Description

This article is from the Obedience Trials, by Cindy Tittle Moore with numerous contributions by others.

34 Books

Arnold, Terri, with Ann Paul. _Theory, Footwork, Handling and
Attention_; _Novice_; _Open and Utility_. Order from Steppin' Up, 186
Country Road, Freetown, MA 02717, 508-763-4843 ($79.95 for three
volume set or $29.95 per book plus $6 S&H per order, MA residents add
5% sales tax; non-US orders must be in US funds, and $12 S&H).

Terri Arnold has written a series of three books (with help from
Ann Paul) that are: "A positive and precise approach for the
competitive trainer of the 90's. Clear, concise, and easy to
understand. Complete step-by-step detail of each obedience exercise
with beautiful photographs to enhance your learning."

Baer, Ted. _Communicating with Your Dog_. Barron's, New York. 1989.
ISBN 0-8120-4203-4 (oversized paperback).

Heavily illustrated with color photos. A sensible approach to
laying a good foundation for extensive obedience training (even if
you don't take the dog any further than what's outlined in here).
Simple instructions for teaching a 20-word language, with emphasis
on understanding and building on previous work.

Barwig, Susan, and Stewart Hilliard. _Schutzhund: Theory and Training
Methods_. Howell Books, 1991. ISBN 0-87605-731-8.

Bauman, Diane L. _Beyond Basic Dog Training_. New, updated edition.
Howell Book House (Maxwell Maxmillan International), New York. 1991.
ISBN: 0-87605-410-6.

Emphasis is on training a "thinking" dog rather than a
pattern-trained dog. Extensive manual on obedience training.
Communication and understanding are discussed. A well known and
often recommended book

. Bauman, Diane L. _Beyond Basic Training - The Workbook_. Alpine
Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-931866-74-X

Includes puzzles, questions and answers, games, exercises to deal
with nervousness in the ring, charts and tables to track your dog's
progress, record training progress and problems. Its intended use
is one copy for each dog you train.

Benjamin, Carol Lea. _Mother Knows Best: The Natural Way To Train Your
Dog_. Howell Book House, New York. 1985. ISBN 0-87605-666-4. $15.95
hardcover.

Most training methods rely on the foundational relationship between
an owner and his dog, and this book profides some ideas on
establishing that relationship while the puppy is still young. This
book is probably the most widely recommended for puppy owners.

Benjamin, Carol and Capt. Haggerty. _Dog Tricks_.

This book has more tricks in it than you will even dream of
teaching your dog, complete with descriptions of how to teach each
trick. In the back they have a listing by breed of tricks that are
especially suitable or unsuitable for that breed.

Brahms, Ann and Paul. _Puppy Ed._. Ballantine Books. 1981.
ISBN:0-345-33512-0 (paperback).

Describes how to start teaching your puppy commands. This is a
thoughtful book that discusses in practical detail what you can and
cannot expect to do with your puppy in training it. They stress
that by expecting and improving good behavior from the start,
later, more formal training goes much easier.

Burnham, Patricia Gail. _Playtraining Your Dog_. St. Martin's Press,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. c1980. ISBN 0-312-61691-0 (trade
paperback).

An excellent book that describes how to use play to motivate your
dog through obedience training. She focuses on how to teach each
exercise in the AKC Novice, Open, and Utility classes. Her
philosophy, though, lends itself to any type of training. Well
written and informative. For you greyhound lovers, all her dogs and
inside photos are of greyhounds.

Button, Lue. _Practical Scent Dog Training_. Alpine Publications, Inc.
214 19th St. SE, Loveland, CO 80537. 1990. ISBN: 0-931866-47-2.

A step-by-step practical training guide for air scent, evidence
search, disaster search and the AKC tracking test. Starts with
young puppies. Well illustrated and methods extensively tested at
Los Alamos' Mountain Canine Corps.

Cecil, Barbara and Gerianne Darnell. _Competitive Obedience Training
for the Small Dog_. T9E Publishing, R.R.#1, Box 176, 10092 240th
Street, Council Bluffs, IA 51503 ($20/book, includes postage, IA
residents add 5% sales tax)

From the flyer: "COMPETITIVE OBEDIENCE TRAINING FOR THE SMALL DOG
guides you, in over 200 pages, from puppy socialization through
Utility in an easy-to-follow progression of inducive training. This
new book - the only one of its kind - is a self-help manual and
competitive edge for every small-dog owner unwilling to use
traditional big-dog training techniques. This book is for every
small-dog owner training in obedience; for the trainer working with
a *soft* dog of any size; and for every trainer eager to utilize
the *why* and *how* of inducive training."

Colflesh, Linda. _Making Friends: Training your Dog Positively_,
Illustrated by Deb Mickey ISBN 0-87605-687-7 Howell Book House,
copyright 1990.

A readable book that applies to all aspects of everyday training
and building a good relationship with your dog. Her method
maximizes using your dog's intelligence and your good relationship
with your pet and minimizes the use of force. It takes things all
the way from housebreaking the new dog through the basic obedience
exercises and includes chapters on aggression and moving on to
off-leash work with your dog.

Dunbar, Ian, DVM. _How to Teach a New Dog Old Tricks_ (Manual for the
Sirius PUppy Training Program). James and Kenneth Pubs., Oakland.
1991.

Fisher, John. _Dogwise_.

