Dog Training: The Gentle Modern Method

by David Weston

Suggests a program of dog training based on Skinnerian methods of conditioning through positive reinforcement, not punishment

Genres: Dogs, Animals, Nonfiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1990

Reviews

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A welcome book about positive training your dog -- he led the pack, so to speak, with advocating positive training in 1976, before the Monks of New Skete in 1978 advocated their "alpha" training. Publicity and media picked up on the latter while this book never got much of a readership, not because of its subject matter -- it is a quick read and is helpful!

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE single most comprehensive dog training book ever. Done simply so everyone can understand it, from the basic commands of sit, lay down, stay etc to the more advanced tricks.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review of the 1990 edition. Clicker training wasn't a thing when this was written, but this is based on positive reinforcement, which was miles better than most dog training books at the time.

This was written for an Australian audience, but Americans can certainly find value in this. There are a lot of color photographs of people working with dogs of various sizes.

The text is a bit small, which hurts my eyes. Then again, I'm old. Text size might not mean anything to you.

I was put off by the emphasis on obedience showing. I have absolutely no interest in that. There is also quite a bit on agility training (although I don't think it was called that at the time.) That's also something I have no interest in.

[ThDogs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Even though it is 30 years old, it had nice tips and tricks and is still rather modern compared to other books being published in 2024. I especially like how it breaks down every exercise in Australian obedience into its little components, describes all the hand signals, common problems and solutions.

It is a very short book, only 96 pages long, but I enjoyed it.

This would be a good book for the person starting out in Australian Obedience competitions who wants to learn the reasons behind the signals and footwork used, alongside some niche troubleshooting.