Book Suggestions, Please

I think The Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller fits the bill perfectly. 

It explains positive reinforcement as well as other types of training methods, using training to form/strengthen the human-dog partnership, as well as teaches clicker training and many, many exercises with clicker training.  I followed the training guidelines she lays out when Harry was a puppy with much success (she gives a week by week guide in teaching different behaviors). 

The thing I like best about the book is that it's very easy to understand.  You don't need a PhD to understand the psychological principals, lol.

Of course!!  I totally forgot about her, well not really, but I just wasn't thinking.  Thanks.

You're welcome to borrow my copy if you like.  I told Amber (Kitty) she could borrow it, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I send it to you first.  I'm sending her up a ton of books, lol.

I also really liked Don't Shoot The Dog, for basic behavior info.

Thanks for the offer, Heather.  The suggestions are for a friend who I'm trying to guide towards the +R way of training.  He & his family have adopted a Beagle who has developed a neat skill of getting ON the counter & eating anything in sight.  I'm TRYING to help him see that there are OTHER ways besides a shock collar to change behaviors. 

I'll recommend these books to him.  Thanks ladies.  My friend asked me today what he should do.  I'm not sure if he was joking or not about the shock collar but the timing was very bad for him.  I'm still very raw about losing Aspen & he's saying he's going to use a shock collar on his dog or he's getting rid of the dog.  He got an ear full from me.  He willingly brought the dog into his house & he owes it to the dog to TRY & work out this problem.  Unfortunately all the work is going to fall on his wife's shoulders since she's the one who's at home.  I recommended that he put Bandit in a crate with a Kong filled with goodies while all food prep & eating is being done.  I thought it was a brilliant idea if I do say so myself. :) 

Anyway, since he asked, he's going to get everything I have on information & knowledge to save the poor dog being rehomed again because his owner will not stand up to his end of the deal.

OOPS, sorry, I'm preaching to the choir here.  Boy it felt good to get that off my chest.  DH just rolls his eyes when I go off on a dog related rant.

Rant away, Annie.  I'd have done the same.  The two books suggested are ones I highly recommend too.   dogwise.com  should have them both.

I like Dont shoot the dog too, great book.

I have "When pigs fly: Training success with impossible dogs" by Jane Killion & I really liked it. Its geared towards harder to train breeds, so that might be helpful

 I have extra copies of "The Power of Positive Dog Training" just for this reason. The book, a clicker and a bag of treats should help.

  Sue Ailsby's Levels - free online guide :)

http://dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/Levels/LevelBehaviours/LevelsBook.html

I would look in you tube for videos about it first. If the owner first contact of a technique is a book then it will be hard for him to get the timing right and probably even know what the books are talking about. Not to mention that an "average joe" would be more reluctant to buy or even finish a whole book about it.

Just go to youtube an look for "dog Counter Surfing" and you will find 55 videos regarding the issue, some of them even show you how to solve it

Do any of you have the newer version of this book? It was updated with a 2nd Edition around two years ago. I'm wondering if it's worth getting if you already have the 1st Edition. Pat Miller's book is sitting at the top of my book pile on my nightstand right now. I happened to have it out earier. I use it a lot as a reference. The new cover certainly looks nicer. The old one just doesn't stand out really well. 

 Old Cover <----------------> New Cover