Customer Reviews:
 This book helped me find 2 great friends August 28, 2005
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
The Monks have done it again... they helped me raise my puppies (The Art of Rasing a Puppy) and now they've held my hand for the rest of the journey. I have 2 dogs that I can say are NOW my best friends... read this book and you'll definitely be on your way to some well-deserved face licks!
2 major points: this book is very applicable and easy to read... you can continue to go back to it as a reference any time.
***Some of you may be concerned about a few reviews that take the monks out of context... One reviewer wrote "if he/she isn't yelping, you aren't stiking it hard enough"... this quote refers to EXTREME situations, such as biting a person or attacking another dog. They also tell you how to 'properly' implore this method. You can even ignore this short part of the book (if you come from the camp that feels it is never ok to strike a dog). It is also worthwhile to comment that the monks deal with a large, tough breed (German Shepherds); it is therefore VERY dangerous to use an "alpha roll" (executed by rolling the dog on its back standing over the dog... I would not suggest anyone do this with a large dog!!). Like I said, you can leave this advice out of your actual training without a problem... I can understand the arguments from both sides, and prefer not to strike my dogs at all, but I have also worked with aggresive dogs at the Phoenix, AZ dog shelter where the monk's methods made the difference between putting a dog "to sleep" and getting a great dog (ussually abused- no fault of its own) to a thankful and loving home.
How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend August 16, 2005
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
The best Book Ihave read about German Shephards
 How to Be Your Dog's Worst Enemy August 10, 2005
18 out of 50 found this review helpful
One quote says it all. When the monks ask how hard you should hit your dog (that's right -- how hard should you hit your dog?), they reply, "IF SHE DOESN'T YELP IN PAIN YOU HAVEN'T HIT HER HARD ENOUGH." (pg. 44, original edition) That's all you and your dog need to know. And while there may be some valid information in this book, it doesn't amount to anything you can't find in many other books on the subject--books that don't recommend you hit your dog till she yelps in pain. The kind of mentality that could even remotely consider hitting a dog in order to discipline it for ANYTHING simply can't be trusted, and should qualify this as one of the worst books on dog training ever written.
As far as solving behavioral problems is concerned, most of them, including aggression, are caused by mistreatment in the first place. So how does further mistreatment help an already distressed animal learn? Of course if you still believe in the now discredited alpha theory*, then perhaps this Draconian approach makes sense to you. But since the alpha theory has been proven false*, physical discipline of this type ends up just being stupid, mean, harmful, and--though I hate to say it--slightly insane. There ARE better, much kinder, and more humane ways to deal with problem dogs (and I don't mean drugs or behavioral "science" techniques).
My recommendation for a dog training manual? Either PLAY TRAINING YOUR DOG by Patricia Gail Burnham, or NATURAL DOG TRAINING by Kevin Behan. Or both.
*(Top wolf experts don't even like to use the word alpha anymore because, as Dr. L. David Mech puts it, "it falsely implies a hierarchical system in which each wolf assumes a place in a linear pecking order." (Canadian Journal of Zoology, 2002) Translation: there is no hierarchy in wolf packs, which puts the lie to the monks' entire approach to canine behavior and training.)
Awesome Book July 12, 2005
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
The Monks of New Skeet really know what they are talking about. No one should get a puppy without reading a book from them first. I would recommend it to any dog owner, not just someone with getting a puppy.
Compassion July 1, 2005
10 out of 15 found this review helpful
It is funny how people bemoan that some of these techniques are "mean" or lack "compassion." Well, if you have an aggressive dog, it is far more cruel to let the situation get so out of hand that you'll have to get rid of the dog, with the dog most likely meeting its end at the pound.
I wonder how many dogs are put to sleep each year because of the owner's "compassion" (i.e., they were too much of an idiot to properly train their dog to be a good canine citizen.)
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