Books

TRAINING BOOKS

PERFECT PUPPY IN 7 DAYS - Sophia Yin

This visual guide provides readers with a step-by-step plan for bonding with their pup, learning to communicate clearly, and providing the pup with essential life skills. With 176 pages and over 400 photos, Dr. Yin explains why puppies do what they do, how even minor modifications in their environment and your inter-actions can dramatically affect their behavior, and how quickly they can learn when you set them up for success.

WHEN PIGS FLY: TRAINING SUCCESS WITH IMPOSSIBLE DOGS - Jane Killion

Some breeds of dogs and mixes have a reputation as "impossible" to train. Hounds, terriers, and other breeds are often called pig-headed and even untrainable. Learn these "Pigs Fly" methods and take advantage of the natural strengths of these independent and intelligent dogs. Help your dog become a wonderful companion or a formidable canine athlete. Clicker and reward-based training that is fun to use. ONE OF TROY'S FAVORITES!

POSITIVE PERSPECTIVES 2: KNOW YOUR DOG, TRAIN YOUR DOG - Pat Miller

If you are just starting out in dog training, read POSITIVE PERSPECTIVES first. It has more information on puppies and basic training, while this volume offers excellent guidance in more advanced topics related to reading dog body language and modifying behavior. Both books are great for all dog owners, and both are highly recommended.

POWER OF POSITIVE DOG TRAINING - Pat Miller

Demonstrates how you can train your dog, have fun, and build a lasting relationship at the same time. Walk away from punishment-based training methods and learn how you can reward your dog to obtain and reinforce the behaviors you could only dream about achieving. When you apply the training methods in this book and follow the unique six-week training program, your dog will learn to think and to choose proper behavior. You and your dog can become an unbeatable team, capable of addressing any challenge you may encounter.

EXCEL-ERATED LEARNING: EXPLAINING IN PLAIN ENGLISH HOW DOGS LEARN AND HOW BEST TO TEACH THEM - Pamela J Reid

With the freedom of understanding 'how your dog learns' comes the ability of making the process easy, efficient and enjoyable for your dog. You'll be in a position to excel-erate your dog's learning! Agility enthusiast, obedience competitor and psychologist Dr. Pamela Reid introduces you to cutting-edge scientific techniques in dog training including, autoshaping retrieval (i.e., letting the dog train itself), and 'errorless discrimination learning' for teaching scent articles and directed jumping. The combination of a relaxed writing style and numerous examples that relate to dog training makes learning theory actually fun to learn.

RAISING PUPPIES AND KIDS TOGETHER - A GUIDE FOR PARENTS - Pia Silvani and Lynn Eckhardt

The relationship between puppies and kids can be magical, but it can become troublesome and even downright dangerous if proper behavior is not taught from the start. Here, top trainers show you the best training methods for a polite and well-mannered dog and also show you important rules to teach your child.

YOUR OUTTA CONTROL PUPPY - Teoti Anderson

A fabulous new puppy behavior problem book from leading trainer Teoti Anderson. Find out about all the cutting edge positive training methods you can use to get your puppy under control.

WAY TO GO! - HOW TO HOUSETRAIN A DOG OF ANY AGE - Patricia McConnell & Karen London

How to housetrain a dog of any age. This clear, concise booklet can help your puppy or adult dog learn a lifetime of good habits. It can also re-train the dog with bad habits and give you back your clean home!

VISITING THE DOG PARK: Having Fun, Staying Safe - Cheryl Smith

For most dogs, a visit to a dog park is a great experience filled with chances to interact with other dogs and get some exercise. But not all dogs (not to mention their owners) have a great experience every time. So what can you do increase the chance that going to the dog park will be safe and fun for your dog? This handy new book gives you detailed information so you can decide if your dog is ready for a dog park out, whether the design of the park makes for safe play, and teaches you simple things you can do to prepare for a great dog park experience.

