Recommended Dog Training Books & Dvds

[Jean Cote]

Hi everyone! I was thinking that it would be a great idea to share with everyone the Books & DVDs that have been the most influential to our training. I will update this thread periodically and add the list of recommended books and DVDs to the first thread so that everybody can see it.

List of Recommended Books & DVDs by the DTA Community: (In order of replies to this thread.)

Don't shoot the dog - by Karen Pryor

101 Dog Tricks - by Kyra Sundance

Calming Signals - by Turid Rugaas (DVD/Book)

Click to Calm - by Emma Parsons

The power of positive dog training - by Pat Miller

Feisty Fido, I'll Be Home Soon, Feeling Outnumbered, etc... (booklets) - by Patricia McConnell

Reaching the Animal Mind - by Karen Pryor

Click to Calm: Healing the Aggressive Dog - by Emma Parsons

My Smart Puppy - by Brian Kilcommons & Sarah Wilson

The Power of Training Dogs with Food - by Michael Ellis (DVD)

(Anything) - by Jean Donaldson

How to Be the Leader of the Pack...and have your dog love you for it! - by Patricia McConnell

The Dog Whisperer - by Paul Owens

Bones Would Rain From the Sky - by Suzanne Clothier

Control Unleashed - by Leslie McDevitt

Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide - by Brenda Aloff

Dog Behavior - by Ian Dunbar

Focus Not Fear - by Ali Brown

Scaredy Dog! - by Ali Brown

The Art of Racing in the Rain - by Garth Stein

Bringing Light to Shadow - by Pamela Dennison

Inside of a Dog - What Dogs See, Smell, and Know - by Alexandra Horowitz

Bringing Light to Shadow - by Pamela Dennison

...

What are yours? Reply to this thread.

 

[reveuse]

The ones you mentioned (tho I haven't seen the DVD yet)....... Also maybe Click to Calm by Emma Parsons? My mind has gone blank at this point

 

[Jean Cote]

I enjoyed the "Calming Signal" DVD because it really shows the different signals that dogs give out. Once you learn their language it's a lot easier to tell what's going on inside their head. :dogsmile:

 

[Jean Cote]

By the way Good luck on your test next week Reveuse!

 

[helps]

I loved Calming signals DVD,too. Also the book that influenced me a lot was Pat Miller's The power of positive dog training.

 

[reveuse]

By the way Good luck on your test next week Reveuse!

Thank you! We are going to be doing a LOT of separation this week

 

[jackienmutts]

Having a fear-aggressive dog, "Click to Calm" by Emma Parsons (already mentioned) is terrific and was so very helpful, full of great (and realistic) info. And I believe every dog owner should either read or watch "Calming Signals" - I wish I had that info years ago. It really opens your eyes to so much, and gives you a much clearer understanding of how dogs communicate both with each other, and how they try to communicate with us . I also love anything by Patricia McConnell - her little "booklets" are really good: Feisty Fido, I'll Be Home Soon, Feeling Outnumbered, etc.... they're short, only dealing with one subject so you don't have to wade thru a whole book if you're dealing with one particular issue, and have clear real-life info/suggestions you can incorporate into your routine.

 

[Jean Cote]

Thanks Jackiemutts! That's a great reading list.

 

[sara]

I must say that "Reaching the Animal Mind" by Karen Pryor, and "Click to Calm: Healing the Aggressive Dog" by Emma Parsons were amazing books, for me. I haven't found "Calming Signals" yet, and cant buy it off of Amazon, as they dont use Pay Pal... But dont worry... I'll find it! I must say I much prefer books to DVD's I like having my hands on something!

 

[charmedwolf]

My Smart Puppy by Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson is one of my favorite books though it isn't strictly positive. It is great for puppies and the exercises are good for teaching handling behaviors.

The Power of Training Dogs with Food by Michael Ellis is one of my favorite DVDs. It is amazing the way he teaches "focus" or as they call it "engagement". It is the one thing that I love about this DVD. Again not strictly positive but is positive reinforcement with correcting in it's proofing except for engagement.

