What All Good Dogs Should Know: The Sensible Way to Train

by Jack Volhard, Melissa Bartlett

The bestselling dog training book is now completely updated, but still refreshingly uncomplicated. A practical guide to positive training techniques for your puppy or older dog, it covers basic commands, includes information about walking on a leash, housetraining, and other “good dog” behaviors, and covers ways to correct objectionable behaviors. It even addresses issues common to rescue and shelter dogs, including shyness and insecurity. A new chapter on the canine personality profile helps you understand your dog better.

Genres: Dogs, Animals, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful. Great approach to training, and not too complicated. If recommend this to anyone who wants to get a dog, and to anyone who has a dog and is looking for some training help.

[Stephen Finnegan · Rating 2 out of 5]

- Consistently is good.
- Leadership is good.
- Understanding perception is good.
- Constant learning is good.
- Genetics consideration is good.
- Overall everything is mostly good.
- Very basic and simple but good in that respect for a quick start.

- Surprised they use the same sound disruption for self correction. Boat horn seems excessive and dangerous and traumatizing which contradicts alot of the book.

- Concerned it is overly simplified and misses more situational and specific things that would be necessary for owners.
- Concerned by the lack of disclaimers for outliers and variants besides breed.
- Concerned about being positive only.
- Concerned about considering the adolescent period (4-8months) and disregarding it as permissable.
Concerned about missing fear as a part of healthy respect along with love.
- Very concerned about potential bribing in distractions, and also after the book acknowledges accidental reinforcement.
- Very concerned about it saying dogs do not understand when they did something wrong, which is logically impossible (and proven in the real world) and when claiming they understand doing something good. And also the claim that they only understand you are upset and that it cannot be used. Then it goes on to make an example saying a dog looks guilty but it cannot understand or know it did something wrong which is completely wrong.
- Very concerned book directly contradicts itself by stating to say No - in countless different ways and that simplified correction and disapproval is confusing while also stating the dog can understand only so much and that is more effective to keep things in simple terms for it to understand.
- EXTREMELY concerned the book is potentially encouraging owners to provide rewards after dog exhibits aggressive behavior.
- Book is going completely off the rails.

- Book mentions dogs feet sweat which I never knew and have never seen but seems to be true after looking it up, which was good to learn.

[Allison King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well thought out and informative

This book was recommended to me by a fellow dog owner. We recently got a puppy (we had an older dog previously) and this book gives a great starting point to build a loving and strong relationship with your pup! I can't wait to enlist all of the tips in this book!

[Rose Evett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative

This was an excellent book. Very easy to read and engaging enough to not make it a chore. I appreciated the illustrations and step-by-step instructions for different commands. I look forward to using these techniques on our puppy!

[Britta:) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t have high expectations but it was a quick read and really good about explaining the basics and concepts that people don’t quite get right away!! There are some things that I don’t necessarily agree with but the majority of the book was better than I was expecting!!

[Randi Menke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good tips and easy to read

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciate the kindness.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This dog training book is pretty much perfect. It is very user-friendly in that you can easily turn right to the issue you are having and get a training method that you can immediately apply to you and your dog's situation. For knowledgable dog owners, this book is a good refresher for training tips that you might be neglecting to do. For those new to dog ownership, it provides a great foundation of the basics and good explanations of why dogs behave the way they do.

[Stacy Allbritton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I adopted a shelter dog, I read this book so that I would be educated on how to successfully integrate our dog into the family. The step-by-step instructions and illustrations were easy to follow. I'm happy to report that after only one week, our dog sleeps in his kennel overnight without crying, is house trained, and is on his way to learning simple commands.

[JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

This concise guide to dog training emphasizes the behavioral goals rather than specific tactics. The result is a flexible, no-nonsense approach to training that the reader can adapt to their particular dog and situation.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will update this review when we have gotten some training to do. The book was a quick read with simple and clearly explained techniques. It seems a little on the simple side but if it works, then I guess you don't need more than that!

[Sheri Gauld · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't put these practices to use yet, as we don't have our puppy just yet, but the book was very to the point and informative. The instructions seem easy enough to implement and as a reference I can easily find the section I need to focus on when the time comes.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure that Magee is a better dog because of this book, but it was a quick read with good tips. I have the come when called chapter bookmarked. Guess I still need to work on that part.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good basic book for training your dog to be a good pet.