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 enlarge | Author: The Monks Of New Skete
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $25.99
Buy Used: $9.48
You Save: $16.51 (64%)
New (43) Used (37) Collectible (2) from $9.48
Rating:  155 reviews
Sales Rank: 4692
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Rev Upd
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0316610003
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.70887
EAN: 9780316610001
ASIN: 0316610003
Publication Date: September 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: good book ever so gently loved
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 41-45 of 155
 How to be your dogs best friend March 22, 2006
R. Berryann
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
Excellent book easy to follow,giving direction to train and handle your dog.Direction are exacting easy to follow, the book has been a big help in understanding and training our new pup.
A classic book-- try Patricia McConnell for a different perspective February 4, 2006
N. Ferguson (Ohio)
7 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is a classic book about training and building happy, healthy relationships with our dogs. It should be on every dog owner's shelf. I've lost track of how many copies I've given to friends and family over the years. This new revised and updated edition is even better than the original.
The Monks of New Skete have truly wonderful relationships with their dogs-- we can all learn a great deal from them. Those with pups should check out their book, "The Art of Raising a Puppy".
My ***very*** favorite dog books are by Patricia McConnell-- they are kind, wise, humane-- and her ideas really work!!!! (See McConnell's Beginning Family Dog Training, The Other End of the Leash, and How to be the Leader of the Pack... and Have Your Dog Love You For It)
Trainers Bible January 14, 2006
Thad Stacy (Oregon)
14 out of 18 found this review helpful
I am a Master Trainer and have been raising and training German and Dutch Shepherd working dogs for over 25 years. I train patrol, protection, detection and companion dogs and I recommend the "Monks" to every new client I work with.
Dogs are Gods greatest gift to mankind. These books show people a "compassion based" training paradigm that not only produces real and long lasting results, but helps to facilitate a lifelong understanding of communication with your dog. Whether you have or are looking for a companion or a working service dog, this is a must read set of books!
Great insights into the dog mind December 31, 2005
Eugene Mah (Charleston, SC USA)
21 out of 24 found this review helpful
How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend by the Monks of New Skete was a book that one of the dog park people recommended to us. Thanks to the wife's aunt, we got a copy of it for Christmas, and dove right in. After getting through a few chapters, my first thought was "This is the book we should have read before getting Nala".
The Monks of New Skete have apparently been breeding German Shepherd Dogs for quite some time now and also run a boarding/training program for other dogs, so they have a good amount of experience with breeding, raising and training dogs and dog psychology/sociology. Much of this collected wisdom (along with plenty of anectodes) is encapsulated very nicely in this book. The book offers a lot of good training tips and insights into the canine mind, which is something I think all dog owners would benefit from to help understand their dogs better. Apart from the training advice and techniques given in the book, I think the most valuable thing this book has to offer are the monks' insights into the canine mind, and how dogs think and behave. A lot of topics are covered in the book, so at 321 pages some of the coverage is necessarily a little cursory. A sizable reading list at the back provides pointers to other books that cover specific topics in more detail though.
For dog owners, this is one that's definitely worth adding to the bookshelf.
BTW, pay no attention to the bad or 1 star reviews at Amazon.com. All of those people seem to have gotten the wrong idea that the monks are trying to get across about disciplining your dog. They give the false impression that the monks advocate beating your dog into submission, which is totally way off base and suggests these people just didn't get what the monks are trying to say about discipline. While a couple of physical punishment methods are provided, the monks qualify their use by saying:
- "physical discipline or correction is never an arbitrary training technique to be applied to each and every dog for all offenses"
- "In considering their use, you should follow the rule of always using the least amount of force necessary to change the behavior. Don't go overboard. Build on your corrections, making them progressively tougher until your dog responds appropriately. Above all, watch your dog: his response will tell you whether the correction is too soft or too stern."
- "physical discipline should be reserved for the heinous canine crimes mentioned earlier, not meted out for every episode of bad behavior"
The reviewers that give the book a poor review seem to have missed all this. The chapter on discipline ends with a section on making up with your dog afterwards, which is a very important thing to do.
Excellent ... but it needs updating December 30, 2005
Cathleen A. Feduke (Fredericksburg, VA United States)
14 out of 20 found this review helpful
I wouldn't recommend this book alone to the novice dog owner but it is a good start. I think a lot of the criticism here is in the same trendy misbelief that you should never hit a child. Sometimes you must for their own good -- like if a dog is trying to swallow tacks or a child is reaching for a pan of boiling water. If they won't listen to "No!" you cannot allow them to learn from a potentially life altering mistake. A single hit will show them to pay attention and listen to you. The monks are not saying abuse your dog; they're saying teach the dog to listen to and trust you as they would their alpha (which you are). I have had to grab one of my dogs by the scruff of his neck to get him out of the street once. A single time. From that point forward he listens when I call him. This keeps him near me and safe whenever we go out. That one moment of surprise when he learned I could pick him up like a mother dog caused a yelp but he has listened ever since. This is a dog who pouts when I cut his favorite game short and sometimes smacks me awake so I can pet him in the morning (or middle of the night). He doesn't fear me in any way, he just knows to come when I call.
As many readers have suggested, more recent books promote a much healthier way of training. The Dog Whisperer, Don't Shoot the Dog, and many others promote positive reinforcement instead of punishment. If I remember correctly they do mention punishment when absolutely necessary.
How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend teaches not only how to effectively train but how to select or be a responsible breeder. This book helped me convince my husband that we were in no way prepared to breed our ill-tempered, devil spawn of a cocker spaniel with her aloof, sometimes agressive mate.
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