Dog Training Books Reviews, page 1
The Power of Positive Dog Training

• A Must-Have for anyone who wants to enjoy dog training!2001-09-02

  I just finished reading Pat Miller's first dog training book and I loved it. The book is simple, fun, informative and complete. Her style is easy to read and very interesting. All topics are covered from training, tricks, behavior modification, and a great doggie day planner to get you started on the right track. Also included are some wonderful web site referrences and email lists.

• A Must Read For Dog Owners and Dog Professionals!2001-08-31

  Pat Miller's book is clear, concise, and entertaining. This book explains why you'll be training, how you'll be training, and what you need to train. Pat Miller addresses everthing from basic training to many of the behavior challenges that so many dog owners face; including housebreaking, seperation anxiety and how to handle dogs & kids. I highly recommend this book as an excellent resource for dog lovers and dog trainers alike.

• Power of Positive Dog Training2001-10-09

  Pat Miller has captured the essence of treating dogs with kindness, respect and compassion. It is rare indeed to find such a wonderful mix of scientific expertise in such an accessible, easy to understand format. Rarer still is finding such a presentation rooted and supported by such love and caring.This book is proudly added to the list of books I recommend to students as well as required reading in my Teacher-Training program. I recommend it's message and methods without reservation. Great job Pat!Paul Owensauthor: The Dog Whisperer

• Pat Miller gives you ' Power' in Positive Dog Training2001-11-14

  I get so little time to read right at present but that's alright because Pat has short simple chapters with lots of "meat" packed into each. I am extremely impressed with how easy it is to read Pat's book and understand what it is she is trying to convey not only to an experienced dog trainer but for the average pet owner who would like a dog that walks nicely on lead and not jump up on people etc. There are many dog obedience classes operating with the belief that the average dog owners are dumbies and the only way to get their spoiled doggies to mind them is to to put a choker chain on their poor dog and jerk the them into submission and obedience. Pat on the other hand puts your mind in gear and gives 'power' through knowledge to pet owners.
  This book will help me get my thoughts together towards making a case toward change in my area in regards to dog training. I will be reading more of Pat's book to get an edge on training my own dogs for the obedience ring. I agree with everything Pat is saying .... she is right on.

• Best Book on Positive Training yet2001-11-29

  This is a COMPLETE book on the subject of Positive Training of Dogs, written for the laymen. A must reference/guide for anyone. After reading it (Several times) I keep it on the shelf for ready reference.

  How about a Video as a follow up Pat?

• Training Methods that Work and are Fun for You and Your Dog2001-11-14

  The Power of Positive Dog Training sounds like a book which should have been written by Tony Robbins and advertised on an info-mertial though it is a quality book.
  
  The training methods are based on studies done by behavioral scientist B.F. Skinner. Many college level psychology classes teach this material. It stresses training through operant conditioning which in a nutshell is rewarding good behaviors thereby increasing the likelihood of them being repeated.
  
  There are many references about these principles and training but this book is good because it is geared specifically towards training a dog and maps out a six week program for you to follow.
  
  Even though I believe in the principles I was skeptical that my new puppy would learn the exercises in the book during a short period of time. Much to my surprise I saw results within a day or so. Included in the training plan is a number of progressively harder exercises to teach your dog for each week. A description of exercise, instructions, and training tips are included for each.
  
  I highly recommend this book if you are interested in training a dog through the previously mentioned methods.

• Worthy Successor to Culture Clash2002-02-04

  The cover of "The Power of Positive Dog Training" has a quote from Jean Donaldson. Makes sense to me, because this book is a wonderful successor to "Culture Clash," Donaldson's classic set of essays about the value of operant conditioning and the flaws of other training methods.

  "Culture Clash" is the word-of-mouth classic that clicker-training dog people recommend most often, at least in my experience. It's a lively, engaging book, but it's basically written as a sort of argument for operant methods rather than other training approaches, not as a practical training guide. Because of that "Clash" is not well-organized for use as a how-to title. It has no index, the chapters aren't organized around typical training issues, and so on.

  Well, "Power of Positive Dog Training" is the practical version. The book is organized around a six-week training regimen -- there's one chapter for each week. Pat Miller does address all the differences between operant training and, say, punishment-based approaches, but she does so largely in her introductory chapters, in a way that complements the approachable, clearly-stated training course she's describing. She doesn't seem to be attacking the methods she's describing, just laying out the advantages of positive methods to win you over. When an author describes "team you and your dog," you know her heart's in the right place, don't you?

  When it comes to the training chapters, you'll love the structure of this book. Each week has some Core Exercises and some Bonus Games. They're written with a careful sense of how you're going to use them, which just works.

  Take one of the core exercises from week 3 -- "Wait." First Miller explains what the behavior is and why you need it: Wait tells your dog to stay back for a moment or two, and you might use it to keep your dog from rushing out the door when you open it. Then you get simply-stated instructions for how to train the behavior: do this, do this, when the dog does that reward it in this way, and so on. At the end of this section there's a little "remember" paragraph that helps to frame the instructions in terms of the overall approach. (In this case Miller reminds us we're trying to set the dog up to succeed, not trying to lure her into making a mistake we can correct.) Then we get Training Tips, which is a sort of "usual questions" category that addresses some of the common questions or problems that come up in teaching a given behavior. ("My dog wanders off when I try to train this, what should I do?")

  Simple enough, isn't it? Good technical writing has a way of seeming so simple that anyone could have written it. (Bad technical writing, well, that's like wading through the six languages in your VCR manual and never being sure which language you're in.)

  The rest of this book serves to complement the training course. First you have those introductory essays. For most readers, for people who don't have a stake in punishment-based traditional methods, these six brief chapters would be a perfect introduction to positive-reinforcement training. (If you're completely convinced that the purpose of training your dog is to establish your dominance as alpha dog, well, maybe you need Jean Donaldson to needle you some.) Then you have section two, the training regimen, with six chapters for six weeks of training. Section three is built around common challenges: separation anxiety, housetraining, resource-guarding, and adjusting to children are four of the seven topics that get treated in detail.

  The good organization continues into the back of the book. "Power" has five appendices with useful information like sample calendars you might use, or a list of possible treats you might not have thought of using. Finally, the index is actually useful and complete. (For some reason this is a real problem with lots of dog books; I've got a few "Which breed is right for you" books that don't even list breeds in the index, and "Culture Clash" has no index at all.)

  Basically, this is the training book I've liked best so far. The writing style is candid and engaging, the structure is thoughtful and consistent, and as a book it just has the feel of a more mature work than most of its competition. I don't give too many five-star ratings, but I'll give one here.

• Don't jerk and correct anymore...2002-02-13

  I put my 3-year old West Highland Terrier through a traditional obedience training class, where the emphasis was on punishment and correction. Due to his personality (some might call him "stubborn", I prefer "determined"!) , it was a constant battle with him. I knew there had to be another way and found it in this book. I now feel that my dog and I are working together and when he does something I ask it is because he wants to, not because he is afraid of the consequences if he doesn't. The book also contains discussions about some of the problems areas related to living with a dog. Especially good is the information on biting, and separation anxiety. I'll begin training my English Bulldog puppy soon, and plan to use Ms. Miller's methods.

• Dangerous Training Method (book)2002-03-14

  This book, while it does have very few good ideas, is the best example of how NOT to train a dog!! On one page it actually says that if your fingers are bleeding from a dog taking treats from your hand, put the treats in your fist and let the dog 'gnaw' at our hand, only letting the dog have a treat when it bite softens! Ya right folks!!! I do great dane rescue and do you realize how many hands I'd go through if I tried that method!!! I'd have bloody stumps! And the book gets much worse. Call around your area, find a trainer in person you can visit with. Using the above method is going to get many people injured!!

• The Power of Positive Dog Training2002-06-25

  This book is concise, to the point and very easy to understand. While reading it I kept thinking "that's right!" because I very easily forget that my 6 month old puppy is NOT human and this book kept me centered on how my dog thinks. The advice and instructions that followed made complete sense. My puppy's no angel but after reading this book I feel I understand him alot better. That's important to me. I love my dog.

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