Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 31-35 of 72
 A must for new puppy parents March 10, 2006
A. Swanner (New Orleans, LA)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Easy to read and concise. Can be read in about an hour. Sets forth good recommendations and sample schedules that can be adjusted to suit individual needs. Although title suggests success in seven days, book admits that all dogs are different and that the seven day period is to be viewed as a "foundation period." Gave it four stars because I would have liked a few more pages.
 The best investment ever November 2, 2005
AIROLF (USA)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
This is the best potty training book out there. If you only buy one book when training your dog, buy this one. Follow it to the last letter, and you will have your dog training in a few weeks tops.
It works!
Separates Truth from Myth September 25, 2005
David R. Bess (Charleston, WV)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
This book is a very easy read, and is straightforward in approach. I have a new puppy in my house, and the tips given here are working to this point. Although not completely housetrained, I'm making progress with my energetic houseguest who at times lacks self-restraint. This book separates the truth from the myths when it comes to housebreaking dogs!
A Must for All Puppy Owners September 7, 2005
Lee Charles Kelley (New York City)
40 out of 40 found this review helpful
First of all I have to respond to an earlier reviewer who says that Shirlee Kalstone doesn't know anything about dogs and suggests that people should instead read a book by someone who does -- namely, Stanley Coren. I'm still laughing over that. Stanley Coren!? It's widely known in dog circles that Coren gets almost everything about dogs exactly backwards (read my review of THE INTELLIGENCE OF DOGS for further elucidation)! It seems to me, from reading this person's review, that she somehow misunderstood the simple information in Kalstone's book and instead of admitting her own inability to follow instructions, she blames the author.
Okay, now to my review of this very useful housebreaking guide, one that I recommend to all my clients with new puppies. I have to say that except for Kalstone's occasional forays into punishment, via the alpha theory (which we now know is totally false), this book gives you almost everything you need to know about housetraining. The fact that she's broken-down the various schedules any dog owner might need, allowing for various work schedules and life-styles, makes this book a must-have for every owner of a new puppy. (It's why I recommend it to all my clients -- it saves them and me the time of sitting down and writing up a schedule of their own.)
She also gives good advice on how to acquaint any puppy with a crate, and gives the info (that most other books don't) that a puppy's emotional and physical development prevent him (or her) from really learning this stuff before about 3 1/2 to 4 months of age. Just please, please, ignore everything she says about being the pack leader, being alpha, etc., and you and your puppy will do just fine.
By the way, most of the information in this book (and a little more) is also contained in Kevin Behan's NATURAL DOG TRAINING, with just one omission: Kevin doesn't include the actual training schedules that you can rip out of the Kalstone book and paste on to your refrigerator door!
I rarely give ANY training book 4 stars. Yay, Shirlee Kalstone!
It works! August 1, 2005
Nancy (Canton, Ohio)
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
This is our third Basset Hound, a breed notoriously difficult to housebreak. With the help of this book, we got it done in about 2 weeks. With the other two dogs, it took months. The book is very specific and detailed. The process requires discipline and adherence to a rigorous schedule, which you can modify to fit your needs. After a few days, we modified the schedule in the book to better suit our dog's habits, posted it on the refrigerator, and STUCK TO IT. Our dog was 7 months old when we got him so he was ready for it in terms of maturity -- dogs under 4 months old can't be reliably housebroken according to the book. Highly recommended.
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