The author is a well known UK behaviourist and ex-service dog
trainer. _Dogwise_ follows the selection of a eight month rescue
GSD and his Police Dog handler through a 12 week course using only
positive reinforcement and the final exaimination qualifying the
dog to work with the London Met to the HMSO. The focus is on the
training methods more than on police work.

Fogle, Bruce. _The Dog's Mind_.

This appears to be the best, most comprehensive book summarizing
current research on canine psychology and behavior. You won't find
much in the way of how-to instructions, but you will find alot of
hard facts on every aspect of the canine mind and personality. This
book is well-written and very readable even by the layperson.

Fraser, J. & A. Ammen, _Dual Ring Dog_ (Howell).

Tips for dogs shown both in conformation and in obedience. Some
good hints, particularly from Ammen.

Handler, Barbara. _Successful Obedience Handling: The NEW Best Foot
Forward_. Alpine publications.

A guide to showing and handling in the obedience rings. It covers
how to enter shows, what to do on the day, and how to avoid
handling errors. Updated and revised from _Best Foot Forward_. A
must for anyone participating in AKC obedience trials.

Knott, T. & D.O. Cooper, _The Complete Book of Dog Training_.
(Howell).

Covers training from puppy kindergarten through utility. Good hints
and illustrations.

Koehler, William. _The Koehler Method of Dog Training_. Howell Books.

Koehler's methods are considered unusually harsh and
counterproductive by some modern trainers. On the other hand, his
methods do have a history of success with dogs that have "hard"
temperaments. Modern-day competitive obedience dogs are not trained
with his methods anymore.

Monks of New Skete, The. _The Art of Raising a Puppy_. Little, Brown
and Company (1991). ISBN: 0-316-57839-8 (hardback).

The monks of New Skete have put together an excellent book that
discusses puppy development and the things that should be done at
the appropriate stages and why. First they follow a newborn litter
through its various stages of development and at each stage they
discuss what is happening. They discuss testing puppies'
temperaments and what you want to look for, under which
circumstances. They discuss briefly dog breeds, and how to find
reputable breeders. They then launch into a series of useful
chapters: housebreaking, preliminary obedience, laying the
foundations of training, understanding (reading) your dog, how to
become the pack leader, basic training, discipline, and general
care. A good bibliography is provided at the back.

Morsell, Curt. _Training Your Dog to Win Obedience Titles_ (Howell).

More inspirational than instructional.

Olson, Bjorn. _Training Your Dog Step by Step_.

Pryor, Karen. _Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and
Training_ by Karen Pryor. Bantam, New York. 1985. c1984.

She presents different behavioralistic techniques for dealing with
several example situations (i.e. "Dog barks all night", "Roommate
leaves dirty laundry all over apartment," "Bus driver is rude,"
etc.) This would NOT be a good book for someone who wanted to teach
their dog to sit and come, but it discusses how the trainer's
actions "shape" the trainee's responses. Definitely a must-read for
people who are interested in "inducive" training, and should be
thought-provoking for any trainer who is thinking about training on
a higher level than "When the dog does this, give him a good collar
correction"--but experienced dog trainers will find a lot to
quibble about in what she says.

Pryor, Karen. _Lads Before the Wind, Diary of a Dolphin Trainer_.

This is the story of how Karen Pryor got into operant conditioning.
It tells the story of how she trained animals, not just dolphins,
using the principals explored in _Don't Shoot the Dog_. $12.95

Rogerson, John. _Your Dog, its Development, Behaviour and Training_.
Also, _Training Your Dog_.

Rose, Tom and Gary Patterson. _Training the Competitive Working Dog_.
1985 Giblaut Publishing Company 3333 S. Bannock, Suite 950,
Englewood,CO 80110.

The Rose book is getting obsolete, particularly the obedience
section (Tom now uses much more motivational techniques) but here
is still alot of good theory and practical exercises.

Strickland, Winifred G. _Expert Obedience Training for Dogs_. Third
revised edition. Howell Book House (Macmillan Publishing Company), New
York. 1987. ISBN: 0-02-615000-X (hardback).

Strickland is a well known dog trainer. Covers all aspects of
training and competition including the formal training for AKC
obedience trials (novice, open, utility, tracking). Includes some
general care (health and feeding) tips. Author has also written
Obedience Class Instruction for Dogs.

Tucker, Michael. _Dog Training Step by Step_.

Tucker is an ex GDB instructor and his books are easy to read and
follow. His others are _Dog Training Made Easy_, _Solving Your Dog
Problems_.

Volhard. _Training Your Dog Step by Step_.

Weston, David. _Dog Training: The Gentle Method_.

Zink, M. Christine, DVM, PHD. _Peak Performance: Coaching the Canine
Athlete_. Howell Book House, 1992. ISBN: 0-87605-757-1. Book available
from the author at 1907 Eastridge Rd., Timonium, MD 21093.

If you are doing serious obedience competition with your dog, you
need to understand how to keep him in good shape for the work. This
eminently readable book goes over canine physiology, both internal
and structural. She covers how to keep your dog in general good
shape, discusses some conditioning strategies, and finally details
a number of possible impediments to conditioning your dog,
including: genetic and traumatic joint problems and lameness, the
effects of medication on your dog, and moreover lists all the
things you need to consider when trying to keep your dog fit and
healthy.

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