HOW TO BE LEADER OF THE PACK AND HAVE YOUR DOG LOVE YOU FOR IT (Booklet) - Patricia B. McConnell, PhD

Learn how to love your dogs without spoiling them and provide boundaries without intimidation. This booklet clarifies how to be a benevolent leader and avoid aggression related to fear or dominance. If you want to be a natural leader to your pack, this book tells you how to do it in a peaceful, kind way.

DON'T DUMP THE DOG: OUTRAGEOUS STORIES AND SIMPLE SOLUTIONS TO YOUR WORST DOG BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS - Randy Grim

THE ONLY DOG TRICKS BOOK YOU'LL EVER NEED - Gerilyn Bielakiewicz

We agree!  Another great and affordable book from Ms. Bielakiewicz.  This little book is packed with great tips and techniques from basic obedience through advanced tricks.  Gives step-by-step instructions on how to condition a dog to the clicker, a fun and effective tool for teaching refined behaviors necessary for the best tricks.

OUTWITTING DOGS - Terry Ryan

From world-renowned dog trainer Terry Ryan, with Kirsten Mortensen. Uses more brain than brawn to motivate dog behavior with positive training techniques and helps readers understand the minds of their canine friends. Focusing on problem solving and prevention with puppies as well as adult dogs, you'll find techniques to cure: the chronic chewer, the leash puller, the dog who jumps on people, the dog who hates to be left alone, the dog who won't come, the dog who barks too much, the biter, the aggressor, and more. You'll even learn how to outwit the neighbor's dog, socialize your puppy, teach your own dog tricks, outwit dogs and kids at the same time, and much more.

POSITIVE TRAINING FOR SHOW DOGS - Vicki Ronchette

Apply the latest scientific research on how dogs learn to the world of dog showing. Whether you are just getting started in the breed ring or are an experienced show dog handler, you will enjoy learning how to work with your dog as your partner. Get outstanding showing results by using positive reinforcement methods including clicker training and lure/reward methods. Written by a dog show person for dog show people!

PURELY POSITIVE DOG TRAINING - Sheila Booth

Train your dog the positive way. Includes how to raise a puppy positively, how to build a strong relationship, manners training, teaching a really reliable recall, and how to train effectively without force. Special instructions in each section for companion dogs, competition obedience, agility and Schutzhund. Clearly explains both theory and technique, including The Golden Rule and The Ten Commandments of positive training. Easy-to-follow directions to teach sit, down, stand, heel, recall, finish, retrieving, jumping and send away. Special chapter on preparing for successful competition.

SO YOU WANT TO BE A DOG TRAINER - Nicole Wilde

What it's really like to work with dogs - and their owners; can you make a living training dogs? How to get an education that applies; building your confidence; setting up your business; advertising; group classes; in-home sessions; phone tips; safety tips; trainer etiquette; products and tools you should be aware of, and MUCH more.

BODY LANGUAGE

ON TALKING TERMS WITH DOGS: CALMING SIGNALS (2nd Ed) Turid Rugaas

From Terry Ryan's introduction: Dogs have a language for communication with each other, consisting of a large variety of signals using body, face, ears, tail, sounds, movement and expression. If we study the signals dogs use with each other and use them ourselves, we increase our ability to communicate with our dogs. Most noteworthy are the calming signals, which are used to maintain a healthy social hierarchy and resolve conflict within the pack. If we can carry these skills over to our own interactions with dogs, we can greatly improve our relationships with dogs. A practical, down-to-earth, logical understanding and use of the body language of dogs.

THE BODY LANGUAGE AND EMOTION OF DOGS - Myrna M. Milani, DVM

Why do dogs and their owners, both social animals, often have problems? As a practicing veterinarian, Dr. Milani found that many owners fail to understand the meaning of dogs' behavioral displays. By mistaking territoriality for spite, dominant behavior for love, and making other false interpretations, owners often respond inappropriately. Many owners also fail to grasp how their own emotions and body language affect their relationships with their pets. Here, based on fascinating case histories from her own practice, Dr. Milani offers a guide that goes beyond solving dog behavioral problems.

