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The Golden Rules of Positive Puppy Training: Everything You Need to Know for Your Puppy's First Year
Providing easy step-by-step instructions on training methods and how to best care for a puppy, this is an enjoyable read with tons of helpful tips and charming drawings and photographs to prepare you and your new puppy for a wonderful first year together!
- GenresNonfictionDogs
547 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2019
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13 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 26, 2025
TLDR this is not a positive reinforcement book, it is not a positive-first book. It is a "balanced training" book that is negative punishment first BUT does have really good graphic design and decent positive information hidden within it.
This book started out really strong with Parts 1-3 and two sections of Part 4, which contained information on what is a dog, what makes a good owner, how to train your dog, information on puppyhood and socialisation approaches. Information was all presented in a delightful infographic format with a nice balance of information and graphics. Some minus disappointing bits with the author micromanaging dogs, focusing on coercion and compliance over communication, but primarily positive training based.
Unfortunately the book went downhill in Part 4 from the Basic Skills onwards. The majority of the skills are NOT taught through positive reinforcement but instead rely on negative punishment and extinction. The trainer goes entirely into compliance methods, advises ignoring dogs trying to communicate with you (ignore dog asking for things), uses social punishment (removing social interactions) to enforce compliance...and just all around very "nothing in life is free" which is NOT a positive reinforcement method of training but a stock standard compulsion and compliance method. Just not positive at all.
This book, like many others, is confused about the difference between heeling and loose lead walking. So the loose lead walking just describes heeling and dogs within are punished for trying to sniff or pulling if something scares them. Just more power games for compulsion and control.
The advanced training with the tricks was much more positive for some bizarre reason, and actually talked about splitting behaviour and setting up for success in those sections and not in the basic skills.
Part 5 Behaviour Modification wans't too bad, not a lot of detail but they would make good infographics if you're interesting in sharing the book. It even has a section on dog emotions and instinct related behaviours which are pretty good. I especially liked the sections comparing "bad attitude" approach to problems and "good attitude" approach to the same problem, showing alternative training methods.
Although these are conflicting since earlier in the training section the book tells you to ignore your dog asking you to fulfill their needs and gives a whole bunch of "bad attitude" method approaches to basic skills like loose lead walking, waiting to eat, sitting to greet.
Part 5 also includes a summary of assorted behavioural modification techniques. Most of these are reasonably decent except yet again a dependency on extinction and it does not go over the negative emotional effects and stress this process causes (for both dog and owner). It does surprisingly have a positive regard of behavioural medication and otherwise stays in its training lane, recommending a vet visit.
All up a 3 because there's a lot of good information but the underlying compliance-or-else, the focus on extinction and negative punishment over rewards, the inability to set up to succeed and the subpart basic skills chapter drag it down from being a 5. It gets the misinformation label for not being the positive reinforcement training it claims to be.
The book also failed to cite any of the science articles quoted.
This book started out really strong with Parts 1-3 and two sections of Part 4, which contained information on what is a dog, what makes a good owner, how to train your dog, information on puppyhood and socialisation approaches. Information was all presented in a delightful infographic format with a nice balance of information and graphics. Some minus disappointing bits with the author micromanaging dogs, focusing on coercion and compliance over communication, but primarily positive training based.
Unfortunately the book went downhill in Part 4 from the Basic Skills onwards. The majority of the skills are NOT taught through positive reinforcement but instead rely on negative punishment and extinction. The trainer goes entirely into compliance methods, advises ignoring dogs trying to communicate with you (ignore dog asking for things), uses social punishment (removing social interactions) to enforce compliance...and just all around very "nothing in life is free" which is NOT a positive reinforcement method of training but a stock standard compulsion and compliance method. Just not positive at all.
This book, like many others, is confused about the difference between heeling and loose lead walking. So the loose lead walking just describes heeling and dogs within are punished for trying to sniff or pulling if something scares them. Just more power games for compulsion and control.
The advanced training with the tricks was much more positive for some bizarre reason, and actually talked about splitting behaviour and setting up for success in those sections and not in the basic skills.
Part 5 Behaviour Modification wans't too bad, not a lot of detail but they would make good infographics if you're interesting in sharing the book. It even has a section on dog emotions and instinct related behaviours which are pretty good. I especially liked the sections comparing "bad attitude" approach to problems and "good attitude" approach to the same problem, showing alternative training methods.
Although these are conflicting since earlier in the training section the book tells you to ignore your dog asking you to fulfill their needs and gives a whole bunch of "bad attitude" method approaches to basic skills like loose lead walking, waiting to eat, sitting to greet.
Part 5 also includes a summary of assorted behavioural modification techniques. Most of these are reasonably decent except yet again a dependency on extinction and it does not go over the negative emotional effects and stress this process causes (for both dog and owner). It does surprisingly have a positive regard of behavioural medication and otherwise stays in its training lane, recommending a vet visit.
All up a 3 because there's a lot of good information but the underlying compliance-or-else, the focus on extinction and negative punishment over rewards, the inability to set up to succeed and the subpart basic skills chapter drag it down from being a 5. It gets the misinformation label for not being the positive reinforcement training it claims to be.
The book also failed to cite any of the science articles quoted.
August 16, 2020
This is a good read if your're looking for a book about rewards based puppy training. It talks a lot about understanding your dog and his/her feelings. I felt it was a good introduction to that style of training.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews