Adoptable Dog: Teaching Your Adopted Pet to Obey, Trust, and Love You

Unbelievably, there has never been a comprehensive training-and-care guide written for the adopted or "pre-owned" dog. Manuals abound for the puppy, even for the needs of the adult or mature dog, but Adoptable Dog promises to be the standard work for this exploding population. John Ross and Barbara McKinney, authors of the best-selling Puppy Preschool, provide a biscuit-to-basket guide for every kind of adoptable dog-the older puppy, the overactive or unhousebroken adult dog, the shelter pooch, or even the mature canine in need of one last, loving home. The authors provide reliable advice on:

• determining which dog is right for which home; • finding and using reputable breed associations, rescue organizations, and pounds; • helping the dog to get along with children and older adults, and other pets; • retraining approaches for curing obsessive barking, separation anxiety, housebreaking problems, and fear biting. • overcoming the scars of previous abuse.

Adoptable Dog is sure to be an essential book for anyone thinking of adopting an adult dog. 45 b/w illustrations.

I fully recommend this book to those who:

1. Are new to rescue dogs.
2. Need to know some of the typical behaviors a rescue dog may exhibit.
3. Need a refresher course on foundational basics of rehabilitating rescue dogs.
4. Need affirmation about good methods used in modifying negative dog behaviors.
5. Want to rehabilitate any dog that exhibits negative or undesired behavior(s).

To the experienced dog rescue workers like me, this book offers nothing new. It may be obvious to some readers that this author has spent many years in dog training but not indepth actual shelter work. However,I was happy to see that, although the author lacked a lot of personal shelter experience, he had invested and employed a good amount of homework and research worthy of a useful book. Through his writing, I could read the experienced views of shelter workers he'd interviewed prior to writing this book.

This book is written fairly simply. The author wrote very much as if he were standing next to you talking with you. His verbiage is simple and easy to understand. He uses case-in-point examples that are helpful in clarifying his point and method.

Occasionally, the author would title a paragraph where I expected to get much more out of the following text than what was present. On these instances, I felt like I was left hanging and looking for more.

On the whole, I was delighted to find the author's approach to be factual, experienced, compassionate, common sense and fairly comprehensive.

I really enjoyed reading the author's common sense views when he addressed some of the dog world's trendy idealisms. I'm certain that many idealists will disagree with his views because he is common sense yet not abusive. His 'middle-of-the-road views' don't pander to either of the extremes in dog training (harsh discipline versus no discipline). I felt the author's views to be well balanced and obviously experienced.

Overall, this book is a good type of manual for foundational dog training with an emphasis on how that relates to an adopted rescue dog.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. And I hope people who either have adopted or plan to adopt a dog will read this book and keep it on hand for reference. I plan to keep my copy, too.

To someone preparing to adopt, two other books you may enjoy are:

-The Other End Of The Leash
-The Adoption Option: choosing & raising the shelter dog for you


There are Better Choices   June 13, 2003
 9 out of 14 found this review helpful

Adopting a dog is exciting; this book is not. Very very basic in its adoption advice and arrogent in support of its old-school training style, I found nothing compelling here. There are better books that don't have a "one method fits all" "only I know the right way" approach. Nor is it necessary (or mature) to insult others when advocating your own opinion.

Stick with Andrea Arden and Patricia McConnell, and give "So Your Dog's Not Lassie" a try -- it talks about independent or submissive or dominant dogs (several of the personalities you'll find when adopting) and how to cater your training style to your dog.


Excellent resource   April 18, 2003
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

As a 4 year volunteer dog walker/trainer at my local humane society and also the owner of two adopted dogs, I found this book useful and straightforward. At the shelter we see many people with unrealistic ideas of what to expect from our shelter dogs (this applies to any dog whether it's a shelter dog or from a responsible breeder or from any of the myriad of other sources.) This book explains some of the issues that can come up and gives practical advice on addressing the issues. I also like the fact that the owners give information on training a pet dog, rather than "obedience" training. This book gives solid advice to people who just want to have a good relationship with their new dog. The writers stress the importance of structure and clarity when communicating with your new dog.

As the owner of two adopted dogs, I will tell you that it takes effort and I will also tell you that I wouldn't have it any other way. What you get back from these dogs far outweighs the effort that goes in. If you are thinking of getting a dog, whether it be "adopted" or purchased, please do some homework first and understand the type of dog you are getting and examine your expectations and then decide if you want to go through with the decision which is a long commitment.

All that being said, if you decide you want to share your life with a dog, please VISIT YOUR LOCAL ANIMAL SHELTER and check out what they have. You'll be surprised. You will find purebred dogs, adult dogs who have good manners, young adult dogs "who need a little training", puppies and some marvelous mixes of all shapes and sizes. Some of these dogs have "baggage" and "issues" which will need some work, but many of them just got dealt a bad hand and it just didn't work out at their first home.All of these dogs just need a second chance! If you have your heart set on a particular breed which isn't at your shelter, look into breed rescues (cruise the web--you'll find a rescue for just about any breed)who work on re-homeing specific breeds which didn't work out at their first home.

Do some studying and if you decide to get a dog or add an additional dog to your pack, enjoy the journey--it's a very special adventure!! Not always easy, but always worth it!!