UNDERSTANDING CANINE BEHAVIOR

THE OTHER END OF THE LEASH - Patricia B. McConnell, PhD

When humans communicate with dogs, a lot can get lost in the translation. Focusing on human behavior, Dr. McConnell teaches readers how to retrain themselves to speak consistently in a language dogs understand and avoid sending conflicting and confusing messages. The new insights into human and dog interaction will forever alter and improve our relationship with our best friends. Combines true stories, scientific perspective and professional dog training tips.

HOW DOGS LEARN

Explains the science of operant conditioning, the psychological principle upon which almost all animal training is based. Operant conditioning is the place where science and dog training meet, and the authors bring you there in terms anyone can easily grasp. Every scientific concept is explained clearly and precisely, and its relevance to your dog is laid out.

DON'T SHOOT THE DOG: THE NEW ART OF TEACHING AND TRAINING - Karen Pryor

Outlines 8 methods for putting an end to all kinds of undesirable behavior without yelling, threats, force, punishment, guilt trips - or shooting the dog; the 10 laws of shaping behavior through affection training; how to combat your own addictions to alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, overeating or whatever; how to deal with such difficult problems as a moody spouse, an impossible teen, or an aged parent; PLUS housetraining the dog, improving your tennis game, keeping the cat off the table, and much, much more! Includes the use of clickers in dog training, why it works, and how it has caught on.

FOR THE LOVE OF A DOG - Patricia B. McConnell, Phd

This book explores the emotions of dogs and people by analyzing and comparing canine and human brain anatomy and function.  McConnell then discusses how dog owners can learn "the language" of dog by recognizing important signals and reading them correctly.

FEISTY FIDO (Booklet) - Patricia B. McConnell, PhD

If you have a dog who is barking and lunging at other dogs while on leash, you are not alone. It's a very common behavior problem, even if the same dog gets along well with others OFF leash. It is also a problem with a high rate of successful treatment. What you can get from this booklet is the ability to leash-walk your dog around others, whether it's down the sidewalk or at the vet clinic, knowing that your dog will walk politely by another dog, rather than causing a scene. Methods are totally positive reinforcement.

BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

HELP FOR YOUR FEARFUL DOG - Nicole Wilde, CPDT

This comprehensive guide to the treatment of canine anxiety, fears, and phobias is filled with information that is invaluable for trainers. Topics include causes and prevention, establishing a Firm Foundation program, body language, four essential skills to teach fearful dogs, desensitization and counterconditioning basics, behavior modification protocols to address 15 specific fears including those of people, other dogs, sounds, touch, nail-clipping, and being left alone, and quick tips and tricks. Chapters on nine complementary therapies (including pharmacological intervention), products, and their specific applications to fear issues. Chock full of photographs and illustrations and written in a down-to-earth, humorous style.

CLICK TO CALM: HEALING THE AGGRESSIVE DOG - Emma Parsons

When Emma Parsons, canine trainer and behavior consultant, discovered that Ben, her own prized golden retriever, was aggressive toward other dogs and that traditional remedies took his reactivity to nightmarish levels, she turned to clicker training. In the process, Emma developed innovative and highly effective strategies to calm, alter, and re-shape Ben's aggressive displays. Her work has since helped many clients successfully reduce and even erase their dogs' reactivity to both dogs and humans.

FIGHT! - Jean Donaldson

From the award-winning author of Culture Clash and MINE! A practical guide to the treatment of dog-dog aggression. This down-to-earth manual will teach you how to use behavior modification to retrain a dog that bullies other dogs, or becomes fearful when approached by other dogs. Includes descriptions of common types of aggression, assessing prognosis, remedial socialization, on-leash manners training, proximity sensitivity, play style and skills, resource guarding, and prevention.

