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Training the Best Dog Ever: A 5-Week Program Using the Power of Positive Reinforcement
Training the Best Dog Ever, originally published in hardcover as The Love That Dog Training Program, is a book based on love and kindness. It features a program of positive reinforcement and no-fail techniques that author Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz used to train the White House dog, Bo Obama, and each of Senator Ted Kennedy’s dogs, among countless others.
Training the Best Dog Ever relies on trust and treats, not choke collars; on bonding, not leash-yanking or reprimanding. The five-week training program takes only 10 to 20 minutes of practice a day and works both for puppies and for adult dogs that need to be trained out of bad habits. Illustrated with step-by-step photographs, the book covers hand-feeding; crate and potty training; and basic cues—sit, stay, come here—as well as more complex goals, such as bite inhibition and water safety. It shows how to avoid or correct typical behavior problems, including jumping, barking, and leash-pulling. Plus: how to make your dog comfortable in the world—a dog that knows how to behave in a vet’s office, is at ease around strangers, and more. In other words, the best dog ever.
Training the Best Dog Ever relies on trust and treats, not choke collars; on bonding, not leash-yanking or reprimanding. The five-week training program takes only 10 to 20 minutes of practice a day and works both for puppies and for adult dogs that need to be trained out of bad habits. Illustrated with step-by-step photographs, the book covers hand-feeding; crate and potty training; and basic cues—sit, stay, come here—as well as more complex goals, such as bite inhibition and water safety. It shows how to avoid or correct typical behavior problems, including jumping, barking, and leash-pulling. Plus: how to make your dog comfortable in the world—a dog that knows how to behave in a vet’s office, is at ease around strangers, and more. In other words, the best dog ever.
435 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 25, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
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July 7, 2017
Training the Best Dog Ever: A 5-Week Program Using the Power of Positive Reinforcement is by Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz and Larry Kay.
After adopting a seven week old border collie mix, very heavy on the mix part, from the humane society, my son sent me this book as a gift. I have learned so much in the three months since then. My dog recently turned five months and we are still a work in progress. I say we because it is a constant learning process for the both of us.
I never would have imagined that I would adopt a puppy at my age. I am, ahem, not a young woman any more. We recently moved to a new home in the country and I so wanted to share the wide open spaces with a canine companion. I immediately fell in love with this then little guy, now not so little. He’s sweet and affectionate and adorable. Even now! But he’s also stubborn, mischievous and tests my patience at every turn. But when he gives me one of those sweet, puppy dog eye looks, I melt all over again.
This book is just as the title states, it uses only positive reinforcement. I think the most important lesson I have learned both with this book, the use of Google which I use quite a lot, advice from friends, and with old ways I remember my parents using, is that with every step forward you take, you will most likely take two steps backward. What works like a charm one day will not work the next day. I think that the most important thing of all is just love. To love your pet enough that you want your relationship to be the best that it can be. To be patient, as much as possible anyway. Patience is not always easy when you sit down with your hubby to watch the evening news and your dog decides this is the time to play with his noisiest toy of all.
I should also add that about six weeks ago we also added a kitten to our family. He will not be in the house but when we are outside, let the chaos begin as they play.
I have learned that after raising my now adult two children and many pets along the way, perhaps at my age I am not as patient as I used to be. That I get frustrated more easily. But I am determined that I will be a good Mom to our new dog. I think that this book or any other like it can be used as a guide or a tool. I can see myself referring back to certain chapters for reinforcement. But that it is only a guide. That each day will present a new challenge. Hopefully as he gets older, the challenges will be less. But just as we humans are, our canine companions are growing and evolving each and every day. I do look forward to many years of loving our new dog and learning right along with him.
After adopting a seven week old border collie mix, very heavy on the mix part, from the humane society, my son sent me this book as a gift. I have learned so much in the three months since then. My dog recently turned five months and we are still a work in progress. I say we because it is a constant learning process for the both of us.
I never would have imagined that I would adopt a puppy at my age. I am, ahem, not a young woman any more. We recently moved to a new home in the country and I so wanted to share the wide open spaces with a canine companion. I immediately fell in love with this then little guy, now not so little. He’s sweet and affectionate and adorable. Even now! But he’s also stubborn, mischievous and tests my patience at every turn. But when he gives me one of those sweet, puppy dog eye looks, I melt all over again.
