shelter dogs are a bad bet; quite the opposite!), but I find it helpful to consult a variety of books when sizing up a situation, and these writers present some original ideas and creative solutions (without clickers or "training" collars).

I have been a long-time dog owner. Despite what I thought was a fairly good grounding in dog behavior, I was recently confronted with a puppy who changed my attitudes about what I knew. In trying to train and work with my dog, Gizmo, I was looking for guidance and help from any source possible. I happened across this book at my local pet supply store. (In fact, I'm ordering another copy of the book because Gizmo ate the first one!) It turned out to be one of the most educational and helpful books I've ever chanced upon. I would highly recommend it to any dog lover who wants some greater insight into their dog's behavior and positively altering with gentleness and understanding.

I'm extremely disappointed in this book, and that the authors don't further address the problem of overzealous barking in dogs. Their advice? Walk the dog more so it's not bored. Yeah... that's great except my dog gets two hours of exercise daily along with tons of doggie puzzles and stimulation and STILL she barks at every noise she hears outside. She barks inside, outside, EVERYWHERE. It seems like she's trying to "alert" me to something. I don't reward the behavior and STILL SHE PERSISTS. And she's otherwise a very calm dog, and definitely not bored. They barely dedicate a paragraph to one of the MOST frustrating and hard-to-fix of all dog problems. I almost want my money back, I'm so irritated. THANKS FOR NOTHING, DAVID AND RUTH WESTON!!!!!!

I have been a long-time dog owner. Despite what I thought was a fairly good grounding in dog behavior, I was recently confronted with a puppy who changed my attitudes about what I knew. In trying to train and work with my dog, Gizmo, I was looking for guidance and help from any source possible. I happened across this book at my local pet supply store. (In fact, I'm ordering another copy of the book because Gizmo ate the first one!) It turned out to be one of the most educational and helpful books I've ever chanced upon. I would highly recommend it to any dog lover who wants some greater insight into their dog's behavior and how to positively alter it with gentleness and understanding.