The Art of Raising a Puppy

Unless you are a person who does not care about your dog's psyche, I suggest you do not use any of this books' techniques. In my opinion you are supposed to build a relationship with your pet and "teach" him/her to do the right thing. Dogs can only learn from the praise they recieve, not the punishment. There are a ton of books that teach positive reinforcement, and those are the books that teach you to build a strong relationship with your pet -- not a fear relationship.

I did, however, give the book 1 star because there is some useful information on how dogs think, etc. Nevertheless, I would never recommend any of the punishement techniques; because when it comes down to it your dog reflects you; and if you have not taught him/her properly, it is your fault -- not the dog's!


Still too harsh on punishment/correction   November 29, 1999
74 out of 92 found this review helpful

As another reviewer noted, there's a lot of good information here -- but the correction-based methods are out of date. Puppy raising these days, except in a few die-hard trainer circles, is postive, reward-based and uses punishment only in extreme circumstances. The emphasis is on catching the dog doing something right, not catching it doing something wrong. Both methods may work, but one is a lot more pleasant for both dog and owner. Don't make training your dog any harder than it needs to be! Relax and enjoy your puppy.

If you can read this book and take away the useful information without buying into the old "scruff shake" and "alpha roll" theories, go for it. If you'd rather stick to truly positive training (or find out why it works better than punishment), check out Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson or any publication by Karen Pryor or Ian Dunbar.

Keep in mind one of the principal authors behind the original New Skete books changed his views, years after the books were published, and until he died he told dog owners where he went wrong with the punishment-based training. The rest of the Monks still stand by the old harsh methods.

Enjoy your puppy, and remember: Catch them doing something RIGHT!


A must for anyone that is or wants to be proud of their dog!   October 18, 1999
Jason E. Bosaw (waty@iquest.net) (Indiana, USA)
35 out of 37 found this review helpful

The only thing I regret about reading this book is the fact that I didn't buy it and read it sooner. It dips a little (actually a lot) into every essential aspect of properly training a dog from day one. Some of the best parts are the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test in the Appendix and the extensive bibliography in the back. So if you find something that wasn't covered to your expectations of completion, then you have an easy resource to locate more information on the the subject. To be honest with you, I haven't found anything in the book that wasn't necessary or covered enough. The only reason I sought more information was out of couriosity rather than need. Needless to say, the book was well written, informative and ultimately intriguing. Their methods are proven no matter how old they are. They have done their research and it shows. I am a believer for many reasons. For one, when you read the book (if you already own a dog) there are several occasions where you think to yourself and say, "so that's why..." The other reasons are because of all the times I have practiced their methods on one thing or another, the expetations of results are consistantly detailed in the book.