The Perfect Puppy : How to Raise a Well-Behaved Dog [Hardcover]

Gwen Bailey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 19, 1996

Here is the perfect book for puppy owners and would-be puppy owners who want to know how to bring their puppy up to be a happy, well-behaved, friendly adult dog. The book gives you the latest behavioral information and emphasizes prevention.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Here is the perfect book for puppy owners and would-be puppy owners who want to know how to bring their puppy up to be a happy, well-behaved, friendly adult dog. Antisocial behavior in dogs is often (rightly) blamed on owners. But most dog owners are neither irresponsible or uncaring. They simply don't have the knowledge they need to raise and train a dog properly. This book provides that knowledge.

The Perfect Puppy gives you the latest behavioral information and emphasizes prevention rather than cure. Follow Gwen Bailey's easy-to-understand advice and you should have no trouble with such problems as chewing shoes, pulling on the lead, or aggression when your dog is fully grown.

Full-color photographs show you how to housebreak your puppy and how to teach it to obey and generally be a good canine citizen.

About the Author

Gwen Bailey was the Head of Animal Behaviour for The Blue Cross, one of Britain's foremost animal welfare charities, for many years and also spent 15 years as Chairman of The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors. As well as lecturing at national and international conferences, Gwen also runs training courses for staff at animal charities around the world and is the owner of The Puppy School, establishing a network of professional, well-trained tutors across the UK. She is the author of several dog-training titles including Puppy School, What is my Dog Thinking?, The Rescue Dog and Choosing the Right Dog for You, all published by Hamlyn. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Readers Digest (March 19, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895778394
• ISBN-13: 978-0895778390
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #475,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Friends often ask how I can be writing 'another' book about dogs, but there is so much to say. You never stop learning about dogs, which is why they are so fascinating and why I am so lucky to have had a career that has invovled them for so long.

I try to make sure that everything I write helps to enhance the life of dogs in some way. They are vulnerable, emotional creatures in a cruel world and need our love and protection. Aggressive owners produce aggressive dogs so all techniques are gentle and friendly, espeically for puppies. You don't need to be domineering with dogs to be successful.

I have been lucky enough to spend all of my adult life, and a lot of my childhood, learning from some of the great trainers and behaviourists. My books pass on as much of that knowledge as I am able to give, put together with all the things I have learnt over the years from the dogs themselves.

I hope they help you with your dog, to solve problems, train him or her to have good manners, and to give both of you a better life than before.

For those of you who have cats, there is just one of my books for you too.

Gwen

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My first choice for all new puppy parents, December 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Perfect Puppy : How to Raise a Well-Behaved Dog (Hardcover)

Thank you Gwen Bailey! I am a dog trainer and a volunteer at the local shelter and I am forever being asked for ONE book on puppy training - and now I've found it. This book has a wealth of information including stages of maturity and what to expect, prevention of the most common problems, and best of all a Positive based training method. These are the methods I have been using in teaching my students and they are a real joy - and they work. A must-have book for puppy owners and trainers.

57 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Book.... Just Not For Us and Our Canine Companion, June 22, 2004

By 

TVSA "lover of books and old movies" (CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Perfect Puppy : How to Raise a Well-Behaved Dog (Hardcover)

We bought this book when we adopted a puppy. The ideas were very well-thought out and well-written, easy to understand. I read this book over and over and wondered why my puppy was still behaving like a maniac, very few of the techniques worked. I began to question myself, thinking I could not understand the simple techniques written about in this book.

We hired a trainer. When he came to the house he saw "The Perfect Puppy" sitting on our coffee table, and mentioned that he thought it was a great book....... just not for us!!! He explained that the book was written about more submissive breeds (ie Golden Retreiver), we adopted a puppy made up of 2 very dominant breeds. At least I figured out that I wasn't crazy after all!

I'll keep the book around and definitely pass it on to anyone I know who will be getting a puppy. I'm very disappointed that it didn't work, because as I said, it was well-written and easy to understand. I hope it benefits someone else.

58 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VERY USEFUL TOOL, October 25, 2000

By 

Jason Allen (Newburyport, MA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Perfect Puppy : How to Raise a Well-Behaved Dog (Hardcover)

I found this book extremely helpful after just a few minutes of reading (learning that some of my methods were wrong and improving the ones that were right). The author's experience with puppies is clear once you implement some of their techniques and receive positive results.

The book gives you simple training ideas (such as using a pen in combination with a create). It also helps you get inside the head of your puppy (Alfa role's etc.). Understanding your puppy's reasons for their behavior makes training fun (as I'm sure you know by now).

I'm giving this book a five star rating due to its simplicity and the results I received. I would recommend to anyone with a puppy or planing on a puppy to also buy more than one book and watch animal planet for other helpful tips (I also found the videos by Matthew Margolis informative and entertaining).