Book Review: The Power of Positive Dog Training

The Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller is a wonderful book for any one that wants to know more about clicker training.

The feature that I really enjoy in the book is that she has broken the training down into what to do each week with some bonus tricks to teach. She gives you great incite into how to teach the behavior and some of the common problems that you may experience. The problems include creative ways to get back on track with your training. She breaks it down into just 6 weeks of training.

The book also covers common problem behaviors you may encounter with your canine such as guarding, biting, chewing, and housetraining. I have read many books on dog behavior/training and I really felt that this book was different than many I had read. I feel the book goes above and beyond by organizing your training. It includes a Doggie Day Planner in the back to help keep track of your training and progress, so you will be able to actually see the improvement.

It would be fun to start with a new dog or puppy with no formal training and see if you can accomplish the behaviors in six weeks. I might give it a try some time.

Book Review

One of the greatest books I have read is Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson. I don't think the name does the book justice, because the title doesn't begin to give even a hint of what it contains. She does a great job of explaining dog behavior and how to train your dog.

She divides the book into two areas. She starts out with explaining why dogs behave the way they do. She goes through all the common behaviors that dogs tend to exhibit.
The last section is devoted to training the basic commands. But it not just how to teach sit, she has divided the sections into the lowest level of sit to the more advance sit. First you teach the behavior then she tells you how to shape the behavior to the next levels.

This book is very complete in covering many of the different aspects of dogs and really it's not that long, but I found it so packed with information that I often had to read small portions. I felt like I had to let my brain process or digest the information. If you only buy one book about dog training I would suggest this one. If you would like to buy a used copy half.com is a great place to find a book at a great price.