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Oh my, how to narrow it down...I think I own enough books on dog behavior to literally have a library of JUST dog training books!!

Along with those already mentioned...
ANYTHING by Patricia McConnell
ANYTHING by Jean Donaldson
Well that pretty much covers it, plus everything already mentioned. But some favorites that I've read so far--

Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas
How to Be the Leader of the Pack...and have your dog love you for it! by Patricia McConnell

 

[jazmataz]

I appreciate the recommendations! I also really like "Don't Shoot the Dog", and "101 Dog Tricks", but I hadn't heard of the other ones! Thanks so much! =)

 

[Jean Cote]

I have edited the first post so that everyone can see a clear list. I will update it as time goes on. Thank you everyone!

 

[rouen]

The Dog Whisperer by Paul Owens, it's more for the first time dog guardian(I think) but still some useful info. I also liked Bones Would Rain From the Sky by Suzanne Clothier, it's not exactly a training book but it gives insight into a different way of relating to animals. I am currently reading Merle's Door, which seems to be similar to Clothiers book, but in a different light. Patricia McConnell ranked it as a potentially controversial must read(or something along those lines).

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Bones Would Rain From the Sky and Merle's Door are both on my Amazon wish list; do let me know what you think of them!

 

[rouen]

here're a few more
Control Unleashed (Leslie McDevitt) Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide (Brenda Aloff) Dog Behavior (Ian Dunbar) Focus Not Fear (Ali Brown) Scaredy Dog! (Ali Brown)

ETA: I loved Clothiers book, if you get the chance to buy it, go for it. If you're looking for a generic dog-themed book I would reccomend The Art of Racing in the Rain(can't remmeber the authors name), really hoping someone turns that one into a movie.

 

[tx_cowgirl]

I do have the Art of Racing in the Rain, very good book. ^^
Forgot about Control Unleashed and Ali Brown's books!

Both very good.

I also enjoyed Bringing Light to Shadow by Pamela Dennison. Kind of read for enjoyment + some training info. It's basically a journal of her progress with her rescue BC, who was very people/dog aggressive. One thing I liked about it is that she sounded very human through the whole thing--she had to work to make herself calm down so that she didn't make Shadow more nervous, she explained mistakes that she made, and shared both good and bad days. She didn't just write about all their successes, and she didn't leave out things she did wrong along the way. Very good book, I really loved it. She has several other books now, but I haven't read them yet so no comments there.

 

[rouen]

I'll have to look for Pamela Dennison's book, I hadn't heard of it before.

 

[jackienmutts]

Right now I'm reading "Inside of a Dog - What Dogs See, Smell, and Know" by Alexandra Horowitz. It's FABULOUS to say the least!!! I can't put it down, and I'm just about 1/2 way through. This isn't really a training book but I see a few others that aren't, so I'm brining this one up. Honestly, it's changing the way I'm looking at my dogs. I'm looking at their experiences totally differently now, really thinking more about their communication (both which each other and between themselves), how they take in the world (their sense of smell vs ours), etc. It's almost life-changing. I HIGHLY recommend it!!

I've also read "Bringing Light to Shadow" (having a fear-aggressive dog) and found it excellent - as mentined above, Pam Dennison does a great job of journaling her successes as well as her failures, it was real-life stuff and gives hope to anyone going thru such a situation.

"Bones Would Rain From the Sky - Deepening Our Relationship With Dogs" by Suzanne Clothier is wonderful - not so much a training book, that's why I didn't mention it, but a great read with lots of good insight - I'm a huge Suzanne Clotheir fan and loved this book.

Because these were mentioned above:
The Art of Racing in the Rain - FABULOUS!!! (altho not a training book, it's a novel - a story)
Merle's Door - great story.

Yes, a dog nerd here. Sheesh, I sound like I read nothing but dog books,huh? ... ok, yeah, I throw in others once in a while.

 

[Jean Cote]

WOW! That's one heck of a reading list we now have. I updated the first post to get a full list! Thanks everyone.