Best Training Books

[xpaeanx]

I thought having a thread about recommended reading for dog behavior and training would be good... so:

What are the best training books you've read?

What are their strengths?
What are their weaknesses?
What kinds of behaviors would you recommend them for?

Please include full title, author, and a brief synopsis.

THANK YOU!

[arklady]

Yikes! This could be an exhaustive list. I tend to read more technical manuals these days. I recommend
Shelby Marlo's New Art of Dog Training
This is a good overall positive training book.

Karen Pryor's Don't Shoot the Dog
This book came out in 1984 and then hit big with the dog training community. It is changing the way canines are trained and remains a best selling book.

Dog Training for Dummies
This is also a good general manual.

My favorites for technical stuff is Learning & Behavior by Mazur.
However this book is not for the faint of heart because it gets into the nitty-gritty of animal behavior modification.

Just a heads-up: I interviewed Karen Pryor about her clicker training academy and her new book (due out in 2009) called Reaching the Animal Mind. I suspect that book will be another classic.

[CharlieDog]

I particularly like Merle's Door by Ted Kerasote Lessons from a freethinking dog.
It was a really good book, and really shows what can be accomplished when you let a dog be a dog, while still giving the dog structure.

Also, Bones Would Rain From The Sky by Suzanne Clothier is a great book about the human dog bond, and everything that is possible within that bond.

The Other End of The Leash by Patricia McConnell is really a MUST read for anyone curious about why we do the things we do around dogs.

[Maxy24]

I'm going to end up reiterating of few of the ones already mentioned:

Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor: an overall good book but I remember while reading it there were things I didn't like, I just cannot remember what they were now lol, Other than her spraying her dog in the face with the vanilla scented water, but that's just me being difficult. Talks about all sorts of problems and all the possible methods (both positive and negative) of solving them and the pros and cons of each.

The Power of Positive Dog training by Pat Miller:This book teaches you about clicker training and how to use it to train many commands. Very good for someone with a new dog/puppy or someone new to clicker training who has no idea how to use it to teach commands. It does give other information too in fact there are 6 chapters on teaching specific commands and 21 total chapters. It has some info on resource guarding, problems common in unsocialized dogs, general puppy stuff (crate training, housebreaking, stopping chewing etc.) are really focuses on making every training experience positive. I found I knew most of the info in it already because I read it recently after reading all the other books I'm about to or have listed.

The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell:
I really like her books because I love the real life stuff she throws in using her own dogs and her clients, it makes it more believable and amusing. This book talks a lot about people and why we do what we do around dogs (because we are primates so there is a lot about apes) and why are dogs may dislike or not understand what we do because they are dogs (so dog body language is discussed). She talks about body language you can use to stop a dog dead in his tracks or make him come running. It's a really good book everyone should read.

The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson:
Some have called it boring but I loved it. It covers everything training wise from socialization to aggression and simple commands. It gives you a good look at how dogs think and learn. Talks about social and predatory behavior and what that means for you in a household. talks about common excuses for why owners say their dogs don't listen and why they are often wrong (the dog is stubborn, dominant, spiteful etc.) and talks about how the whole dominance theory is flawed. Goes through common behavior problems and what to do about them as well as why dogs do them and how to look at it from your perspective (she makes up planet Gorn where people are owned by Gorns who train them using harsh methods and how confused you are especially since they are trying to try and make you stop normal behaviors (hand shaking, smiling, sitting in chairs, using the toilet, listening to certain kinds of music, talking to others, brushing your teeth and a few others) in the end you get put to sleep for lashing out at your trainer before a session. I also really liked the graph she uses to explain a dog's threshold and how a number of things when put together can attribute to a dog bite. So while the dog is normally great with kids petting him when you put together kids (he does not hate them but might be wary of them) in an unfamiliar environment while one of them is wearing a hat (something he dislikes) he may bite while if any of those things were separated he would not bite. Also explains (with the graph) how punishing growling and snapping does not prevent the biting, when you reach his bite threshold he will still bite he just will not react when he comes to his growl or snapping threshold. So I like it a lot as you can see, plus I have it in my hand so i am giving you a long summary. i think everyone should read it.

Bones Would Rain From the Sky by Suzanne Clothier:
I adored this book. Talks in depth about the human-Dog relationship and how to build one that is strong and close. it talks about how training can help or hurt the bond depending on what methods are used, the chapter "What Timmy Never Did to Lassie" (for some reason I love that title) talks about some of the more sick methods like koehler methods (takes direct quotes on properly hanging the dog by his choke chain until he passes out and not worrying that he may vomit and stumble around for a while afterwards) and about One of the monks on New Skete's books with a chapter title "How hard do you hit the dog" which states if you do not get a yelp or similar response it was not hard enough. I love this book so much. It also debunks the dominance thing (she lets her dogs on the couch the horror!) and talks about training to build the bond. I think this is a great book to read when you first get your dog or right before hand but at any point it works, I just remember almost crying wishing Max were still alive so i could fix our relationship and so I could right my wrongs with him.

Click to Calm by Emma Parsons:
This is a great book for someone who has a DA or HA dog or reactive dog. All methods use clicker training and desensitization and it deals with all sorts of situations, great book, obviously not for people with perfectly friendly dogs unless they are like me and just like to learn more.

For the love of a Dog by Patricia McConnell:
Again I love her books and experiences. this was a very interesting book, I felt smarter after reading it. This book basically talks about dog emotions and uses evidence to support that they do indeed have emotions that probably feel similar to ours (the have the same exact emotion center in their brain that we do and it releases the same chemicals) she talks about how that part of the brain functions (including the different areas of it) in both people and dogs. She talks about facial expressions and how they tie into emotions in both species and using pictures shows how similar they are. She talks about calming signals and how to use body language and facial expressions to communicate with your dog. A great read I recommend to everyone. It may confuse some people, try writing down the different brain centers and what they do as you go so you don't forget when she refers to them.

I think that's all, I have one more book I need to get (long title I don't feel like writing it's by the Coppingers) and then I'm good lol.

[Dekka]

those are all great books

I also like Excellerated learning by Pam Reid and Shaping Success by Susan Garrett.

The first is a more indepth look at training. Not for newbies but really good if you want more than just the basics of learning.

Shaping Success shares a lot of real life anecdotes and examples of training one of the top agility dogs. It is a very honest book.

[Kayla]

Many have already listed excellent books a few others include:

Clicker Training for Obidence- By Morgan Spector Geared towards all pet owners but specifically for those who want to compete in OB, Rally. Every behaviour is taught through free shaping with minimal prop reliance, and goes everything from heeling to the drop on recall to the scent retrieve.

Control Unleashed by Leslie Mcdevit is also a very good read

[Momof2Pups]

I really want Control Unleashed. For those who have read it- I have a dog who shuts down during training. How much do you think it would help with that and building confidence?

[elegy]

I think it has a lot of potential to help you with your dog who shuts down. There's also a pretty active Yahoo group for additional discussion of the book, and while I really just lurk there, I've learned a lot.

My additional suggestions are

Aggression in Dogs by Brenda Aloff which is a wonderful, amazing resource for dealing with aggression, from prevention to management to treatment plans. Such good stuff. I can't recommend it highly enough.

When Pigs Fly! Training Success With Impossible Dogs by Jane Killion has great advice on learning to work with, play with, and motivate those "difficult" breeds (she has Bull Terriers). All very positive with heavy emphasis on free-shaping and Premack.

and Bringing Light to Shadow by Pam Dennison, which is a diary of rehabilitating an aggressive Border Collie.

[Sch3Dana]

I also loved Excelerated Learning.

Some others:

The Dog's Mind by Bruce Fogle- a rather heavy read, but it contains some really fascinating information. It will take a while to make it through the book, but you will come away with some really cool information that is available, but hard to find elsewhere, like- which colors can dogs see? It's not black and white, I can tell you that. There are many scientific studies that dog trainers don't usually run across; this book contains some of the information gathered through those studies.

Terri Arnold's Steppin Up to Success - for serious obedience trainers who want to win.

Feisty Fido by Patricia McConnell and Karen London - good little book about on leash aggression that I just read.

"Don't Shoot The Dog" by Karen Pryor (of course)

"Toughness Training for Life" by James E. Loehr is a great book for athletes, human and canine. Loerh is a sports psychologist who works with very high-level human athletes. His book talks about how stress can be used to strengthen the mind and body. This is super information for sport dog training, especially the protection sports.

The Housebreaking Bible - (my plug for my website which isn't quite a book, but it really is very useful) A friend and I are working on a new site that is all about housebreaking puppies and dogs. It covers potty schedules, crate training, doggy doors, supervision and puppy proofing, picking an outdoor potty area, papertraining, litter box training and problem solving. It's a very useful site right now and we will continue to add content as the site grows.

And, maybe a bit off topic, Dogs: Their Evolution and History by Coppinger- changed the way I think about many dog-related topics. The book covers some pretty weighty topics in a way that is still accessible to the average reader. The Coppinger's are serious scientists, but also serious dog people. This book's beginning premise is that dogs are not wolves and probably not even evolved directly from them. Their alternate theory makes much more sense of dog behavior than the prevailing, "dogs are just domesticated wolves" theory.

[LuvsDogs]

Anything by Dr Ian Dunbar Befor & After You Get Your Puppy-All about socialising puppies.