Customer Reviews

My Smart Puppy: Fun, Effective, and Easy Puppy Training (Book & 60min DVD)

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As with all of Brian and Sarah's books, My Smart Puppy is a delight to read. Easy to follow, personable, and full of helpful suggestions, this book is both motivating and encouraging. While reading it, I kept wanting to stop and do the various exercises with my dogs. Packed with information, this is an easy-to-apply, practical, and FUN book on dog training. The stories about Pip, the authors' puppy, are engaging, and the many photos illustrate the principles and training games beautifully. The space games are a new and much needed addition to the world of dog training, as they teach owners of both puppies and adult dogs how to communicate easily, effectively, and clearly with their dogs in an enjoyable and non-confrontational manner. Through them, a strong, positive relationship is established as the foundation of all training, so that your dog learns built in habits of trust, respect, and obedience. I highly recommend this book for anyone with a puppy or dog of any age. It will help you and your dog understand each other better and have a lifetime of fun together.

Hi! I got the My Smart Puppy book on Friday and read the whole thing by Saturday! Hudson and I have already played all the Level I games. He is perfect at some already (since we've already been training), but we will continue to improve at others.

What I want to say is that it is, hands down, the most wonderful book on training I have read since I decided to get a dog pal. I read Good Owners, Great Dogs and Metrodog too, and I loved them both, but there is something about the tone of MSP that beats all.

The whole thought of looking at training as a series of "games" is awesome. And, you know what? The best thing was the included DVD. I had read about half the book, and then watched the DVD. I realized that while I consider myself an effusive person (especially with Hudson), I really could stand to be a lot more joyful and playful with Hudson during training. I was being very businesslike about it. I really needed to see Sarah and Brian's attitude with the dogs to understand what they mean about showing enthusiasm. My relationship with Hudson improved THAT DAY! I have been trying to mimic the tone in the DVD, and we are both enjoying our time together so much more. Hudson is suddenly so much more responsive, and now I realize that treats aren't even necessary anymore for the behaviors he already knows.

Hudson and I are having a GREAT time. I'm amazed at how responsive he is when I step into his space or block him with my body. I couldn't believe it would work, but it does. We are already close to having him sit every time I stand in front of him!

Oh, and the words "Smart Puppy" really help too. When you say "What a Smart Puppy!!!" to your dog, you can't help sounding happy and believing it!

My Smart Puppy is one of those books you want to tell everyone about. The training exercises are short and simple (and fun!), and the training is done in stages (levels). Each exercise is prefaced with a Goal, then how to get there in beautifully explained detail. The details of each exercise are not long and drawn out, because they don't have to be. There are 2 to 4 steps in each exercise. The concept of dog training in this book is a common sense approach and works toward the overall desired results, which is a puppy who learns to behave well and a bond that is formed between you and your puppy. It comes with a DVD that shows exactly how to do some of the exercises (very cute to see puppies learning new things for the first time). A puppy loves to learn and these exercises give it that opportunity, and the mental stimulation all puppies and dogs need, as well as learning that you are his gentle and fair leader.

These exercises are for foundational training beyond just the sit and down and walk. There's the "Leave it", "Mine", "Space", and many many more. There's also a chapter on Understanding Training. The book gives you an understanding of how puppies think and learn.

The book also deals with behaviorial problems (that we all encounter with our pups) and not only references the exercise that needs to be done for a certain behavior, but the page number as well. I can't say enough about the well written style of this great book and the effectiveness of the exercises. If people would do these simple training exercises with their puppies, there would be a lot less dogs with behavior problems in the shelters. I don't see any reason why these exercises can't be done with adult dogs also, who are in need of basic foundational training that they never got as puppies.

I have read several books by the authors, so was excited to see this new book out just as I was contemplating getting a puppy. It is filled with great advice that just makes sense. A super addition is the training DVD. This allowed everyone in my family to be exposed to the training principles (over and over) without my having to read the book out loud. This is a great combo for families considering or getting a puppy.

My Smart Puppy is a puppy-training guide with techniques based on understanding the natural behavior dog behavior. The first part focuses on puppy behavior and development and the authors' approach to training. The second section is the actual step-by-step training. The final section is all about 'troubleshooting' common behavior problems. Throughout, the authors also discuss how to overcome specific training problems, and what situations need professional help. The writing style is light, fun and chatty--like having a one-on-one session with your personal dog trainer.

As a veterinarian and an owner of a very active Labrador Retriever, discussions on dog behavior and training advice are very informative, sound and practical. The authors are obviously know the topics and can provide very useful advice for owners especially about how to read the puppies' body language as well as what to do and not do during training. I may disagree with some of their views on certain training tools/methods as those are methods or tools have worked well for me. Having said that, they mentioned that different
methods work for different people and dogs--and never claimed their method were the be-all-and-end-all method.

