Tricks and games are open to dogs of all sizes, shapes, and ages. Every dog can learn to do something they’ll enjoy. A Poodle, for example, can learn to dance. A retriever needs to fetch. Bichon Frises love their parlor tricks. Huskies want to pull a sled, herders love to herd, and so on. As for you, the dog owner, you need to be sure your pooch knows who’s in charge. You need to be the trainer, not the trained, before you and your dog can move on to tricks and games.

Dog Tricks For Dummies makes trick training fun for you and your dog. You can teach simple tricks, like wagging the tail on command, and more complex ones, like fetching a soda from the refrigerator. This handy guide also shows you how to

• Use basic commands such as Sit, Stay, Down, and Go.
• Teach good manners: Potty in one place, settle in one spot, pick up toys
• Identify your dog's personality: Eager Beaver, Comedian, Bully, and more
• Keep injuries at bay with a health plan
• Teach jumps (and when not to jump)
• Have fun in the snow: Sledding, skijoring, and tunneling
• Go hiking, backpacking, or carting with your dog
• Train your dog to run an agility course
• Play Frisbee and flyball
• Participate in pet therapy and at kids' parties

Sharing your life with a dog shouldn’t be a militaristic venture, selfishly designed around what you want your dog to do. Owning a dog is about joining two different species, two different spirits, in a way that will make the world better for both.

I wish that there was more content to the book, though. Perhaps 75% of it is filler. There are whole chapters on feeding, medical care and basics like sit, down and stay. Certainly, all of these topics are important, but they have only tangential relevance to trick training.

There are several other filler chapters about dog sports. Why fill 50-odd pages with brief overviews of skijoring, carting and flyball? Each of these sports has more than a few good books that readers can refer to if they're interested. Being a Border Collie owner in Texas, I have no use for info on the Iditarod!

I would much rather have a smaller volume filled with stuff that I want to read. All of this filler dilutes the book, and makes it harder to pick out the valuable info.


Dog Tricks for Dummies   October 4, 2001
 12 out of 13 found this review helpful

Dog Tricks for Dummies has good detail for the tricks that it has, but I think that more tricks should be explored. Most of the tricks that are in the book are very basic, though there are a few more complicated ones. If this is the first time that you have raised a puppy I would recommend reading this book.