Review: The Perfect Puppy, by Gwen Bailey
You just got a new puppy. With 5 minutes of his homecoming he managed to shred your new sofa pillow and dump on the oriental rug. As a matter of fact, he’s destroying your car seats right now as you stand in the bookstore trying do decide which of the 17 puppy training books to buy….
We all know that there are no perfect puppies, but this book tells you how to come close! This excellent guide is written for the average dog owner and covers just about every question and concern a new puppy owner could have.
While it won’t teach you anything new if you are an experienced trainer or breeder, it would be well worth having a copy on hand to lend to your clients. If you are a new puppy owner, buy it! This is, in my opinion, the absolute best puppy book on the market.
The book is pleasantly laid out on glossy paper with lots of color photos, and the training advice is consistently humane
and positive.
All of the advice focuses on preventing problems and the need to correct the dog; although there is a chapter on Discipline near the end of the book, physical corrections (such as alpha rolls, scruff shaking, newspapers, etc.) are not recommended. All obedience training is through praise and food rewards, and the obedience section is clearly written with informative photos.
Among the subjects covered are: Understanding dog body language and how the dog views its world, developmental stages and what to do at each stage (socialization, etc.), the first steps after bringing a new puppy home, crate training, introduction to a collar and leash, socialization (including a great table hidden at the back of the book, listing various things to socialize the dog to), housebreaking, how to make the dog see you as the leader of the pack without undermining his confidence, toys and games, controlling the games (Schutzhund and police people take note: at last there is a book that doesn’t recommend against tug games!), preventing biting and aggression, handling and grooming, how dogs learn, obedience exercises (recall, walking on leash, heeling, sit, down, stand, roll over, stay, and down from a distance), and discipline.
As you can see, it covers a lot of ground! I have seen a large number of puppy books, and this one has my vote for the best of the lot.