This book is just as the title states, it uses only positive reinforcement. I think the most important lesson I have learned both with this book, the use of Google which I use quite a lot, advice from friends, and with old ways I remember my parents using, is that with every step forward you take, you will most likely take two steps backward. What works like a charm one day will not work the next day. I think that the most important thing of all is just love. To love your pet enough that you want your relationship to be the best that it can be. To be patient, as much as possible anyway. Patience is not always easy when you sit down with your hubby to watch the evening news and your dog decides this is the time to play with his noisiest toy of all.
I should also add that about six weeks ago we also added a kitten to our family. He will not be in the house but when we are outside, let the chaos begin as they play.
I have learned that after raising my now adult two children and many pets along the way, perhaps at my age I am not as patient as I used to be. That I get frustrated more easily. But I am determined that I will be a good Mom to our new dog. I think that this book or any other like it can be used as a guide or a tool. I can see myself referring back to certain chapters for reinforcement. But that it is only a guide. That each day will present a new challenge. Hopefully as he gets older, the challenges will be less. But just as we humans are, our canine companions are growing and evolving each and every day. I do look forward to many years of loving our new dog and learning right along with him.
January 2, 2021
My dog is now the chef of a 5 Michelin star restaurant because of this book
September 18, 2016
Unfortunately, I found it really difficult to want to finish reading this book. It wasn't written that well and the main message I got was "I am a pioneer in dog training because I trained the Kennedys' dogs AND Bo Obama." Positive reinforcement training, while "non-traditional", is hardly a new idea, so a focus on providing rich information and guidance for dog owners wanting to use positive reinforcement training would have been nice. While there are useful pieces of information in here, I found it hard to retain anything I read because the book went in so many circles. It would be a useful first book for someone with absolutely no dog experience, but if you've had a dog before, I'd try to find a better book.
June 24, 2021
Amazing book for puppies.
So much practical training it's basically the puppy training bible.
A must read if you want a well behaved good lil pup.
So much practical training it's basically the puppy training bible.
A must read if you want a well behaved good lil pup.
September 18, 2016
I loved this book. There are clearly defined training activities for every dog (and trainer) skill level. The activities focus on things like:
*basic obedience
- sit
- lay
- stay
*socializing
- adults
- dogs
- children
- cats
*grooming manners
*table manners
*walking manners
And there's a chapter dedicated to clicker training (optional but highly recommended) and tricks. There's also a lot of great information that doesn't particularly pertain to a specific behavior but focuses on making you a better trainer - like explaining why slowly withdrawing rewards helps motivate your dog to learn, and why giving the same command multiple times is just going to make your dog think she has to wait to hear the word sit four times before actually following through on the action.
I brought home two 5 year old rescues last year that are a bonded pair, and the ONLY thing this book didn't provide was a guide to walking two dogs on a split lead (as opposed to training one dog to walk with just the owner). I looked up additional information on separation anxiety but my research has found this is largely going to require a professional trainer/behaviorist anyways.
The one thing that brought my review from 5 stars down to 4 was that it's very misleading in the timeframe required to train your dog. Unless you are a professional trainer or work from home and can stop to have another training session once an hour, your dog is probably not going to get through all of this training in a mere 5 weeks. For one, there's just *so much to do* -- which in my opinion is a good thing, because I never needed to consult multiple resources for the vast majority of training my dogs -- but also it's assuming your dog will not struggle more than average with picking up certain skills. Some training activities are to be done six times in one day and then you move on, but either you don't have time to train your pup six times on one activity in a day, or your pup needs more than six repetitions to fully get it down.
*basic obedience
- sit
- lay
- stay
*socializing
- adults
- dogs
- children
- cats
*grooming manners
*table manners
*walking manners
And there's a chapter dedicated to clicker training (optional but highly recommended) and tricks. There's also a lot of great information that doesn't particularly pertain to a specific behavior but focuses on making you a better trainer - like explaining why slowly withdrawing rewards helps motivate your dog to learn, and why giving the same command multiple times is just going to make your dog think she has to wait to hear the word sit four times before actually following through on the action.
I brought home two 5 year old rescues last year that are a bonded pair, and the ONLY thing this book didn't provide was a guide to walking two dogs on a split lead (as opposed to training one dog to walk with just the owner). I looked up additional information on separation anxiety but my research has found this is largely going to require a professional trainer/behaviorist anyways.
