The Dog Owner's Manual: Operating Instructions, Troubleshooting Tips, and Advice on Lifetime Maintenance

Owner’s/Instruction Manuals #2

by David Brunner, Sam Stall, Paul Kepple (Illustrator)

At Last! A Beginner’s Guide to Canine Technology   Pee stains on the carpet. Barking at all hours of the night. That embarrassing thing he does with your leg. It’s enough to make you cry out, “Why doesn’t my dog have an owner’s manual?” And now, thankfully, he does.   Through step-by-step instructions and helpful schematic diagrams, The Dog Owner’s Manual explores hundreds of frequently asked Which breeds interface best with children? How can I program my model to fetch? And why is its nose always wet? Whatever your concerns, you’ll find the answers right here—courtesy of celebrated veterinarian Dr. David Brunner and acclaimed author Sam Stall. Together, they provide plenty of useful advice for both new and experienced dog owners.

Genres: Nonfiction, Dogs, Animals, Reference, Humor

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2004

Reviews

[B. Han Varli · Rating 3 out of 5]

duyduk duymadık demeyin goodreads ahalisi... köpeğim doğdu, iki hafta sonra da anne sütünden kesilince evime götürüyorum!

hamile anneler ya da telaşlı babalar gibi bu kitabı edindim ben de her şeyin doğru olması için. bir can ile aynı hayatı paylaşmanın verdiği ezici sorumluluk hissi her şeyi yaptırabiliyor insana. bu sürede veterinerler gezdim, köpekli insanlar ile konuştum, köpekler ile daha sık vakit geçirdim...

neyse, kitaba gelelim.

minik, şirin bir ''köpek sahibinin el kitabı'' olmuş, kullanılan dil beni biraz itse de gerçekten çok büyük yararı dokundu bana. tam olarak bilemiyorum elbette ama gördüğüm kadarıyla her durum için yeterli düzeyde bir bilgi veriyor.

bu kitap serisinde -kediler için olanı da var- ''elektronik bir cihaz'' gibi ele alınıp anlatılıyor hayvanlar. anüs demiyor mesela, ''çıkış portu'' diyor, eğitimlere ''yazılım'' diyor gibi...

şekillerle, esprilerle şirinleştirilmeye çalışıldıkça yorucu olmuş bence ama küçük çocuklar için ilgi çekici ve komik olabilir tabii ki.

kitabı türkiye'de basan ntv yayınlarına da buradan teşekkür ederim...

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this for a friend who rescued their first indoor dog but I had to read it first. Dogs have always been my love & I found myself constantly telling my friend what to do like an annoying know-it-all so I bought this for them instead lol. It's written in a cute tongue in cheek style but it's a good all-inclusive guide without being "too much" IMO. Easy to understand.

[Aleks · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute but slightly outdated book (e.g. that greyhounds need plenty of exercise) that’s suitable for a first-time dog owner. However, relies too heavily on dominance theory (which has since been refuted) to explain difficult dog behaviour, hence the low rating.

[Pinar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Daha önce köpek beslemiş olanlar için çok gerekli bir kitap değil açıkçası. Ilk kez bakacaklar için eğlenceli minik bir kılavuz olarak düşünülebilir.

[Oceana2602 · Rating 1 out of 5]

"while most…highly developed consumer products come with instruction manuals, dogs do not";
This book was supposed to remedy that, and I assumed that an instruction manual about dogs would be fun. Turns out it was meant seriously. This book really is an instructing manual. It is written differently from all dog books I read. It's as if the author was describing how to buy, keep and program a computer.

I have no doubt that there is a lot of useful information in this book, but I didn't think it was funny or entertaining or even helpful to have this information in this form. Standard dog books work much better for people who actually know how to read. I also think that is is tasteless to write about animals as if they wer household appliances. Apparently the same books exists for babies, which is as tasteless as it gets.
NOT recommended.

[Irene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very basic. Overly cute.

[Devon Flaherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have shared before that I have two main, strong, stress response behaviors: shopping and reading. This is how I cope. Turns out, when I have real, deep grief with shock, I don’t do either. I also don’t eat, which is something that has never failed me in my entire life. It’s been a week since I cracked a book, but I am going to get back on the horse by reviewing the few books I had finished a couple weeks ago including The Dog Owner’s Manual by Dr. David Brunner and Sam Stall. It is painful: the reason I can’t read, eat, shop, or sleep is that my Barney-pup died suddenly in a tragic accident last week. Still, I know there are lots of great dogs out there and people who love them, so here we go.

The Dog Owner’s Manual came highly recommended on the internet, which is why I settled on it. Surprisingly, there were not that many books that fit what I was looking for: a type of manual for getting and having a dog. Not a book about feeding them and making food (though I was in the market to buy one of those eventually). Not a book about breeds. Or specifically about training. I wanted a quick graze over the whole gamut of pet ownership, with some emergency advice, etc. For what I wanted, this is exactly the book.

It’s small enough to stick in your dog bag (or what we called the Barney Bag). It’s pleasant to peruse, and things are organized so that you can just look things up. Full of cute, stylistic, duochrome illustrations, I can’t think of anything it doesn’t touch on, though it obviously doesn’t go very in depth in specifics. The one complaint: the style. What begins as a clever and snicker-funny ploy ends up making you want to leave this little gem on the coffee table while you purchase something similar that doesn’t employ gimmick. (Not sure this exists. Sorry.) What am I talking about? Well, take a look at the title: The Dog Owner’s Manual. Subtitle: Operating Instructions, Troubleshooting Tips, and Advice on Lifetime Maintenance. This book is part of a limited series that uses the language of electronics ownership to inform about owning things more organic. While you might assume this cutesy wordplay ends at chapter headings or even just the title, let me assure you that it never stops. Down to the last chapter, “Obsolenscence and Deactivation,” the Appendixes, “Troubleshooting” and “Technical Support,” and, indeed, the last phrase, “the warranty for which can never expire.” Not only do I imagine that some people would have a difficult time interpreting everything in this book, especially rapidly, even more with-it readers are going to tire of the analogy. Like on page five.

All in all, I would recommend this book, though I wish it existed in a more straight-forward format, one that didn’t pretend indefinitely that my dog is a computer that I just purchased. Har har. Otherwise, a great book to have on hand for all those dog questions, especially if you don’t want to constantly be googling.

Of note: the book gave the correct advice for our situation. It does not list toxic foods, however. We had a list on the fridge, which you can print out from the internet or buy as a fancy magnet.

***REVIEW WRITTEN FOR THE STARVING ARTIST***

[Elizabeth Gunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

In honor of national dog day, I picked up this adorable book I found at a used book sale. Honestly, I didn't realize it was a legit dog training manual, with its sarcastic humor and hilarious illustrations, but there was actually a lot of super useful information packed within these pages! My dog is no long a puppy, but this would be a great source for anyone who wanted to learn the basics of how to train a dog without reading a big, boring book. The illustrations were adorable and the information was easily readable. Some information may be outdated, as it is about 13 years old now, but most of it still holds true.

But wow, I can't believe I just read 200 pages about dog training for fun in one day. xD

[Chris Vig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty funny, the artwork is genuinely pretty cool, but very light on information. Most subjects get only a very few sentences giving the briefest of overviews. This makes it a fast read (and probably a pretty useful “quick reference” TBH), but really, if you’ve ever owned a dog before (or spent significant periods of time around someone who does own a dog) then you probably already know almost everything in this book.