MINE! - Jean Donaldson

A practical how-to guide on resource guarding/aggression - food bowl, object, bed, crate, owner, etc. - in dogs. Contents include: aggression basics, nature of resource guarding, kinds of resource guarding, Behaviorist vs. medical models, recognizing guarding, prognosis, safety tools, treatment overview, management, desensitization and counterconditioning, resource sample hierarchies, generalization, troubleshooting, body handling desensitization, operant conditioning.

NEW PUPPIES AND DOGS

DOGSMART - Myrna Milani, DVM

Explore your orientation toward dogs. Then apply what you've learned about yourself, your dream dog, your environment and your leadership style to training, exercise, nutrition, health care, and lifestyle programs that best suit you and your new friend!

Everyone we know who read this book before they got a dog has been very happy with the dog they chose!

SUCCESSFUL DOG ADOPTION - Sue Sternberg

Gentle, expert guidance on how to find and adopt an exceptional canine companion. Helps potential adopters examine their reasons for adopting a dog and translates those reasons into what to look for in a particular animal. Explains the difference between canine behavior and temperament, the impact of temperament on the canine-human bond, and its importance in successful adoptions. Shows how the reader can work with shelter personnel to ensure that they have temperament-tested the potential adoptee appropriately. Learn about basic behavioral assessment and get up to speed in basic training, with special attention given to distinctions between temperament types.

BEFORE YOU GET YOUR PUPPY - Dr. Ian Dunbar

Lists common, predictable puppy problems, provides a timetable for their development, and suggests a variety of dog-friendly preventative measures and solutions. It emphasizes the importance of early socialization, confinement, prevention, reward training, and lure/reward training techniques. Discusses the 6 doggy developmental deadlines that you must meet with your puppy in order to have a well-adjusted family member, with emphasis on the first three deadlines. House training and biting/mouthing are two of the most important things covered. Also available as a free pdf download from Sirius Dog

AFTER YOU GET YOUR PUPPY - Dr. Ian Dunbar

Now you have your puppy, the clock is ticking and you need to meet three more developmental deadlines before your puppy is five months old. Covers Household Etiquette; Home Alone; Socialization with People; Learning Bite Inhibition; The World at Large; Homework Schedules, and a shopping list of books and videos.

HEALTH AND NUTRITION

ALLERGIC TO PETS? THE BREAKTHROUGH GUIDE TO LIVING WITH THE ANIMALS YOU LOVE

Addresses the problem that plagues allergic animal lovers everywhere: how to live with a pet you love when you (or a family member) are allergic to it. Sensitivity to animals is one of the most frequently diagnosed allergies, yet until now, allergic animal lovers have been faced with only two choices: give up their beloved pets or live with the suffering. This is the first book to provide effective advice for cohabiting with cats, dogs, small furry pets, birds, and even horses. Learn what causes an allergic reaction and how to ward off the worst of it; how to care for your hairy, furry, and feathered pets and their environments to minimize allergens; how to allergen-proof your home, room-by-room; when to get professional assistance: medicines for the sufferrer as well as nontoxic allergen-reducing products formulated specifically for animals. An indispensable resource for animal-loving allergy sufferers everywhere, packed with much-needed advice, explanations, and helpful tips. Extensive resource guide!

ENTERTAINMENT

BUSTER'S DIARIES - Buster Hattersley

DOG IS MY CO-PILOT - The Editors of The Bark

The editors of The Bark have collected favorites and new discoveries in their first anthology, Dog Is My Co-Pilot. The same genius found in The Bark magazine is in great supply in this must-have collection. Readers will delight in the 42 essays, short stories and expert commentaries that explore every aspect of "the world's oldest friendship".

