Combining two popular titles in one value-priced edition,
Before and After Getting Your Puppy is a simple, practical guide for anyone bringing a new puppy into the home. In clear steps, with helpful photos and easy-to-follow training deadlines, Dr. Ian Dunbar, who pioneered puppy classes and a loving style of dog training in the 1970s, presents a structured yet playful and humorous plan for raising a wonderful dog. The guide is based on six developmental deadlines: completing owner education and preparation, assessing a puppy's prior socialization and education, teaching errorless house-training and chewtoy-training, completing a socialization program of meeting strange dogs and people, learning bite inhibition, and continuing a program of ongoing training. In the first half of the book, Dr. Dunbar focuses on what the owner needs to know to select a great puppy. In the second half, he presents the crucial lessons the puppy must be taught during its impressionable early deve...
Customer Reviews:
1 of 1 found this review helpful:
Some people just don't get it...., 2008-04-09
I checked this book out at the library and have been impressed thus far. I think the people who are writing negative reviews because of the "deadlines" are not really getting what he's saying. He's not saying you're going to ruin your dog for life, but it will be more difficult to train and live with your dog if you don't establish certain routines and habits by a certain time frame. I'm a firm believer that a dog can be trained at any point in their life, but I think every dog trainer can agree that dogs are creatures of habit. Establishing good habits early is better and easier then trying to break bad ones later on. Plus these bad habits are what cause dogs to become nuisances to everybody. And this is why there are so many dogs who are at shelters.
I don't agree with everything in his book, especially feeding your dog through kongs throughout the day. I don't see how this is beneficial to give a dog food all day while you are potty training him. A set schedule of feeding seems to be more inline so you know exactly when your dog needs to go.
1 of 1 found this review helpful:
The best positive training puppy book, 2008-04-07
This is the best puppy training book out there. ALL new puppy owners should be required to read this book before taking their puppy home. Easy to read, easy to understand, realistic positive puppy training!
1 of 1 found this review helpful:
Read this book before getting your new puppy, 2008-02-01
I read this book a few weeks before I got my puppy, I'm really glad I did. I've never had a dog before so I really had no idea what to expect, I somehow just assumed that I would get a dog that would know exactly where to go to the bathroom and what not to chew. This book set me straight and I went out and purchased supplies that were recommended before I got my puppy. I bought kong toys, sterilized hollow bones, a crate and treats to stuff inside. Once I got my shih-tzu pup at 8 weeks I immediately started socializing her to everyone. (I didn't take my vets advice about not going outside before 16 weeks) She must have met well over 100 people before she turned 12 weeks old. I also took her to socialize with other puppies to work on her bite inhibition. She's 17 weeks old now, I've got her potty trained to go outside, chewing only on her toys and she is not frightened of anything. I know there is definitely more work to do, but having followed all the advice in this great little book I know my puppy has a great start on life.
If you are planning on getting a young puppy make sure to socialize, socialize, socialize, it's really the most important thing you can do to raise a well adjusted dog. I've started to realize that most of the issues that I see in older dogs all came from a lack of socialization when they were puppies.
1 of 2 found this review helpful:
A must before getting a puppy, 2007-12-29
I am only part of the way through the book but I've already learned so much about what to look for in a puppy and a breeder. There's a lot of sound and important advice in this book.
1 of 1 found this review helpful:
Great advice, 2007-12-11
I highly recommend this book to anyone getting a new dog. You can pick out specific chapters or read the whole book. It has great advice, and if you stick to the routine you'll see the results in your new companion.
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