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Price: $21.95 - $7.89
(as of Feb 23, 2025 17:53:12 UTC – Details)
How to raise the perfect puppy
A revolution for dogs: Very few dog trainers have not been influenced by Dr. Ian Dunbar’s dog-friendly philosophy. In the 1970s, Dr. Ian Dunbar sparked a dramatic shift in puppy training ― away from leash corrections and drill-sergeant adult dog training classes based on competitive obedience and toward a positive approach using toys, treats, and games as rewards for teaching basic manners, preventing behavior problems, and modifying temperament. Before Dr. Dunbar there were no classes for puppy training, very few family dog classes, and not much fun in dog training. His positive approach revolutionized the dog training field, especially puppy training.
Raising a great dog: Now, in Before and After Getting Your Puppy, Dr. Ian Dunbar combines his two popular puppy training manuals into one indexed, value-priced hardcover dog training book. In clear steps, with helpful photos and easy-to-follow puppy training milestones, he presents a structured yet playful and humorous plan for raising a wonderful dog. Dr. Dunbar’s guide is based around six developmental milestones:
Your doggy educationEvaluating puppy’s progressErrorless housetraining and chewtoy-trainingSocialization with PeopleLearning bite inhibitionThe world at large
Fans of The Art of Raising a Puppy, Training the Best Dog Ever, or Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution, will love Ian Dunbar’s Before and After Getting Your Puppy.
Publisher : New World Library; 43738th edition (April 29, 2004)
Language : English
Hardcover : 224 pages
ISBN-10 : 1577314557
ISBN-13 : 978-1577314554
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 6.25 x 0.75 x 9 inches
Customers say
Customers find the book provides great advice and information on dog behavior. They appreciate the author’s common sense approach and clever training techniques. The book helps them socialize their dogs and understand their nature better. It also helps prevent biting and chewing issues. However, some readers feel the pacing is unrealistic and discouraging. There are mixed opinions on the ease of reading – some find it easy to understand and quick to read, while others mention it’s repetitive.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
nonneurotypical –
I am glad I found Ian Dunbar. He knows what he is talking about.
Dr. Ian Dunbar writes with the voice of authority because he truly is the authority. Read this book and learn from the source because most of the more current dog training guidance you will find elsewhere is following Dr. Dunbar’s lead (or it is 40 years behind).The content presented in this book and the expertise of the author deserve more than a five star rating and easily outweigh any shortcomings of this book. I think I understand why the information is presented in the book in the way that it is, but it may not lend itself to easy reading and easy acceptance by some people.I read a little bit about dog training from several sources before deciding to get my first new puppy in 16 years. I came away a bit confused by the various approaches many of which were not at all consistent with successes I have had on my own with many dogs over the past 40 years. Then I read this book and all of the successes and failures I’ve had on my own suddenly made perfect sense.Initially this book may be a bit difficult for some people to digest. It seems overly rigid at first, but the specific procedures that are described are offered as an ideal approach for the most typical scenario. Don’t let that prevent you from reading on. The sense of humor may not be easy for some to grasp and the degree of emphasis that is placed on the urgency and importance of some aspects of training may put off some people. However, if you hang in there and read the whole book, I think you will come away with a very solid sense of what you need to do, when you need to do it, and why you need to do it even if you don’t do it in the exact manner suggested in the book.I am convinced that Dr. Dunbar genuinely wants to get his readers to succeed at training great dogs and avoid the creation of troubled dogs first and foremost. He points out that 75% of dogs that end up at a shelter because of behavior problems will never be adopted and will instead be euthanize (“put to sleep”). And, of the 25% that do get adopted, half will end up back at the shelter very soon after adoption and will likewise to be put to death. If he started the book with those statistics, the emphasis he puts on the importance of getting it right from the start might seem more immediately justified.I read the small number of bad reviews of this book before I bought it and I’m glad they did not dissuade me. Anyone who has not read this whole book does not have the full perspective on it. Those who don’t value a scientific approach to dog behavior and dog training may not be persuaded by it. Most who believe they already know the best way to train a dog probably will never read it.I think some people will be a bit put off by the heavy sense of responsibility Dr. Dunbar throws on the readers head very early on in the book. Those people probably shouldn’t own dogs.
