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 enlarge | Authors: Jack Volhard, Wendy Volhard
Publisher: Howell Book House
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $3.05
You Save: $11.90 (80%)
New (32) Used (25) from $3.05
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 131876
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 176
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5
ISBN: 0876054521
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.70887
UPC: 021898054524
EAN: 9780876054529
ASIN: 0876054521
Publication Date: July 15, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
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| Customer Reviews:
 Best book I've read on teaching manners to the family dog June 21, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This little volume is pure gold. Some may criticize this book as not being advanced enough, or not containing new information - they are missing the point. Ultimately this is a book about educating people about how to help their dogs learn good people manners.
While the context is preparing for the American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizen test, really this book is for any dog owner. If you have a family dog that needs a little help in learning good people manners, this is the book for you. If you are already involved in competitive dog sports, such as obedience trials or have experience in dog training, this book has not really been written for you.
The Canine Good Citizen test involves 10 individual tests, all of which allow the dog to show that she well mannered in everyday situations. For example two of the tests include the dog must sit politely while being petted by a stranger, and walk politely on leash through a crowd.
Whether you ever test your dog or not, teaching these skills to your dog will result in a dog that is well behaved, a joy to be around. Isn't that what everyone really wants for their family dog?
For me, the best parts of the book are those that coach you on how to work with your dog, how to understand the dog's psychology - how dogs learn. This has been invaluable to me. Early in the book, the authors introduce the idea that dogs are, of course, pack animals. Our human family becomes their pack, and someone has to be the leader of the pack. For everyone's sake, the leader of the pack must be one of the people - not the dog. The Volhards help you understand how to be the pack leader. This is not hard to do and certainly does not require you to be unkind to your dog. Our dog has learned these lessons well enough that she even cheerfully takes commands from our 3 1/2 year old son.
There is plenty of good advice here about preparing for the actual CGC test and what to expect. If passing the CGC test is your goal, the easiest approach is to enroll yourself and your dog in a hands on obedience class and use this book as the companion text book you almost won't get otherwise.
For those without ready access to obedience classes, this book does provide guidance on how to train your dog by yourself. Having been through several obedience classes with our dog, I believe that if you followed the Volhards' advice carefully - and actually practiced the skills as they suggest - you really could train your dog on your own using this book.
I have set myself a challenge - to have our family dog (a 2 year old shelter rescue Australian Shepherd mix) take and pass the CGC test at the local dog show in about a month. As the local dog show is VERY large, this will be an extremely distracting environment and a real challenge for our dog. I am convinced that when our dog takes the test she will pass. This book has helped me understand how to get her ready and how to help her be pretty much the perfect family dog.
In the year-and-a-half since the kids wore me down and convinced me we really "needed" a dog, I have bought several dog books and skimmed many more at bookstores and libraries. This is the one book I would enthusiastically recommend for any dog owner in the early stages of teaching good manners to their dog, even if they never plan on having their dog take the Canine Good Citizen test.
Great stuff, and highly recommended.
Update - our dog has now taken, and passed the Canine Good Citizen test. I am still convinced that the Volhard's book is great stuff. Their advice equipped me to teach our dog to be a well mannered member of the family. Following their advice, she aced the test.
 Easy read, straight-forward, good images = good book! July 31, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I just received this book a few days ago, but sat down and skimmed it cover to cover. I realized a few things that we were doing with our 4 month old GSD puppy that we should change. The book was easy to understand. The drawings/images help demonstrate proper techniques. There is a great 8-week training schedule to help get any dog trained and manageable. The book also goes over the elements of how a dog is tested for the Canine Good Citizen test and ways to approach the 10 different elements to prepare him/her for the examination. Additionally, it lets you know what you can or cannot do during the test - such as constant verbal contact with the dog being acceptible and no use of food for motivation. I'm excited to start this training and hopefully get our girl her CGC certification.
What every dog should read! June 12, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an excellent primer for teaching your dog good manners and was very helpful when I began teaching my dog, Coco, to be a pet assisted therapy dog.
 Not a lot of content July 30, 2005
4 out of 18 found this review helpful
The notion of drive states is interesting. The description of the particular states is not altogether convincing. Basic criticism: Not much development/content for a book.
Good all-around basic training book April 8, 2004
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
This book centers around the American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizen test, outlining the purpose and content of the test, and providing training information to prepare your dog for the test.
It also provides a useful way to determine the best methods to train your dog, based on your dog's individual drives (a test is provided to determine the level of prey/pack/fight/flight drives in your dog). I found it very helpful in preparing for the CGC test, as well as providing insight into understanding my dog, and ideas to work with her in a productive manner - it includes a very helpful section on stress & training. It does not go into much detail regarding more severe problem behaviors, but covers the basics in a clear & easy-to-understand manner.
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