Customer Reviews

It's Me or the Dog: How to Have the Perfect Pet

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This clearly written book covers all the essential topics (including some that many books overlook) in a very accessible way. The author believes in leadership, but she also stresses that your job is to help your dog learn to live in a human world. Her philosophy: "Training is not about imposing types of behavior on your dog that are alien to his nature. It's not about making your dog fearful or breaking his will. It's giving him the tools to live in your world." Her advice is practical and effective, and for "show me" people, her tv series is also excellent.

Chapters:
Think Dog/understanding your dog
Talk Dog/communicating with your dog
Dog School/basic obedience training
Dog's Dinner/feeding your dog the right diet
Accidents Will Happen/how to house-train your dog
You'll Never Walk Alone/exercising your dog
Ain't Misbehaving/teach your dog how to live in your world
Worker's Playtime/how to have fun with your dog

For those looking for problem-solving guides with a similar practical, positive approach, try Outwitting Dogs: Revolutionary Techniques For Dog Training That Work!.

This book is wonderful. A friend of mine who lives in England ordered it for me, as Victoria Stilwell has a dog training TV show ('It's Me or the Dog') over there that started around the same time as Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer show here. Apparently, the show is coming to Animal Planet in the US in April.

First of all, the book is beautiful. Could be a coffee table book in its own right considering the beautiful photography and layout. It's presented so that you can flip around from chapter to chapter as needed, which is nice for a dog training book. I'd recommend reading it all the way through first, though, as you get a real sense of her philosophy that way.

Which is the best thing about the book. The whole concept is to try to get us dog owners to view things from a dog's point of view and understand the reasons behind the behavior we're trying to change in our dogs. She still says to treat the dog like an animal and not a child, but it really opened my eyes about how and why certain things were happening, and I feel like my relationship with my dog (which was great before I read it) is even better now. It's like discovering there's another plane from which you can view things. Very positive-reward-based training methods which have worked wonders for us so far. Really easy to read yet intelligently presented.

My friend in England says Victoria is the biggest name in dog training there now because of her show, and after reading her book, I can see why. Good for dog lovers or dog owners. Even if you've got everything sorted out between you and your dog, you'll love this book, as it's truly a celebration of dogs and our relationship with them, as well as a fantastic training tool. A must for all dog people!!!

Her approach to dog training is very postive and upbeat. She helps you remember that while it is a process training your pet that you shouldn't forget that you can have fun and enjoy them. I wish there would have been a bit more information on puppy specific issues but on the whole still a good tool for understanding and training your dog.

Best dog training guide ever! I used this book to help me solve my problems I had with my Labrador Retriever pulling on the lead,being unfriendly toward strange dogs,barking,and his mild separation anxiety.I also love this book because Victoria uses positive training methods unlike Cesar. I highly recommend this book.

This book is very informative and I love her positive approach to training. Most of the information in the book you can view on her tv show "It's Me or the Dog", but the book is great for a quick review on how to handle situations if you have seen all her shows. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a dog of any age! Victoria's information really helps you to understand a dog's point of view and therefore helps you to understand your dog. I have learned so much from her show and this book! Truthfully it was watching her show that made us go to a rescue center and buy a dog so we could train it. Her methods really work. Our new 2 year old Boston Terrier mix isn't perfect...yet, but Victoria has helped us over several hurdles and we can foresee a wonderful life with our new bundle of joy.

Would just like to mention that we also watched several Dog Whisperer shows and found his (Ceaser Millan)methods much too aggresive. He was too forcefull and it seemed like Victoria got faster and better results with patience, kindness, and understanding with your dog.

I found this book to be very helpful, I had a Rat Terrier that was out of control. Victoria Stilwell knows her stuff when it comes to training our four legged friends, this book is a must for anyone wanting to have a good relationship with their pet. I have bought several books on dog training and this one surpasses them all, I myself learned several training techniques never seen before. Highly recommend this book!!

Excellent guide to understanding your dog's thoughts and feelings and understanding how to properly train them. I now have a better insite regarding her behavior and learned ways to correct any problems when they arrise..

This is an excellent book, both for the insight into "dog thinking" that every dog owner should know and for its concise, no-nonsense instructions on every aspect of caring for and training your dog. The book is well laid-out, easy to read, to-the-point--it's prepared to solve most if not all of your concerns for training your dog.

This is simply--a great book. If you are planning to own a dog, currently have puppy woes, or simply want the best start in life for your dog, buy this book. It absolutely does not disappoint and does something extremely rare for many books today--it actually delivers on its title's promise.

I bought this book after seeing Victoria Stillwell's program on Animal Planet. What I liked was her simple approach to dog training and her book is exactly that. As a first time dog owner I was challenged by my rescue dog who had never been on a leash before I adopted her let alone gone potty outside or been trained at all. At almost 6 months, she was becoming a rowdy teenager with no manners!

After a month, she's better. There's still a ways to go but this book helps a lot with exactly how to train, how to reinforce the training, and how to bond with your dog. I highly recomment it!

I used to watch the show and thought that things happened too fast on screen, so I needed something handy that I could check any time I had doubts. For me it was a good surprise to find this book. It gives a lot of tips, explains many behaviors, and everything looks reasonable and obvious somehow! It's my bedside book right now, when I have to deal closely with my family "crazy" labrador. I didn't give it 5 stars because I couldn't find all the answers to my questions. But it sure was a very good start!