Basic Obedience Training

Benjamin believes that the best way to train dogs is to imitate how mother dogs train their puppies. This includes verbal and physical praise but excludes food treats. Benjamin covers topics from basic housetraining to advanced off-leash work. Highly recommended.

Benjamin has written an easy-to-read, upbeat book about the potential challenges of adopting a stray or previously owned dog. She focuses on training basics. Recommended.

Cantrell provides exercises for dog owners to determine a dog's physical, mental, and emotional abilities. She suggests different training methods for dogs based on their abilities. Some of Cantrell's ideas are standard training techniques, while others are more unusual. Recommended, especially for those dog owners looking for new ideas.

Although the title refers to city dogs and the majority of Evans's examples are set in New York City, most of this book also applies to dogs living in suburbs and small towns. Relevant for all ages of dogs, City Canines is a well-rounded book and includes basic training, care, and problem solving (e.g., housetraining, chewing, jumping); however, it goes well beyond being a basic training manual. For example, rather than teaching just the basic heel command, Evans also discusses heeling indoors (e.g., apartment hallways and elevators), heeling over various surfaces (e.g., manhole covers and grates), heeling in crowds, and heeling with distractions (e.g., pigeons, skateboards, other dogs). Uniquely, Evans spends an entire chapter discussing various methods of holding and carrying smaller dogs. Highly recommended.

Evans is a former dog breeder and trainer at the New Skete Monastery. He discusses many aspects of housetraining: training methods, corrections, crates, schedules, nutrition, and health. He explores the controversial topic of whether a dog understands a correction given after the fact. He also covers submissive urination and scent marking. He fails to mention, however, that some puppies are not physically able to be reliably housetrained until several months old. Highly recommended for first time dog owners and for dog owners needing help with housetraining.

Fields-Babineau, Miriam. Dog Training with a Head Halter. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's, 2000.

Rather than training with the traditional choke collar, some trainers prefer the use of head halters which work on the same principle as horse halters. The history of head halters and the differences in styles are clearly explained. Fields-Babineau goes into detail about how to fit and use head halters. The remainder of the book consists of instructions for basic obedience (e.g., SIT, HEEL) and for dealing with common behavior problems (e.g., jumping, chewing). While the training chapters are only average, the chapters on the history, styles, fitting, and basic use of head halters are highly recommended.

Hodgson's book covers topics such as training, nutrition, health, and travel. In addition to sound training information, Hodgson provides many helpful tips not to be found elsewhere. Highly recommended.

This title is an excerpt of The Complete Idiot's Guide. Large portions are identical, but some parts are rearranged or rewritten. For example, in the chapter "Other Socially Unacceptable Behaviors", stool swallowing has been deleted and thunder has been added. Omitted sections include: exercise, nutrition, health, children and dogs, traveling, and some of the problem behaviors. This title is quite good; it is just not as complete as The Complete Idiot's Guide.

The Monks of New Skete support themselves by breeding, raising, and training dogs, particularly German Shepherds. The first chapters of their book explore the development of puppies from day one to twelve weeks. Later chapters discuss adopting, caring for, and training a puppy. Highly recommended, especially for those adopting their first puppy.

In addition to providing information on training and behavioral problems, the monks discuss various activities which can help keep dogs happy. Highly recommended.

This video complements The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete. Highly recommended.

This video provides background information on the Monks of New Skete and their philosophies concerning dogs. Recommended for those with an interest in the Monks of New Skete.

This video complements How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend by the Monks of New Skete. Highly recommended.

Top Dog is an organization which helps people who have disabilities to train their own assistance dogs. This volume covers basic obedience commands, such as sit and down. Their training methods are both positive and clearly explained. Highly recommended, especially for those with physical limitations in training dogs.

Dog breeder and trainer Rutherford together with veterinarian Neil have written a sound, practical book on the care and training of puppies from birth to one year. Recommended.

Together and separately, these two well-known authors have written several books and have appeared on television. Television audiences may be more familiar with Margolis as Uncle Matty. Dogs are divided into five temperament types, and each should be trained slightly differently. In addition to housetraining, six basic obedience commands are covered. The book concludes with a listing of 100 breeds, their positive and negative characteristics, and specific training advice. Recommended only as a supplement to another training book.

The American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test, which is open to all dogs, covers such basic good behaviors as sitting to be petted, heeling through a crowd, and remaining under control when startled. The Volhards provide step-by-step training instructions. The information on the CGC test is well presented and would be useful even for those who choose to use a different training method than the Volhard's in reaching the goal of CGC certification. Recommended.