Customer Reviews

So Your Dog's Not Lassie: Tips for Training Difficult Dogs and Independent Breeds

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a Swedish girl teaching obedience classes and competiting in obedience. My ever-growing library of American dog training books started with this book. I stumbled across it one happy day searching for a new book to help me further on the way to making my Icelandic sheepdog (a spitz breed) Swedish Obedience Champion. I fell in love with the cover within two seconds and the contence was even better. Since then I have bought many more dog training books, with the help from "customers reviews" here on Amazon.com. I have books from the Monks, Kilcommons, Karen Pryor, Ian Dunbar, Morgan Spector, Terry Ryan, "everyone", but you know what? This is still my favourite! And, of course, it was a great help for us. She has her title now.

It may not be exactly what the ordinary dog owner (not too interested in training) is looking for, but it's absolutely perfect for someone like me, wanting to convince my free-thinking, independent dog that training for obedience competition is fun.

The book is packed with great information. It convinces you that you must BOTH be your dog's boss (without physical confrontation, of course) AND "give fat pay checks to the reluctant worker". The text is also easy to read and the photos of bulldogs and other unusual obedience breeds performing do contribute. If I could give it 10 stars, I would.

This is the first training book I've owned that really translated into results with my dog. My dog isn't a "difficult" breed (she's a border collie mix), but she is highly energetic and distractable. Most books tell you "do this and your dog will respond this way." My dog rarely did what the book said she would. "So Your Dog's Not Lassie" instead gives detailed troubleshooting, covering a bunch of different dog reactions. With the book's help I've *finally* gotten her to stop pulling on the leash when we walk. She is 9 years old. This is a real accomplishment. I have a much better understanding of the need to get her attention (there's an excellent chapter called "Earth to Dog") and how that is the key to making our training work. This book made me excited about learning and working with my dog again. I recommend it highly.

Perhaps living with many dogs which are allowed certain permissions, such as sleeping on the bed, but with rules, has allowed the authors certain insights that I have not seen elsewhere.

I have a golden retriever, which should be classified as highly trainable. After reading many behavior books, nothing was really working. The authors explained that this is because first you must deal with the dominance issue.

The authors are very specific in what your actions mean to your dog, which you would never guess on your own. I found our family was making many mistakes even though it was obvious we had a dominance problem. Another insight was that the dog knew exactly what we were asking for; when he didn't respond, he had his own reasons.

This book clearly shows what your dog wants for rewards and is great fun to read. I learned that what dogs want for motivation for learning is no different than any of us humans.

I bought this book to get some advice on how to train my airedaleterrier. (not much about terriers in it) It's good points are: it understands that your dog doesn't live to please. It explains what characterizes the dominant and independent dog. This is excellent. On the downside: not very good photos inside the book. This book is very focused on bulldogs. The author tends to get into a lot of details about how she trained her own bulldogs, lots of personal comments about her dogs etc that I could have done without.

The training method is nothing new, she relies on positive reinforcement using food, which is good, but you can get the same info on training in lots of other dog books. This book is recommended for trying to understand your dog's unique personality, not for the training exercises.

Unlike so many other training titles, So Your Dog's Not Lassie is founded on a respect for dogs and their individual personalities, and a deep interest in the development of a strong relationship between handler and dog. The authors's philosophy: "Owners who will be successful with their independent dog dispense with the common mind set that they are the master and their dog is the slave. Instead, they know that respect and accommodation must go both ways." Fisher & Delzio emphasize making learning fun and relevant from the dog's perspective. This book will help anyone convince their dog that there is a good and pleasant rationale behind your training requests while simultaneously strengthening and enhancing the dog/owner relationship. Humane and sensible, the training methodology is totally congruent with the philosophy espoused - a rare find in dog training books. If this book has a failing, it is in the subtitle. While aimed at handlers of difficult or independent breeds, So Your Dog's Not Lassie is eminently suitable for training any dog of any breed. This humorous, well written and informative book is notably fluff free, and one that readers - both professionals & novices - will refer back to time and again. Highly recommended!

Here in the Los Angeles area of California, about 20 twenty trainers get together once a month to discuss training, help one another solve problems and to discuss a book read during the previous month.

One trainer, who specializes in classes and behavior problem solving in large and other independent breeds, such as Mastiffs, said it is the best of the big dog books; easy to read, and has found that her clients do read it and that it speaks to the owners of these dogs.

The particular challenge of dog training books is to describe a physical skill, like dancing, with the added difficulty of a non-human partner. In addition, authors often try to get some basic learning theory across to explain why or how a particular exercise is done and to give some idea of the training from the dog's point of view.

The book successfully meets this challenge for the most part. The writing is clear, and the layout is easy to follow; with "Novice Notes" through out which give personal diary-like observations of the training process. The pictures are good, some of the best I have seen, when showing owners where to place their hands to get the dog into position and, importantly, the effect on the dog when the hands are misplaced. Footwork is succinctly shown with pictures that show the right and wrong positions and how they influence the dog to position itself.

The authors give a variety of approaches, not really coming down in one camp, and they include material not found in other books.

Written in 1998, when many trainers were discovering learning theory, working out how to implement the theory in classes and how to present it to dog owners, the authors advocate the idea of "jack-pot" rewards for a really well done performance, and urge owners, when training, to adopt an intermittent reinforcement schedule. However, the consensus, at least within this group, is to not use intermittent reinforcement schedules (in other words: reward every time) and that a "jack-pot" reward may make the owner feel good, but it doesn't have much influence on the animal's learning.

This book met with approval by the group in general. Many members of the group said they would recommend it to their clients.

I bought this book a couple of weeks ago, and read through Delzio and Fisher's independant dog training techniques. I've gotta say that I was really impressed with the quick results I've gotton so far. I don't classify my Westie puppies as being "independant" or "hard to train" but they definantly do have their own agendas which are different from mine. This book taught me to understand that and use it to my advantage during my training sessions, and my puppies (both of them) learned to sit, stay, and down in less than 2 weeks. They're still not perfect yet, but I can tell it won't be too much work.

The only problem I had with this book is the writing style. It was very repetitive and wordy. These two authors are excellent trainers, but definately not writers. I figure there was about 15 to 20 pages of blah blah blah to sift through to get to the real techniques and useful info that's buried beneath. But overall its a must for anyone who wants an obedient dog.

This book is one word - GREAT! In owning a JRT who is very independent and hard to train, this book has helped me understand him and also helped me with his training. I have many dog training books in my library, but this one is by far the best. I highly recommend that anyone who owns an independent breed, such as a JRT should definately buy this book.

This is really a great book. I grew up with dogs that were easily trained and lived to please. I now have a terrier who does not follow that same philosophy.I got lots of insight and real instructions about how to train a dog who does not live to please. I have used many of the training exercises in the book and have found they really work. I recommend this book all the time to people who have free-thinking dogs.

I recommend this book to owners of all breeds, not just the "traditionally challenging" breeds. Fisher and Delzio describe training techniques which would work with any dog. Furthermore, they clearly recognize that dogs are individuals. Their guide to recognizing whether your dog is independent, dominant or fearful is the best I have seen and is easily understood by the lay trainer. This book also contains a very sensible approach for becoming a leader in your household. My dogs are not Lassie and I hope never will be, but with the help of this book they are gentlemen in public and successful in the obedience ring.