Tracy K. –
Fantastic read for new dog owners! Get it BEFORE you get your puppy
This book is fantastic – Dr. Dunbar is clear and concise with his instructions, and his techniques are strongly rooted in animal behavior science. I’m considering becoming a first time dog owner, and Dr. Dunbar’s frankness and honesty were very appreciated, as were his very creative and surprisingly doable training techniques. I feel confident in my decision to get a puppy now, and his instructions/guides have given me a very good idea of what to expect and how to prepare.In regards to the 1 and 2-star reviews complaining about his tone, which almost scared me away from this book- I suspect those users must have purchased an older version of Dunbar’s book.In the forward to his 2004 version (the hardback edition from Amazon), he credits his new editor with toning down his wording to presumably make it less inflammatory. This is very evident in the first 38 pages of the book, which are very positive and carefully worded when discussing “controversial” training topics.However, Dunbar’s infamously stern tone shines through after the first few chapters, but I honestly didn’t mind it at all. He’s firm because the welfare of your dog is in your hands and far too many owners don’t appreciate that fact, hence the shelters full of poorly raised “problem” dogs. At no point does he cross the line and become some sort of raging dog-training Nazi, as some of the low-rating reviewers seem to suggest. Quite the contrary: I found him to be very professional, somewhat irreverent, very credible and quite clever in his training techniques.Overall, this book is a fantastic read and I highly recommend you pick it up LONG before you even pick your puppy or your breeder, as Dunbar provides some excellent tips on what to look for at that stage.
Dr Anoopraj –
The good one ð
Bizibee –
This is an excellent book based on modern animal behaviour science and good sense. It has a very American feel to it but just go along with it as it’s such a useful book. I read it straight through and found some things a bit repetitive, but when I use it as a handbook that’ll be fine as I shall be picking particular chapters and the repetition makes sure you don’t miss important bits if using it as a dip in handbook. The early material on socialising your puppy is absolutely crucial and the reason I bought the book. I won’t be able to introduce my puppy to as many people and children as he suggests, but I shall certainly have a good go at it, particularly children. I’ve always enjoyed training my dogs as you get such a close relationship with them and young dogs love the fun of the games called training! Dunbar rightly points at that everything the puppy encounters in its first few months in and around the home is effectively training and socialisation. If we all used this book well the animal shelters would have fewer sad cases of difficult, unmanageable dogs.
G D Happy in Montreal! –
My brother stressed that we read this book before getting our puppy! Everything Dr. Dunbar writes seems to be working like “magic” in crate and housebraking our puppy. We grew up with Dogs of different breeds in Mexico City, but they were never living inside our House. Our puppy’s breed is hard to train (Shiba “INU”). So we followed his instructions and got ready with a crate, play pen, chew toys and all. We have had her for three weeks now and everything has worked like Magic. Yes, I know she is about to go from “Gizmo to Gremlin” as she is teething and has more energy and character every day. We have already had “hints” of a little monster but honestly, what Dr. Dunbar writes works to the letter.Following all his “rules” and recommendations has been a lot of work but surprisingly pleasant and even rewarding. Everything he writes seems to work and althought it does seem like common sense, we would not have done many of these things have we not read the book. Convincing our teen agers of the benefits of crating our puppy was a bit of a challenge, but once they read the book (at least parts of it) it really helped them to understand.His writing is friendly and easy. Now, worrying that becuase The Shiba is one of the “ancient breeds” and they don’t recognize a master, we decided to also get her puppy training. We had a first session with the trainer and she practically said everything that Dr. Dunbar writes in his book! So YES I recommend this book for anyone that wants a dog; even if you don’t get a puppy but rescue a dog. It is worth every cent!Thank you Bro for insisting that we get a dog and making sure we read this book first. We owe it all to you and Dr. Dunbar!
Elisa –
I stopped reading this book after just a couple of pages when the writer suggested locking your new puppy in a crate on its first night and leaving it to cry and howl and bark, just ignore it. That sounded like a horrible way of breaking a puppy’s spirit to me, would never do it! My puppy slept on the bed on his first night. But there are some good tips in the book about teaching your dog to enjoy quiet time.
NiniFuchs –
Ian Dunbar hat in einer schönen Art mit viel Know-How beschrieben, was VOR dem Welpenkauf zu beachten ist und wie aus einem ungestümen Wildfang ein sozialverträgliches Familienmitglied wird.Leider gibt es das Buch nur auf Englisch – es ist aber für Menschen Schulenglisch-Kenntnissen durchaus zu verstehen.Am besten kauft man sich gleich noch 2 – 4 Kongs dazu, denn das ist das Zaubermittel von Dunbar.