Karen Pryor's A Dog and A Dolphin, An Introduction to Clicker TrainingPeople are always asking me to recommed books about dog training, raising and nutrition. Here is a list of books that I have read on those subjects, the good, the bad and the ugly. Remeber that these are my opinions, you may find a useful nugget in a book that I don't recommend and may think that one I do recommend should be used as kindling. If you have any comments about my reviews, please let me know. I am always open to new opinions and would gladly add additional comments.
Where possible I have provided links to the books so that you may purchase them easily. I tend to go to Amazon first (cheapest) then fall back on either Direct Books or the SitStay store. All are excellent and provide great customer service.
Karen Pryor's Don't Shoot the Dog! This is the clicker "bible." A must read for the newbie clicker trainer and for the more experienced. While this book does not focus on dog training it explains operant conditioning as it pertains to all training. It is easy to read, without lots of jargon, and has real life examples thrown in that I feel gives the book perspective.
Karen Pryor's A Dog and A Dolphin, An Introduction to Clicker Training
This companion book to Don't Shoot the Dog! focuses on dog training using operation conditioning principles. It is short (only 40+ pages) but explains principles of clicker training in an extremely readable style. Order it alone, or included in the Karen Pryor's Clicker Traininig Startup Kit. The kit includes A Dog and a Dolphin, two clickers and a copy of Karen Pryor's Don't Shoot the Dog! News.
Jean Donaldson's The Culture Clash
This book has been called "revolutionary" and it certainly lives up to it! Jean makes no excuses for dog behavior, just explains it, in plain english. It is a wonderful book that can really help open your eyes to the world as the dog sees it. A must read!
Turid Rugaas' On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals
Turid Rugaas' work with domesticated dogs and their language is nothing short of amazing. This book, while quite small, will pack a big punch when it comes to your understanding of dog language. Explainations and examples of the different signals dog and humans send to each other are well done with thought and even humor. Another must read.
Pamela J. Reid's Excel-Erated Learning
The full title of this outstanding book is Excel-Eratated Learning; Explaining, in plain English, how dogs learn and how best to teach them. Pamela Reid's book explains the mechanics of Operant Conditioning, in as the title says, plain English. I found the book to be excellent at explaining the technical details of learning.
Roy Hunter's Fun Nosework for Dogs
This is an excellent book, well written with very good instructions of how to begin tracking with your dog. Even if you are not particularly interested in tracking, there are wonderful games and exercises to play with your dog that really utilize a dogs natural talent. I love nose work exercises, trust me, they are a great way to zap some of the excess energy your dog may have. As Mr. Hunter says, All dogs are capable of every form of Nosework!
Gwen Bailey's The Perfect Puppy, How to raise a well behaved dog
This is a good all around first year puppy book. Gwen encourages prevention rather than correction for dogs and gives ample examples of how to's and what if's with your puppy. This may be too basic for the experienced puppy owner, but for first time or long time since a puppy owners, this is a good book.
Dr. Nicholas Dodman's The Dog Who Loved Too Much Dr. Dodman has put together a collection of tales focusing on behavior problems with dogs. As a veterinary behavorist, Dr. Dodman has seen it all! This book gives real life situation and the diagnosis and cure. It is very good reading, if short on advice. The stories are often sad, heartwarming and a relief all at the same time. It is always nice to learn that you are not alone.
David Weston and Ruth Ross's Dog Problems, The Gentle ModernCure
For such a small book, Dog Problems, The Gentle Modern Cure has quite a bit of information. From general behavior to actual exercises to help you to train your dog, this book covers quite a bit of territory. The training exercises use mostly luring, this is a book based on operant conditioning and positive rewards. Not as in depth as I would hope for with a book that should be pretty focused on dog problems.
Dr. Richard H. Pitcairn, DVM, PhD Natural Health for Dogs and Cats The is a comprehensive guide for those who wish to make their pets lives a bit more healthy. It is very clear and easy to follow with several recipes for either complete cooked or raw meals or for those of us who cannot give up kibble, suppliments to add to the kibble to enhance your pets diet. This book also includes excellent sections on first aide, health problems, alternative medicines and much much more. This is a must read.
Dr. Ian Billinghurst, D.V.Sc.[Hons}, B.Sc. Agr., Dip.Ed. Give Your Dog a Bone
This Australian vet has written a book with so much common sense about canine diets that you will be amazed you didn't realize it yourself. If you are interested in feeding a natural diet to your dog, this is the book to read. Billinghurst gives an exhaustive description of the BARF, bones and raw food, diet, the how to's and why it is the best diet for your dog. Written in plain english, this is an easy to read and use book on a topic that can be quite scientific.
Betty Fisher and Suzann Delzio Caninestein: Unleashing the Genius in your dog. This book is great! Written with humor and knowledge Betty and Suzann have a winner. There are tons of great ideas for games, home alone activities, and socialization. This was the book that got me thinking about how to keep my active dogs stimulated and happy. A must read.
Jane Simmons-Moake Agility Training: The Fun Sport for All Dogs.
This is a great book for agility trainers, beginners and advanced. It assumes that your dog has some basic obedience skills and does not linger in that area. The books strengths truly lie in its clear and concise explaination of the obstacles, how to train each obstacle and a section on how to build them! I find myself refering back to this book with each successive step we take on the agility course.
Elizabeth Meriwether Schuler's Simon & Schuster's Guide to Dogs.
This is a very comprhensive book listing over 320 breeds of dogs, complete with color pictures. Even though the descriptions are sometimes a bit of a stretch (in my opinion) it is a great reference book. I find that I use it almost daily as we come across new and unusual breeds almost everyday.
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul
A heartwarming and tear jerking book from the editors of the much loved "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books. All the stories are animal/pet related and all are touching, funny or just plain moving. I truly enjoyed all the stories.
Karen Pryor's Clicker Magic Almost as good as going to a Karen Pryor demo in person! Clear and easy to understand with lots of different dogs and behaviors. There is not much detail in the explainations, but the major points of clicker training are covered and often demonstrated on the video. The quality of the video is not very good, however the soundrack is clear and easy to follow.
Virginia Broitman and Sherri Lippman'sTake a Bow...Wow!
This is a very professionally done video, in both quality of the tape and the content. It is lighthearted and fun, constantly emphasizing the importance of fun in dog training. Basic clicker training is explained as well as at least a dozen fun and funtional behaviors. This is a good, easy to follow video that can help visually explain some of the finer points of training useful tricks.
This is theAussie bible. It has over 350 pages of Aussie information, from genetics to nutrition. It covers everything. All About Aussies has everything you ever wanted to know about Aussies in one comprehensive book. This book is definetly for the Aussie enthusiast.
Joseph Hartnagle's Australian Shepherds.
This book is called the New Owner's Guide to Australian Shepherds and it is just that. A nice condensed version of the "Aussie bible." Australian Shepherds is more than just a beginners guide. It covers everything from the history of the breed to behavior tips, specifically written for the Aussie. Plus the book is illustrated in full color!
Arthur Scott and Blue's Tails of Tailless Dogs
These two have written a lighthearted book that gives a great description, if somewhat "tall" of life with Australian Shepherds. Tails of Tailless Dogs, the Saga of Australian Shepherd Puppies chronicles the adventures of Art and his Aussies pups, Blue and Koda. If you are blessed by Aussies of your own you will enjoy these tales as much as I did!
1999 Australian Shepherd Calendar
For the Aussie enthusiast, this is a beautiful, full color, calender with photos of my favorite breed. Couldn't imagine the year without an Aussie calendar! By the way, there are loads of other breeds available out there too!
