So I know that there are a few holes in my dog’s training. They follow voice commands about 75% of the time. I want it to be as close to 100% as possible. I am looking into some positive reinforcment methods to furthur firm up their attention. I am on a very tight budget right now so I am going to try a book first and see what I can do on my own. I am looking at Control Unleased by Leslie McDevitt or Family Friendly Dog Training by Patricia McConnell. Right now I can’t afford to purchase both…would you recommend one over the other??
While I’ve read Control Unleashed and liked it and found it useful, and have not read Family Friendly Dog Training yet, I always have loved whatever Patricia McConnell writes. She has a great blog, has done some excellent research, and is a wonderful writer. So I would probably get that one if I had to choose. But you might find a used copy of Control Unleashed on Amazon, it is very popular, or maybe your library could get it?
I am amazed at how much info on training is on the web. Here is a site that has many great articles:
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/#competition
Another positive trainer who has a very comprehensive website is Sue Ailsby, she has a very step by step program she refers to as “The Levels”. I have found this useful and easy to follow, and there is a mailing list group about it as well.
Here is Sue Ailsby’s website.
Lots of great free info on that website, and you can also order her books that detail-- and I mean detail— training the Levels. Lots of very good photos too.
I haven’t read the second book. I have read some of Control Unleashed and while it is good book, I don’t think it is quite what you’re looking for.
Absolutely the Levels for what you describe.
To be frank, I like Karen Pryor’s books. Makes simple sense and easy to picture. But that could be because my trainer does similar training exercises
I haven’t looked up her recent work, but a few years back Dr. Deborah Jones was doing a lot with clicker training for formal obedience. Her stuff in that area might give you some ideas about fine tuning response times, behavior, etc.
You want a book on positive reinforcement training?
You should buy the book whose author promises to send you a check.
That’s walkin’ the walk. You’d be trained well and thus convinced that the author was God’s pedagogist herself.
Pat Miller has a good one. She wrote most of the training articles for The Whole Dog Journal.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Power-Positive-Dog-Training/dp/0470241845
Thank you all for the suggestions. Now I have even more options! :eek:
I will say that I tend to do better with instructions that have a timeframe breakdown…like week 1, week 2 etc. I’m very type A and love schedules and organization.
I’m looking at some of the ones suggested on Amazon. I should probably head on over to my library and see what they have first…maybe I could get them to order a few…and then I could purchase the one I like best.
I suggest “when pigs fly” by Jane Killion, and everyone should read Karen Pryor’s classic “don’t shoot the dog”.
Here are two free ebooks, one by Sue Ailsby and one by Deb Davis:
If you want a really step-by-step guide, though, the Levels books by Sue might be best.
I loved When Pigs Fly too! It has good info on working with “Nontraditional” (for obedience) breeds.