WHAT WENDELL WANTS - Jenny Lee

Do your dog's haircuts cost more than your own? Do you often worry about your dog's reputation? Do all holidays revolve around your dog? If you answered yes to all or any of the above, your affection for your pet may have crossed over into all-out obesssion. The bad news is there's no cure. The good news is you're not alone. In this hilarious and eye-opening book, the author shares sidesplitting stories of her life with her dog (and, oh yeah, her husband too!), and how she turned her love for her pet into a healthy and mutually rewarding relationship.

A DOG YEAR - Jon Katz

When the author's two yellow Labs were 6 and 7 years old, a breeder who had read one of his books contacted him to say that she had a dog that was meant for him - a two-year-old Border Collie named Devon, well bred but high strung and homeless. Instinct over-ruled reason, and he brought Devon home. This is the story of how Jon and Devon and the two Labs came to terms with each other. It shows how a man discovered a lot about himself through one dog whose temperament seemed as different from his own as night is from day. Jon is forced to deal with all the issues that may come with a re-homed dog who is at best high strung. A Border Collie book that fully explores the temperament of the breed and the issues involved in rescue.

FICTIONAL

WALKING IN CIRCLES BEFORE LYING DOWN - Merrill Markoe

When her latest boyfriend leaves her for another woman, twice-divorced Angeleno Dawn Tarnauer buries her face in the fur of her mixed-breed canine, Chuck, and cries. The dog, it seems, sensed trouble all along. "I should have said something before," he laments in a gravelly voice. If you ever loved a dog, and talked to it, and wondered what all the whines meant, and what on earth they were doing, here's a highly entertaining book.

RACING IN THE RAIN - Garth Stein

If you've ever wondered what your dog is thinking, Stein's third novel offers an answer. Enzo is a lab terrier mix plucked from a farm outside Seattle to ride shotgun with race car driver Denny Swift as he pursues success on the track and off. Denny meets and marries Eve, has a daughter, Zoë, and risks his savings and his life to make it on the professional racing circuit. Enzo, frustrated by his inability to speak and his lack of opposable thumbs, watches Denny's old racing videos, coins koanlike aphorisms that apply to both driving and life, and hopes for the day when his life as a dog will be over and he can be reborn a man. When Denny hits an extended rough patch, Enzo remains his most steadfast if silent supporter. Enzo is a reliable companion and a likable enough narrator, though the string of Denny's bad luck stories strains believability.

WATCHERS - Dean Koonz

On his thirty-sixth birthday, Travis Cornell hikes into the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. But his path is soon blocked by a bedraggled Golden Retriever, who will let him go no further into the dark woods. That morning, Travis had been desperate to find some happiness in his lonely, seemingly cursed life. What he finds is a friend—a dog of alarming intelligence—and a threat that could only have come from the darkest corners of man’s imagination.

LOST AND FOUND - Jacqueline Sheehan

In her second novel, Sheehan switches genres from her debut historical about Sojourner Truth to a contemporary tale of grief featuring Rocky Pelligrino, a woman reeling from her husband's death. After her husband dies of a heart attack, Rocky leaves behind her career as a psychologist in the Berkshire Mountains and moves to Peak's Island, Maine, taking a job as an Animal Control Warden. Her first catch is a black Lab with an arrow lodged in his shoulder. She takes him in, searches for his owner and tries to solve the mystery behind the arrow's origin. Rocky makes a few friends-anorexic teenage neighbor Melissa and strangely attractive archery instructor Hill Johnson-and her mission takes a surprisingly dark turn after she learns of Cooper's original owners. Dog lovers will adore Sheehan's portrayal of Cooper, who, in contrast to all the human suffering, comprises the bright spot in a melancholy novel.

The GOOD GOOD PIG - The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood - by Sy Montgomery

When author Sy Montgomery brought home the sickliest runt of the pig litter as a pet, she never imagined how much he would grow and enrich the lives of all those who came in contact with him. This amazing pig not only thrived, but he reached 750 pounds of exuberance and free spirit. The book is as much about the people who came in contact with Christopher as it is about the pig himself. This memoir is funny, enlightening, and touching.