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| How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend: The Classic Training Manual for Dog Owners (Revised & Updated Edition) | 
 enlarge | Author: The Monks Of New Skete
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $25.99
Buy New: $12.00
You Save: $13.99 (54%)
New (28) Used (37) Collectible (1) from $6.44
Avg. Customer Rating:  152 reviews
Sales Rank: 5210
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Rev Upd
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0316610003
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.70887
EAN: 9780316610001
ASIN: 0316610003
Publication Date: September 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Limited Scope -- Training Adult Dogs December 2, 2006
6 out of 14 found this review helpful
This book came highly recommended, as being very popular with vets and dog owners. It has a lot of information on obedience training for adult dog (come, sit, lay down, heel, etc.) There is also interesting information about dog psychology. Puppies are not covered.
We got a new puppy three weeks ago. Knowing little about dogs and nearly nothing about puppy care, we purchased this book as our primary source for puppy raising advice. Got it home and discovered that this book does not have any advice on puppies -- that is in the other New Skete Monks book, with "Puppy" in the title, with which I'm also very disappointed. This book only covers adult dogs, and within adult dogs only covers traditional obedience training (sit, come, lay down).
Other topics of extreme interest to new dog owners and people with dog problems are simply not addressed. For example, there is nothing on teaching your dog good manners -- I'd call this training, but it isn't covered. There is very little on addressing problem behaviors. What if your dog barks too much -- from what I've read the most common reason for someone to give up a dog? The authors don't say, just "dogs bark". What about jumping on furniture? Nothing. The little advice they have addressing behavior problems didn't work for us (e.g., jumping on people). There isn't any advice on dogs that aren't sociable with other dogs, which would at least have helped my mother and justified this book's "highly recommended" status at least a little bit.
Overall, a very disappointing book that claims a lot and delivers little.
 Excellent Investment November 2, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you are serious about learning how to live with your dog, this book is an excellent investment. I'd purchased it years ago when it was first published. I currently teach advanced obedience classes and recommend this book for all my students. There is something in there for everyone at all stages of dog training.
 other methods October 22, 2006
3 out of 14 found this review helpful
Meanwhile a lot of other people written very good books in a very different stile:
Suzanne Clothier (Bones would rain from the Sky)
Patricia McConnell (The other end of the Leash)
Turid Rugaas (Calming Signals)
We have three Irish Setter and we prefer a soft method for our dogs.
good advice for dog training September 13, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Although I do disagree with some of the punishment techniques suggested in this book( I still haven't read the revised edition), I can still say that this is a great book. Of course this book doesn't replace obedience classes, but it's a great way to start training your dog and learning to communicate with it. I have read it several times and given it to friends who were getting ready to adopt a dog. It has helped me train three dogs, with obedience classes in addition to at home training, of course. It is definitely a classic and a must on any new dog owner's nightstand.
Dogs are NOT furry children September 1, 2006
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
I have had an earlier version of this and have ordered the latest. I have used methods in this book to raise and train four Dobermans and a Great Dane. As others have said, the negative reviews come from people who have not read the book (one admits just flipping through it in a bookstore) or did not absorb what they read or have bought into the notion that dogs are really furry children. You can discipline your dog (or child) physically without being cruel. Sometimes for your safety or the dogs behavior must be corrected immediately. A physical reprimand (smack undeer the chin) is the fastest way to make your point. As others have also noted, there is so much more to this book than just dog training. The monks are kind, compassionate men who have developed an unmatched understanding of dog behavior through years of study and interaction with them and they convey that knowledge in clear, charming prose. Anyone with a dog or planning to get one should own this book.
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