Customer Reviews

Good Dog, Bad Dog, New and Revised: Dog Training Made Easy

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have used this book before for the helpful tips and advice it offers, and alot of it does work! I started off with a little trouble maker and at the end of all the hard work, and with alot of help from this book I now have a perfect little angel. I had a very difficult breed to train, she is a Blue Point Beagle. No matter what the breed regardless, mixed or purebred, this book has a lot of suggestions for any type of breed, and temperament. Before you look at any other book, I do strongly suggest this one. You won't be disappointed with the results!

Esther Gzesh

I was suprised how easy it was to teach my 135 pound dog to heal. I have been draged by him for the last 3 years. He healed the first time I tried the method used in this book and it was so easy! I could not believe it. I had to have my kids try it too. It was worth every dollar I spent....

as a dog trainer & affecionado, i find this book a must-have, since it acknowledges the different training methods for different temperments of dogs. this is the only book i've read (out of more than i can count!) that goes into detail on the different corrections & praises appropriate for each temperment of dog. surely you cannot correct a dominant rottweiler the same way as a skittish yorkshire terrier! this book also gives recommendations to the most common behavior problems. he also has a brief synopsis with training recommendations for the most common breeds and i have yet to have come across a breed to train that is not in this book. if you buy only one book, buy this one! (if you buy two, buy "mother knows best")

Thank goodness I got this book when I did! We bought it because we just got a new addition to our family that will live inside with my wife and myself - a blue standard poodle named Pepper. Surely, without having read this and modifying our behavior, this puppy would have thought his name was "no" instead of Pepper. My wife would also have remained subordinate to Pepper in our "pack." It is packed with such good information for dog owners who want a well-behaved dog. It would pay anyone even planning to get a new puppy to read this book "prior to" the aquisition as it contains valuable behavioral information on 100 different breeds the authors have had first hand experience with in training. Even if you plan to teach your dog (old or new) just a few of the basic commands, there are right and wrong ways to do even that. A must read for folks who care about dogs!

This is the best book I have found that uses the kind of method every dog owner should practice. In just 4 days my schnauzer has stoped chewing on things other than her toys. The book discribes in detailed step by step method to break bad habits and creat peace of mind with the master.

Before I give my review, a few facts. Dogs are the first domesticated animal, with humans selectively "designing" canis familiaris, beginning somewhere around 14,000 to 200,000 years ago. So it should come as no surprise that with that kind of conjoint relationship, we selected for attentive behavior. They've helped us hunt our food, herd and protect our flocks and us, and acted as companions.
What's it all mean? It means that most dogs are really easy to train. Almost anything works. Food rewards, placing the animal into the desired position, operant or classic conditioning (clicker training) or punishment. The operative word in that last sentence is "most." I've read most books on dog training and almost any of the techniques offered will work with some dogs. But you don't want your dog trained! You want your dog obedient. It sits. Terrific. Does it sit when it wants to or when you want it to. Do you say sit, sit, sit, sit.... Do you plead with your dog to come? Do you have to lure your dog with a treat that's visible? Then you don't have an obedient dog. You have a dog that has been trained to do certain things and it will do them when it chooses to. I call those dogs dead. Because the first time that dog gets out of the house and sees little Tommy riding his scooter, your dog is going to take off and get run over. The dog is going to think, hmmm, piece of cheese or run after Tommy (or a bunny or another dog or an ice cream truck)Tommy often wins the toss.
We seem to have developed a softer, kinder view of training. Hooey. K9 cops, the military and SAR dog trainers don't use these techniques. Why. They are not reliable and when you tell your dog to sit/stay or come, you want reliable. Your dog's life may be at stake. One of the more popular books, talking about R+, which means positive reinforcement, slips in a sentence in the middle of the book, that goes something like, "of course in certain situations where the dog's life may be in danger, corrections may be necessary..." As to Dolphins trainers who use clickers or whistles and are trying to convince you that the same techniques can work with dogs, don't you believe it. Let me see them go through their paces, with the tank filled with food fish. You are training so that your dog will ignore distractions and pay attention only to its handler, you. That's what this is all about. If you don't mind being pulled down the block or fighting your dog for your favorite position on the couch, then pass this book up. And if you are not prepared to really, really correct the dog when it lunges at another dog, then just go watch some tv. This book tells us to do with dogs, what we do(or should do) with our children when they don't pay attention. (No, I am not advocating choke collars for kids - but come to think about it, it's not such a bad idea!) The dog is "corrected" with a brief, but clearly recognizable (to the dog) snap on a choke collar. And when the dog does what we ask it to, we make an exaggerated and very loud, GOOD DOGGIE." We don't hit the dog, we don't destroy it's spirit, we are teaching the dog that it needs to do what it knows how to do, when we want it to do it. And the book makes it clear that there are different kinds of dogs and therefore different approaches. Pay attention to what kind of dog that you have. You don't correct an adolescent Lab the same way I would correct a 7-year old poodle you just took home from the pound, and I wouldn't correct a very sensitive, "soft" or scared dog the way I would a dog that is obstinate. This is a 5 star book. It isn't the only book you should have, though, It leaves out hand signals and I use them extensively and it leaves out, as one reviewer points out, the "leave it" command. It also leaves out the "get the tire" , "get the bone," "get the toy" and "move over" commands which I've taught my GSD after she went through obedience training with this book. Use food for tricks. If the dog doesn't do the trick, no harm done. But when you say, "Fido come." Fido should come - immediately, without a pause, without looking around, without deciding whether there's something else it would rather be doing. Once your dog has basic on-leash obedience training, the sky is the limit on what the dog is capable of.

This book is great if you have a dog that is having problems with obedience. It keys on different dog personalities and ways for the dog to become obedient. However, this book falls short on several items. For example, it fails to give the importance of hand signal commands and verbal commands at the same time. (It does list it on some commands but not all). My two golden retrievers listen more to our hand commands than they do our words and tone. Secondly, it misses some other minor, but important commands. My favorite is the "Leave It" command, that is not listed in this book. We use this one on walks, when our dogs want to pick up every leaf and piece of paper left on the ground. This has to be one of the most effective commands that I have needed.

I would highly recommend getting a couple of dog training books rather than one. I haven't found one that gives me all the information that I need. If you are looking for a great second book, I would recommend "Good Owners, Great Dogs". Happy training.

I used the 1st edition to train a Bouvier pup and 2 adult mixed breeds. I'm getting the 2nd edition for my new Shepherd pup. This is by far the best written manual for understanding the behavior of various breeds as well as individual dogs, and for using this understanding in training your dog.

There is some basic good information in this book, but there are many out dated methods also. I like using positive techniques and this book suggests otherwise for some dogs. It also fails to mention many more of the techniques that we are using today. I would not recommend this book unless you have more background knowledge in dog training and can tell the good from the bad.

Informative and witty, but the substance of training gets lost in all the excess verbiage, making it difficult to zero in on specific training. Actual training instructions are hazy and undiliniated from text.