The one thing that brought my review from 5 stars down to 4 was that it's very misleading in the timeframe required to train your dog. Unless you are a professional trainer or work from home and can stop to have another training session once an hour, your dog is probably not going to get through all of this training in a mere 5 weeks. For one, there's just *so much to do* -- which in my opinion is a good thing, because I never needed to consult multiple resources for the vast majority of training my dogs -- but also it's assuming your dog will not struggle more than average with picking up certain skills. Some training activities are to be done six times in one day and then you move on, but either you don't have time to train your pup six times on one activity in a day, or your pup needs more than six repetitions to fully get it down.
December 31, 2015
Must have dog training book
I purchased many dog training books when my first porty came to live with me. None of them compare to the techniques in this book. My second porty, the niece to my older one, was trained very quickly. At ten weeks she knew sit, down, come, stay, leave it, heeling, and I added no bite. She is twelve weeks at this review and we are moving on to tricks as we continue to reinforce learned skills. Puppy class for socialization doesn't start for a month, but her trainer has already witnessed what she has learned and has recommended she take the star puppy test to earn her first title. Must have book for anyone who wants to learn how to train a dog.
I purchased many dog training books when my first porty came to live with me. None of them compare to the techniques in this book. My second porty, the niece to my older one, was trained very quickly. At ten weeks she knew sit, down, come, stay, leave it, heeling, and I added no bite. She is twelve weeks at this review and we are moving on to tricks as we continue to reinforce learned skills. Puppy class for socialization doesn't start for a month, but her trainer has already witnessed what she has learned and has recommended she take the star puppy test to earn her first title. Must have book for anyone who wants to learn how to train a dog.
March 15, 2015
This seems like a book more for people who either train for a living or who can spend all day with their dog. The reason why you'd have "the best dog ever" is that you've been able to spend every second with him during those five weeks...
June 18, 2016
This book is amazing. It works! In five weeks it addressed every thing I needed in dealing with a new puppy. Lot's of tips, advice and work sheets that really help you to learn about you and build a strong relationship with you maturing four legged friend.
March 11, 2024
Read it. Lots of what I am hoping will be very useful information for the puppy that will be joining our family in two weeks. Structured week by week program that I will be referring to over and over on training a new dog.
April 18, 2021
Fun to read and does well to break down each little step to getting your dog to do the desired behavior.
August 20, 2014
This book reinforced the fact that my new dog and I were moving in the right direction. Sometimes you need to look at another person's plan to reassure yourself that you are on track. While the book did not provide any new information about positive training (if you are familiar with the topic already), it did provide great training and game ideas.
February 17, 2018
As good a training book as is out there (and I've read them ALL!). All training tips are broken down so that, whether your little darlin' is treat- or praise-driven, you are guaranteed success as long as you follow instructions and have patience.
August 27, 2018
This is the best positive training book I have read. Easy to follow, with clear-concise directions. Helps to develop close bonds between human and canine.
July 25, 2018
Before I go any further, I want to make clear this is a very basic book on positive reinforcement that assumes you are training your very first dog. If you are an experienced dog owner who has been training for years, this book will likely only be good for you if you are learning about positive reinforcement for the first time. Some of the book is a bit on the verbose side, in all honesty. It goes into a bit more detail than most dog owners really need, but it is a fascinating read if you want to know a bit more of the ‘why’.
Like most positive reinforcement training, you should expect to have lots of treat son hand and not to have a stern hand with your puppy (how I prefer to train malamutes). My only big concern about the book is that it is a bit misleading. Most of the training in this book is a lifelong effort and can’t be done in only five weeks. I would give closer to 6 months, with many breeds, and more if you are dealing with a rather stubborn dog (or abused rescue dog). Overall though, I do think Training The Best Dog Ever: A 5 Week Program in Positive Reinforcement is a good starting point when it comes to an introduction to positive reinforcement training for puppies!
Like most positive reinforcement training, you should expect to have lots of treat son hand and not to have a stern hand with your puppy (how I prefer to train malamutes). My only big concern about the book is that it is a bit misleading. Most of the training in this book is a lifelong effort and can’t be done in only five weeks. I would give closer to 6 months, with many breeds, and more if you are dealing with a rather stubborn dog (or abused rescue dog). Overall though, I do think Training The Best Dog Ever: A 5 Week Program in Positive Reinforcement is a good starting point when it comes to an introduction to positive reinforcement training for puppies!
