DOG TRAINING BOOKS PART 2

As we progress into the current genre, I would recommend Carol Lea Benjamin. She has numerous books and one of the favorites is;
Mother Knows Best, The Natural Way to Train Your Dog. One of my other favorites which I suggest to new puppy owners is “The Chosen Puppy”

While we’re on the subject of puppies, we can’t forget “The Art of Raising a Puppy” by the Monks of New Skete. This has long been a favorite. It is a more detailed booked and recently came out in a revised edition. Highly suggested reading for serious puppy training.

About the same time all serious trainers were blessed with the writing of Karen Pryor who introduced “clicker training” to the trainers of animals other than just dolphins. I’m not sure of the sequence but my earliest book by her is “Don’t Shoot The Dog; The New and Art of Teaching and Training”. Karen Pryor is a behavioral biologist with an international reputation in two fields, marine mammal biology and behavioral pyschology. She is a founder and leading proponent of "clicker training," a training system based on operant conditioning. Her books are a must read for any serious trainer.

In the last ten years the dog training industry has blossomed big time and there are literally thousands of books and e books available. Several of the best and most popular have to include;

“The Dog Listener” by Jan Fennell. This book should be required reading for everyone who aspires to pick up a leash.

“The Power of Positive Dog Training” by Pat Miller “Pat Miller embodies all that is right about positive dog training.” Quote from Jean Donaldson author of The Culture Clash.

“The Other End of the Leash” by Patricia B McConnell PH.D. She is a University Professor, Applied Animal Behaviorist a prolific writer and an extremely popular speaker.

“Cesar’s Way” by Cesar Milan. While Cesar Milan doesn’t profess to being a dog trainer as such, he is more a people and dog problem solver. We would be remiss if we didn’t include at least his basic book in our library.

“Basic Manners and Obedience” by Dr. Ian Dunbar. Dr. Dunbar is a Veterinarian, animal behaviorist, dog trainer, writer, teacher, and he travels continuously conducting his extremely popular seminars. Go to “Dog Star Daily” to explore his, books, videos, etc. Always one of my “go to” sources.

And now let’s briefly explore some specialty books for those who wish to go beyond obedience.

“Training the Hunting Retriever” by Bill Tarrant. Since my very first dog training book was by Bill Terrant, I have to list him first. The late Bill Tarrant was the gun dog columnist for Field and Stream for over thirty years and wrote many other books on this topic. He is nationally-recognized as the pioneer in humane gun dog training.

“101 Dog Tricks” by Kyra Sundance and Chalcy. This is a team of world class performers and trainers and are regulars on TV and at sporting events and fairs. This is the only trick training book you will ever need.

“Schutzhund Theory and Training Methods” by Susan Barwig and Stewart Hilliard. For those trainers who want to step up a level in training this book is essential to any obedience or Schutzhund fan’s library.

“The Kroeher Method of Training Tracking Dogs” by William R. Koehler
“Tracking Dog Theory and Methods” by Glen R. Johnson.
I keep both of these tracking dog books on my list even though the Koehler Method is a little dated. His mechanics are excellent and his methods are worth studying. The newer and probably more popular book on the subject is by Glen Johnson and it will definitely help you to get a tracking dog degree if that is your goal. Neither of these books teach air tracking or detection dog techniques and I’m still working on finding a real good one in that category. If anyone has a recommendation I’d appreciate hearing from you.

So there you have a start to a good basic library. You could drop the early books and I appreciate that I have only scratched the surface of the specialty topics but perhaps we can deal with those in a future column. Good reading, good training, and good luck in all your future dog experiences.