The most comprehensive sections of the book are about care and feeding of puppies. That, combined with its short length, would make it a great “how to not kill and/or traumatize your new puppy” guide for first timers. If you’re looking for anything approaching a comprehensive reference, look elsewhere.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die Hunde Betriebsanleitung ist ein Ratgeber rund um den Hund, geschrieben als technische Betriebsanleitung.
Das Buch bietet einen prägnanten und charmant dargestellten Überblick über Themen wie Hunderassen, Trainingstipps, Krankheiten, u.v.m.
Zum schnellen Nachschlagen und Auffrischen des Wissens ist das Buch hilfreich, auch wenn einige der Methoden und Tipps veraltet sind. Ich würde das Buch nicht unbedingt als einzige Hundelektüre empfehlen, aber als Ergänzung und Nachschlagewerk für manche Themen ist es durchaus brauchbar.

[Tajus · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a manual, this is a very good one. However after reading it once, it is easy to forget a lot of the technical details, like what food you should give, the deseases, their symptoms, and how to deal with them. Nevertheless, if you have a dog, this is the book, or "manual" you should read. Also, cute art work.

[Becca Garrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful, hilarious, heartfelt. Will definitely return to it often (like any good user’s manual), and won’t forget the brilliant illustrations any time soon. Made me think critically about how I’m doing with raising my pup, and gave me some insight into how my furry friend works.

[Esra Kantarcı · Rating 5 out of 5]

Köpeğim yok, fakat köpeği olan bir arkadaşıma hediye olarak almışken okudum. Çok keyifli bir anlatımı var, arkadaşım çok beğendi ve işine yaradığını belirtti. Komik ve akılda kalıcı bir anlatımı var. Öneriyorum.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Packed with information in a concise way. I found this far more helpful than the "big" dog book I have . . . which seems to have been written thinking people would pay by the page.

I also liked the clever device of writing as though dogs are cars . . . added a bit of humor to the effort.

[Guillermo Hdz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great explanations to be understood by all family members

Practical guide that let you learn about your best friend care ways.
Extraordinary compilation of knowledge easy to understand by us the owners.

[Ser Nomad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome graphics and well explained - easy to understand.

[Erinn Dimond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cleverly written and very helpful!

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Approachable and fun to read, this owner's manual will continue to be a reference.

[Ian Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is on how dogs work and it goes through different breeds, how to keep a dog in your yard, and how to calm down a dog for a vet visit.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. I like the stylization and didn't find that it detracted from the information.

It doesn't go particularly deep into any topics, but it's a good primer.

[Corstiaan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful and entertaining

[Cenk B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful handy manual for first dog owners. Easy reading without overwhelmed new owners. There are so many book about same topics out there and this can be a good start! Highly recommend!

[Thomas Zegray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I pretty much purchased this book for reference and to try to figure out why my dog sometimes growls at me when it's in the crate. I read the aggressive part thoroughly.

[Nikola Gogov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Полезна и прекрасно написана книга.

[Jacob O'connor · Rating 2 out of 5]

An adequate time-passer for dog fans. The cute gloss doesn't add much aside from mild annoyance.

[Sonia Santos]

Remarkable handbook

This book was well written. It has great ideas on training and upkeep of your dog. I like the troubleshooting tips on the book.

[Vio Sintion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really helpful book great tips for rasing a 2 and a half month old daschund which is a stubborn little pup, but with help from this book I should be able to give her at least some basic training.

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dog Owner's Manual has a great summary of everything you need to get started with your puppy, except I was surprised how little of it says anything about what to do when your puppy's being disobedient. If you want to get just one book, this isn't the one to get, but it's good if you've already done a lot of reading and want a quick summary of the essentials.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never laughed out loud while reading about owning, training and raising a dog before! Simply a fun and well written informative book! While this book doesn't include the amount of information as something like the Dog Bible, it would be perfect for a first time dog owner or a fun gift for any dog owner with a sense of humor.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book for the complete dog novice, which is what I was when I got my dog from the shelter. The "joke" of the book is that it pretends that the dog is a sort of computer and uses language you might find in a Dell manual. This can wear thin after a while, but overall there is some good, reasonable advice to be found here.