February 18, 2023
This book was incredibly helpful! In November of last year, my wife and I got our first dog together, a 3-month-old Siberian Husky puppy. As I am sure you can imagine, he was full of life and energy and anything else he could get into! Both of us have grown up with dogs and had dogs before, but never such a high-energy dog and so we were eager to find a good method to train him. This book was perfect for that. It is all about positive affirmation and each week of the 5-week program takes the skill introduced in the previous week and develops it further with clear instruction. There are even additional homework assignments and a table to keep track of progress if you like that kind of stuff! Now, having said all that good stuff, let me say this, 5-weeks is a lie. I suspect it's kind of like those learn to play the piano in 30 days ads; there's some truth in it, but you know there's got to be a lot more to it than that. So don't expect your dog to be auditioned for the nearest dog competition after 5 weeks with this book. Similarly, it's not 5 weeks till mastery, it's 5 weeks and many more weeks of repetition and reinforcement. Ultimately, this book was a great reference and guide to getting started, teaching us and our dog how to better understand each other.
October 23, 2021
I didn't hate this book. I work in government relations and actually loved that the author mentions her work with "political" dogs. And I think overall the advice here is good, but it's A LOT and there's a lot of flipping back and forth between different chapters to see recommended exercises and games to go with various weeks or skills. This method is also completely intense and time consuming. If you do not work from home or have a stay at home roommate/spouse, this is not going to be a very helpful book for you. I do work from home and even I find these methods difficult to follow 100% of the time: tethering 24/7, hand feeding every meal, etc etc. I also think the 5 week timeline is EXTREMELY aggressive. I have a very bright little puppy and this program will easily take 10 weeks or more for her to master. Not a bad book but I think there are better out there.
July 5, 2019
Visto che tra poco alla nostra famiglia si aggiungerà un nuovo membro peloso (e un paio di mesi dopo un nuovo membro non-peloso), ho pensato di fare quello che so fare meglio: leggere un po' per arrivare (un minimo) preparata (non lo sarò comunque mai abbastanza) al grande evento. Avendo finora adottato solo cani adulti, il cucciolo resta per me un'incognita.
Questo libro ha tanti consigli pratici, descritti in modo molto chiaro... Quindi, per quanto riguarda la teoria: approvato.
Tra qualche mese vi potrò dire se supererà la prova pratica (e se io sarò sopravvissuta) XD
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August 16, 2023Dnfed at page 210 after struggling to read it.
I was quite happy to get this book but I ended up not enjoying it as much as I thought. If I could have returned it I would have.
I can't exactly pin point why I am not enjoying it. Maybe it's not what I was expecting. Maybe it's the way it's written. Maybe it's some of the repetitions. Maybe some of the ideas or coming thru as opinionated in some points. Maybe it was presented in a boring way. Maybe I was expecting something other and I sabotaged my own reading experience. Maybe it was not the right moment or frame of mind for this one. Who knows, maybe a bit of everything.
I was quite happy to get this book but I ended up not enjoying it as much as I thought. If I could have returned it I would have.
I can't exactly pin point why I am not enjoying it. Maybe it's not what I was expecting. Maybe it's the way it's written. Maybe it's some of the repetitions. Maybe some of the ideas or coming thru as opinionated in some points. Maybe it was presented in a boring way. Maybe I was expecting something other and I sabotaged my own reading experience. Maybe it was not the right moment or frame of mind for this one. Who knows, maybe a bit of everything.
February 24, 2017
A comprehensive foundation for dog training. The 5-week program has need-to-know skills for your pup that you might not have even thought to train, with great instructions. Additional content covers next steps, advanced training techniques, behavior problem solutions, and more. Not only teaches you to train specific actions, but gives you an understanding of HOW TO TRAIN IN GENERAL- you will see and know the process more clearly, and be able to use that process in whatever ways you can think of.
February 28, 2022
Practical and easy to understand guide to training your dog. I found the plan easy to follow for training our new puppy, she caught on quickly and made so much progress in the 5 weeks outlined by the book. Also has lots of factual information about how to take care of a dog in general. We especially enjoyed the chapter with the training games and bonding activities. While helpful, this plan may not be realistic for someone who works full time or has a busy schedule, as it is very time consuming with many activities recommended to do each day.