As a practicing veterinarian, one specific aspect disappointed me. They should have done more research on medical facts: they provided erroneous information about why white dogs are more likely to be deaf. They stated that "myelin, a compound that colors skin, is necessary for the auditory nerves to work," when in fact, the pigment in the skin is melanin, not myelin (myelin is the phospholipids that surrounds axons in certain neurons). White
dogs lack the melanin-producing cells called melanocytes, which play an important part in the development of certain structures within the inner ear; melanin does not affect the function of the auditory nerves.

Overall, I believe that My Smart Puppy delivers a humane, practical and fun approach for owners to understand and train their dogs. The authors know what they are talking about when it comes to dog training.

Armchair Interviews says: As a dog-training guide, this is definitely a valuable tool.

I just bought My Smart Puppy last week and I have to say I'm blown away! This book is so rock solid with common sense advice and real life dog training tips. Sounds sappy but I'm flat out giddy! Kilcommons and Wilson must sleep well at night knowing that they are saving dogs by keeping them in the home. This is a "must have" for any new puppy/dog owner. This is not work folks, it's fun! The animal human bond is undeniable and this book will help make training so much more fun. If I could I would put My Smart Puppy in the home of every family that has a dog or is considering getting a dog.

As a dog trainer I am always on the look for a book that not only I can connect with, but my clients, the average American family can relate to. As Executive Director for Reading With Rover, a non profit children's literacy program that pairs volunteer handlers and their therapy dog with at risk children I can't express our joy that this book has arrived. We are asked all the time about our dogs and how did they get to be so good. They want to know how can they get their dog involved in our program. Now I can tell them you need to read "My Smart Puppy!" and they will be on their way to hopefully joining the ranks of our reading dogs.

Again, my sincerest thanks from all the dogs and their families in Seattle.

Becky Bishop
www.readingwithrover.org

I love all the books by Brian & Sarah, but I think this one is my new favorite. It's clear that the authors "speak dog," and the use of space games to communicate clearly with your pooch is, to me, revolutionary. It's such a simple concept, one of those things where you smack yourself in the forehead and say, "Duh! Why didn't I realize that?"

Using the methods outlined in the book, you will have a trained puppy (or dog) in no time. The book is loaded with great tips and ideas, and it's clearly written and illustrated. Even better, you can watch the DVD that comes with the book and see the methods in action. With "My Smart Puppy," there is no reason why you can't train your pup, and have a fun time doing it. I highly recommend this book!

I started by reading a good portion of the book, which I found very helpful and informative (the occasional glaring scientific error, as mentioned by another reviewer, notwithstanding). The text raised my expectations for the video - I looked forward to a practical demonstration of the many training "games" that are listed, categorized, and described in the book.

What I found on the video is that those demonstrations *are* forthcoming, if you're patient. But it's kind of like one of those mandatory time-share seminars - you're held captive for a LOT of advertising. That adorable puppy on the cover of the book? Instead of that cute red scarf, he's got a bandanna bearing the all-over imprint of the sponsoring brand of puppy food. So does his collar, his leash, and the big bag of food in the background of nearly every scene. Frequent references are made to how high quality food (gee, we wonder which one) is necessary for the brain development that will make your puppy especially brilliant and trainable. Thinly veiled commercial breaks are frequent, both for the food and for a flea-treatment product (same congolomerate?). The names of these products are never spoken, but the conspicuously-labeled packaging is everywhere. Overall, it made me feel as if these folks assume me to be a whole lot less smart than a puppy.

I still like the book, and I'll probably make it through the whole DVD for the sake of the training demonstrations. But I kind of feel as if the food manufacturer should have offered this set for free with your first purchase of puppy-chow.

Being a naturally contrary sort, I was inspired by all of this to look for a more objective source of food-quality information for my puppy. If you do a web search for "dog food analysis," you'll find a very informative site that helps to clarify food quality issues. And, sad to say, the much-endorsed brand doesn't exactly leave the competition in the dust (to say the least), so now I feel less guilty about being too stubborn to buy it after being subjected to this sales pitch.

I really do like the book though; you can be sure I wouldn't have put aside my annoyance to give it 4 stars, otherwise! It has a lot of helpful insights about how puppies think, where our communications with them often break down, and how to work *with* your puppy to ingrain habits and responses that will be constructive for all concerned.

Even the grandchildren learned how to train their new puppy by watching the video!

This is one of the better puppy books currently out. It gives not only background information on dog types and their tendencies..but a easy and fun way to train them and what works for certian peronality types. It tells why doing or not doing certian things effect the puppy's learning to be a good dog.