what dog books would you recommend?

Now hearing what your reasons are behind wanting to do more reading, I want to reiterate that you should run, not walk, and get a copy of The Culture Clash. The Other End of the Leash is also great for your current goals (and the library has several copies of that too, nudge nudge).
 
I never finished For the Love of a Dog. It just got kind of boring for me and seemed to restate a lot of what is in The Other End of the Leash.
 
Also, you can still call yourself a "clicker trainer" if you don't use a physical clicker because Sammy is scared of it. Clicker training is more of a methodology and philosophy than a device. If you use a marker word like "yes" or some other consistent sound in the same way that another clicker trainer uses a clicker, you're still clicker training. Originally this kind of training was done with marine mammals and whistles, but with the same ideas. It's just a lot easier to say "clicker training" than "operant condiditoning using a conditioned reinforcer and positive reinforcement/negative punishment".

Cressida you'll be happy to know that I applied on line for a library card  [] , but it takes 2-4 weeks to arrive [&:].  Thanks for the advice about Culture Clash!
 
I guess my hesitation behind not wanting to try clicker with something other than a clicker is that I'm not sure I can be completey consistent.  Or even consistency between DH and I - and not in training per se, but in tone or loudness or in timing of a verbal sound.  Sammy knows all of his commands on hand signals, and only occassionally obeys the verbal command along with it.  It's weird, cuz we always say the word, but he won't do the command consistently without the hand signal. Not sure how we got that one, but that's how he works.  Wonder if the verbal sound would even work with him?
 
I guess there's no way to find out unless I try, so perhaps I will brush up on some clicker reading and try it - I certainly can't do any harm.  We already use "ok" as a release command and I think "yes" is too common of a word.....  so I need to think of another fun, short upbeat word for that.  Do any of these books go into clicker  training?  I know spiritdogs has mentioned several good websites, but I like printed things in front of me....

ORIGINAL: cairnterriers

Are you looking for novels or informative books?

 
more informative, but novels like Marley and Me aren't out of the question - I think right now though it was more towards the understanding of dogs and how to communicate more effectively.  Not that I don't mind a good novel though!

The Power of Positive Dog Training is a clicker-oriented book and it's the one I used to learn the step-by-step basics of doing it (need I say the library has this one too?). The Culture Clash advocates mostly positive training and use of a conditioned reinforcer (a verbal marker or a clicker) in the parts where it discusses the hows and whys of training. It's not impossible to do positive training with a marker that's less than 100% consistent, it's just a little harder for the dog to catch on at first. Sammy seems like a tremendously smart boy, so I'm sure he gets it, and the great thing about positive training is you can try it and not be afraid of harming your dog if you don't "do it right."

I am like the least religious (born and raised atheist) least fuzzy foo-foo gal on the planet and I just loved this book. Yes, she's clearly a spiritual person and she talks about that a little bit. But not to an excessive degree and not in a way that a non-spiritual person such as myself couldn't understand and appreciate.

 
Ditto!
 
I love McConnell's new book but if you haven't read either I'd start with The Other End... it's the more comprehensive and more training-oriented book of the two. For the Love of a Dog is sort of like a sequel in my view.