What All Good Dogs Should Know: The Sensible Way to Train (Howell reference books) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Jack Volhard, Melissa Bartlett
Publisher: Howell Book House
Category: Book
List Price: $10.00
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You Save: $9.99 (100%)
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Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 606855
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 128
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 0.4
ISBN: 0876058322
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.70887
UPC: 021898058324
EAN: 9780876058329
ASIN: 0876058322
Publication Date: April 15, 1991
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: GOOD with average wear to cover and pages. May contain minimal highlighting, inscriptions, or notations. We offer a no-hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders generally ship by the next business day. Default Text
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Product Description
Those who love their dogs will find a wealth of clear, precise and sensible instructions here for teaching their canine companions to be the ideal pet. In the ultimate guide for teaching your dog good manners, two award-winning authors take the reader through a short course in dog behavior, highlighted by original cartoon art. Humorous yet practical suggestions are presented for preventing bad habits, dealing with a dog's basic needs, growth stages and why things happen and when. What All Good Dogs Should Know abounds with practical information on a motivational, humane and highly effective approach to dog training. This book is essential for anyone who values a dog as a friend, pet and companion.
A Howell Dog Book of Distinction
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Excellent Book! July 16, 2008
K. Davis (Oklahoma City, OK USA)
This book is outstanding. It is concise, and loaded with information. The art is great, and also instructive. Even someone with great dog training experience will gain from it.
One thing in it is the questionnaire and brief information for the Drives evaluation of your individual dog. So valuable. I read this book and did that evaluation in an afternoon. Time very, very well spent.
The earlier in your dog's life you read this book, the better. Before you get the dog is great, too. But it will help at any point. It truly will. Thank you so much, author and artist, for another fantastic job.
 Great little book for manners training April 2, 2008
citywulf (Atlanta, Georgia USA)
Anyone with a serious yearning to understand learning theory will need more in-depth guides than this book. But anyone whose end goal is a mannerly dog who can be a full-fledged family member would do well to start here.
The beauties of this book are:
(1) It focuses on manners and context - WHY you should teach certain behaviors and HOW to use them in real life. Other books tend to imply that training a dog is a goal in itself - and I've met many trainers who seem to enjoy training just for the sake of it - but your average family wants to train for more practical reasons.
(2) The authors don't waste time justifying themselves or "selling" themselves/their methods.
(3) It promotes realistic expectations and understanding of a dog - simple stuff that everybody really really needs to know but most don't (dogs don't act out of spite; dogs associate their immediate actions with consequences, so you can't punish them for past misdeeds; etc.).
(4) There isn't any bad or dangerous advice (with 1 possible exception, see #3 below), and it steers clear of controversial hot-buttons topics such as dominance theory.
It has a few nuisance issues, tho they aren't a big enough deal to override the positives:
(1) Using the cue (aka command) before the dog knows to associate it with a specific behavior. It is better to get the behavior reliably and then add the word, but it isn't make-or-break.
(2) The only method they introduce for teaching "down" is physical prompting. Prompting is my pet peeve for so many reasons! After you've taught the dog to respond to the prompt, you have to teach them to respond without it - that's double the work. Dogs have an opposition reflex, so pushing or pulling them down will cause them to resist - that's nature, not stubbornness, which the authors don't address. Dogs that don't like handling will shy from prompting. Dogs VERY quickly become collar-wise, and since the prompting requires using the collar, dogs are less likely to respond when they aren't wearing a collar (the collar becomes part of the cue, basically). Etc.
(3) It shows its age by referring to choke chains as the last resort for pullers (choke chains are terrible for pullers, by the way, because pulling will keep the chain tight - very dangerous), but ignores modern alternatives such as harnesses and head halters.
(4) There isn't much in the way of troubleshooting. They say go to your dog rather than call them to you for unpleasantries, which is absolutely vital. But what if your dog begins to associate your approach with unpleasant stuff, and begins to run from you? So, you may need another book for "troubleshooting."
You need to flip through this book if you have a puppy January 8, 2004
J. Ryder (Pa, United States)
A friend on mine gave me this book, she currently has 6 dogs and havs used this book to train all of them. I really enjoyed the book. It was an easy read with very easy to understand methods, funny little comics, and it got right to the point. Grant it my Pup is only 11 weeks old and I'm still having some trouble with a few things with her, but not much. I suggest you give this book a whirl especially if you have read other books and feel they haven't helped much.
A must for new puppy owners! May 23, 2003
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
So easy to follow & understand! And, the cartoons throughout are great!
Without this book, I would have been completely clueless when it came to getting our first puppy housebroken & trained. Because of this book, we now have two fantastic dogs (one who is 1 year and one at 6 mos. old). This book completely debunks so many age-old dog training myths - how to dicipline, not rewarding inappropriate behavior by accident...etc. I would have done a lot wrong without this book! Very humane, thoughtful & insightful into the world of puppies and dogs. If you've ever wondered "why does my dog do that?" you'll find the answer here. Bravo to the authors!
Wonderful! October 9, 2001
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is one book that every dog owner, or potential dog owner, should buy! It doesn't matter if you have a Rottweiler, a Chihuahua, or just a good old Heinz 57 dog, this book is for all dogs. Cute illustrations and sound advice on how to make your dog the good doggie citizen of the year abound in this book. It addresses common issues like housebreaking, walking on a leash nicely, crate training, and much more. I highly recommend this book!
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