April 13, 2023
A GREAT dog training book for my Golden retriever puppy. It's the only training specific book you'll need, I recommend reading it through once and then again following the weekly 'assignments'. Stay committed and you will see results. Your puppy won't be perfect of course, but you will see a lot of improvement.
The book is well written and actually pretty entertaining and enlightening, not just informative. It will keep your attention and the bond you will develop with your puppy is the best. Will gift to any new puppy owner I meet. (That's how I got this book! As a gift)
The book is well written and actually pretty entertaining and enlightening, not just informative. It will keep your attention and the bond you will develop with your puppy is the best. Will gift to any new puppy owner I meet. (That's how I got this book! As a gift)
March 2, 2020
Helpful Dog Training
My daughter saved a dog from a shelter. She had the dog for a year. She had to travel for her job, so I agreed to take the dog until she was settled. He was a sweet dog, but had several behaviors that needed to change. This book had was to train that are positive and easy to follow. It took lots of consistency and repetition, but our dog is a good listener. He is such a joy.
My daughter saved a dog from a shelter. She had the dog for a year. She had to travel for her job, so I agreed to take the dog until she was settled. He was a sweet dog, but had several behaviors that needed to change. This book had was to train that are positive and easy to follow. It took lots of consistency and repetition, but our dog is a good listener. He is such a joy.
March 30, 2021
Great dog training manual complete with checklists. This book helped me with potty training our 2yr old Siberian husky we rescued from a shelter. I learned how to get him to respond to his name, recall and how to sit. There is even a section on how to get the CGC ( Canine Good Citizen) certificate which proves your dog can conduct himself very well with people and other canines. Good to know :-)
September 8, 2021
Read it before bringing home the first puppy I raised without my parents' support and experience. It saved me from panicking thanks to clear and positive explanations and examples and I have found the 5-week scheme very useful.
The second part of the book was not as necessary and I confess I skipped quite a bit. Also did not over appreciate all the references to the Kennedy and Obama dogs. Nice enough manual though.
The second part of the book was not as necessary and I confess I skipped quite a bit. Also did not over appreciate all the references to the Kennedy and Obama dogs. Nice enough manual though.
April 11, 2018
It's an excellent read and has given me a greater insight into what I can expect when Java arrives in our house this May. I have no doubt I will read large sections of this again as I train her. I think this is a great book for people who are thinking about getting their first dog, or have owned dogs before but didn't train them (like me).
October 18, 2018
Poor Midnight, doomed to be 58% the best. Actually, this book is only 58% the best. I learned some good advice and it helped me think about training differently, but there are some bananas ideas here that I'm not doing. I did enjoy the name dropping/humble bragging, because I am impressed by anything involving the Kennedys.
This is the best book I found on Kindle unlimited.
This is the best book I found on Kindle unlimited.
February 2, 2021
With a background in working with horses in the Monty Roberts style, I found a kindred spirit in Sylvia-Stasiewicz. Many of the techniques were natural and logical. The hardest thing for me was using treats so effusively in certain situations. It turns out that my rescue German Shepherd responded well with Dawn's lessons. He and I are both happy with this book. :)
June 27, 2023
While rather long, I enjoyed this book and it helped me deepen the bond between me and my skittish rescue dog. It helped me communicate more with her and gave a step by step guide to training tricks. The guide is built on positive reinforcement training but was difficult to apply as my dog was scared of the clicker so I had to use a different marker.
December 22, 2023
Woof! Literally 😆. I started this book when we got Zaz and finished it 9 months later! It’s not the all time best book out there on training but it provides a helpful hand and resource on positive reinforcement and fundamentals when you first get a pup / dog. It’ll be something I will often go back to in years to come I’m sure.
March 27, 2024
Print version is printed wrong! Missing chapters and repeated chapters in the place of missing chapters. Bought through Amazon.
From what I was able to read, this book is a must if you are getting a dog for companionship. Great simple training exercises to get your friend to become obedient and presentable.
From what I was able to read, this book is a must if you are getting a dog for companionship. Great simple training exercises to get your friend to become obedient and presentable.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews