Training

My Top 10 Favorite Training Books Every Dog Owner Should Buy

1. Click to Calm: Healing the Aggressive Dog 

Positive Answers for the Aggressive Dog. The dog that bites. The dog that attacks other dogs. The dog who may not survive his own aggressive behavior. What can be done to help these dogs? When Emma Parsons, canine behavior consultant, discovered that her own dog was aggressive, she developed innovative and effective strategies to calm, alter, and re-shape his reactive displays, and those of her clients’ dogs.

 

2. 101 Dog Tricks: Step by Step Activities to Engage, Challenge, and Bond with Your Dog

New York Times bestseller. International bestseller with over a half-million copies in print in 18 languages. This beautifully designed book features step-by-step instructions with easy to follow color photos of each step. Each trick is rated with a difficulty rating and prerequisites to get you started quickly. Tips and trouble-shooting boxes cover common problems, while “build-on” ideas suggest more complicated tricks which build on each new skill.

 

3. The Art of Raising a Puppy 

For more than thirty years the Monks of New Skete have been among America’s most trusted authorities on dog training, canine behavior, and the animal/human bond.

In their two now-classic bestsellers, How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend and THE ART OF RAISING A PUPPY, the Monks draw on their experience as long-time breeders of German shepherds and as trainers of dogs of all breeds to provide–brilliantly distilled–the indispensable information and advice that every dog owner needs.

 

4. The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs 

The Other End of the Leash shares a revolutionary, new perspective on our relationship with dogs, focusing on our behavior in comparison with that of dogs. An applied animal behaviorist and dog trainer with more than twenty years experience, Dr. Patricia McConnell looks at humans as just another interesting species, and muses about why we behave the way we do around our dogs, how dogs might interpret our behavior, and how to interact with our dogs in ways that bring out the best in our four-legged friends. 

 

5. On Talking Terms With Dogs Calming Signals

Norwegian dog trainer and behaviorist Turid Rugaas has made it her life work to study canine social interaction. She coined the phrase calming signals to describe the social skills, sometimes referred to as body language, that dogs use to avoid conflict, invite play, and communicate a wide range of information to other dogs and also humans.

 

6. 10-Minute Dog Training Games: Quick and Creative Activities for the Busy Dog Owner

Get the most out of your training time while learning foundation skills with 10-Minute Dog Training Games! Renowned trainer Kyra Sundance utilizes scientifically-proven methods and learning theory in this expert addition to her best-selling series of dog training books. Step-by-step in these pages, Kyra shows how to create a happy, confident dog who is ready and motivated to work in a short amount of time. She teaches how to use positive, reward-based techniques that are fun for both the dog and trainer. Foundation skills like basic obedience, following directional signs, jumps and balancing, memory strengthening, and overcoming fears and obstacles are covered in detail. Quick exercises utilize tons of varied props and creative ideas, resulting in a dynamic, engaging curriculum!

 

7. Decoding Your Dog: Explaining Common Dog Behaviors and How to Prevent or Change Unwanted Ones

“Although this book has a scientific basis, it was written in a manner that is easily understandable for laypersons. Decoding Your Dog will be a valuable addition to the library of any small-animal practitioner or dog owner.” –Angela Bockelman, DVM, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

Unwanted behavior is the number-one reason dogs are relinquished to shelters and rescue groups. Dog owners face a plethora of trainers offering a bewildering variety of advice. From rewards to dominance training, from to shock collars to clickers, there are too many theories peddled by too few trained experts. Finally, the board-certified specialists of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists are here to decode how dogs think, how they communicate, and how they learn.

 

8. Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training the Crazy Dog from Over the Top to Under Control Paperback

Some dogs need a little help.

Some dogs are afraid, or excited, or reactive. Dogs that “don’t listen” and “go crazy” don’t live the lives we –- or they –- want.

Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out can change that. Simple steps and an accessible, conversational tone from award-winning, internationally-known trainer Laura VanArendonk Baugh CPDT-KA KPACTP make calming the agitated dog not only possible, but pleasant.

 

9. How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend: The Classic Training Manual for Dog Owners

For more than a quarter century, How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend has been the standard against which all other dog-training books have been measured. This expanded edition preserves the best features of the original classic while bringing the book fully up-to-date. The result: the ultimate training manual for a new generation of dog owners–and, of course, for their canine best friends.

The Monks of New Skete have achieved international renown as breeders of German shepherds and as outstanding trainers of dogs of all breeds. Their unique approach to canine training, developed and refined over four decades, is based on the philosophy that “understanding is the key to communication, compassion, and communion” with your dog. 

 

10. Reaching the Animal Mind: Clicker Training and What It Teaches Us About All Animals

From the founder of “clicker” training, the widely praised humane approach to shaping animal behavior, comes a fascinating book—part memoir, part insight into how animals and people think and behave.

A celebrated pioneer in the field of no-punishment animal training, Karen Pryor is responsible for developing clicker training—an all-positive, safe, effective way to modify and shape animal behavior—and she has changed the lives of millions of animals. Practical, engrossing, and full of fascinating stories about Pryor’s interactions with animals of all sorts, Reaching the Animal Mind presents the sum total of her life’s work. She explains the science behind clicker training, how and why it works, and offers step-by-step instructions on how you can clicker-train any animal in your life.

 

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1 Comment

  • Reply
    OlRedHair
    January 13, 2019 at 6:26 pm

    Great info. Thank you so much!

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