Description
Price: $30.00 - $16.99
(as of Feb 17, 2025 22:43:41 UTC – Details)
For more than a quarter century, How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend has been the standard against which all other dog-training books have been measured. This expanded edition preserves the best features of the original classic while bringing the book fully up-to-date. The result: the ultimate training manual for a new generation of dog owners–and, of course, for their canine best friends.
The Monks of New Skete have achieved international renown as breeders of German shepherds and as outstanding trainers of dogs of all breeds. Their unique approach to canine training, developed and refined over four decades, is based on the philosophy that “understanding is the key to communication, compassion, and communion” with your dog.
How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend covers virtually every aspect of living with and caring for your dog, including: Selecting a dog (what breed? male? female? puppy or older dog?) to fit your lifestyle Where to get–and where not to get–a dog Reading a pedigree Training your dog or puppy–when, where, and how The proper use of praise and discipline Feeding, grooming, and ensuring your dog’s physical fitness Recognizing and correcting canine behavioral problems The particular challenges of raising a dog where you live – in the city, country, or suburb The proper techniques for complete care of your pet at every stage of his or her life In its scope, its clarity, and its authority, How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend remains unrivaled as a basic training guide for dog owners. Like no other book, this guide can help you understand and appreciate your dog’s nature as well as his or her distinct personality–and in so doing, it can significantly enrich the life you share with your dog.
Publisher : Little, Brown and Company; Revised edition (September 1, 2002)
Language : English
Hardcover : 336 pages
ISBN-10 : 0316610003
ISBN-13 : 978-0316610001
Item Weight : 1.35 pounds
Dimensions : 6.5 x 1.38 x 9.63 inches
Customers say
Customers find the book informative and helpful for understanding dog training from both their and their dogs’ perspectives. They describe it as an easy, down-to-earth read with clear explanations. The book provides a calm, assertive way of training dogs that creates well-behaved pets. Readers appreciate the gentle approach and mention that the dogs become wonderful companions and amazing additions to their families. Many find the history interesting and timeless.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
P. L. Straw –
dog training for a blind dog
I found that this book stood out from the others of it’s kind by the simple gentleness that the authors use in their training methods. They allowed the dogs to enter their daily routines and lives with something akin to mutual respect. I needed this viewpoint and it’s respectful workability to help me with my situation. About this the book had no answers and I found that most of their training suggestions had to be used in a different manner.My dog has recently gone blind from glaucoma and while there are a few books out there that deal with this, I liked the monks’ approach to training the best. My dog and his situation differs in that he is a bassett hound – very scent oriented – and whose main function/job is as watch dog and protector. He was never formally trained but responded well to a few commands as he grew up to understand his job. We live on a large fenced property (15+ acres) and walk the perimeter nightly for exercise. His blindness came on over a period of time but was still traumatic. It was here that I needed a bit of guidance to get him passed the fear and uncertainty of what to do next. The monks gentle approach helped as we started to work on more appropriate voice commands and a bit of formal training. I needed the assurance that he would behave on command and respond with the appropriate actions so that I could keep him safe. While he can’t see any hand signals or see my movements, he follows my voice and is responding well gentle leash tugs for direction. Also I had never before used dog treats but they are definitely helping to get the training moving along. We still take our nightly walks with me acting as a “seeing-eye dog”, and after a month’s time he now steps out with confidence, head held to the ground, sniffing out intruders, but tail held high.My biggest thanks to the monks and their gentle ways was that as long as we maintained our routine, something my dog had come to depend on, he had the courage to face the world blindly. He still shares in my life the same spot and attention he’s always had. We are able to go out in public with confidence and he’s established friends at the local dog park. I think that the key factor was just being my dog’s bff (best friend forever). With his new situation he is greatly dependent on me to keep him safe while he explores his surroundings. Instead of a depressed, whimpering/cowering dog I have one that steps out with confidence and is once again smiling and wagging his tail happily.If I can get that from this book, then it should work for pretty much everyone.
julie bair collins –
Great book for serious dog trainers.
This is a wonderful book for anyone seriously wanting to learn to train their dog. A+++++
Patrick Gleason –
THE best book for dog owners
I bought this book and was immediately impressed by how it was put together. There’s no new-age, touchy-feely mumbo jumbo, just down to earth, common sense knowledge that is immediately applicable, written by people who would know. The monks of New Skete have had 40+ years where all they have done is breed and train dogs, and pray and ruminate about breeding and training dogs, and observe canine behavior. They look at the dog from the dog’s point of view and drill into why a dog behaves the way it does. Example: dogs that jump up on people are trying to greet people the way dogs do because they view people the same as they would a dog, and dogs greet other dogs by getting close to and/or licking another dog’s face. The monks take a straightforward common sense approach to conditioning a dog toward proper dog behavior, correcting behavior that is less desirable and reinforcing behavior that is.I bought both of the books from the Monks of New Skeete – “How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend” and “The Art of Raising A Puppy” based on the recommendation of a friend when I got my first dog, a yellow lab. People remark about how well behaved and what good dogs my dogs are. (I later wound up with my Brother-in-Law’s yellow lab) I attribute their behavior and well being to what I have learned from these two books. I believe in them to the point where I have bought them and given them to several people who were getting dogs due to how they are written, how the material is structured, and above all else, how easy it is to apply to my own dogs.A couple of other things that I think are worth mentioning regard talking about how dogs show fear, (prevents getting a “fear bite” where a dog lashes out because it’s frightened) how to deal with an overly agressive dog, how to repair damage in a dog that has been abused, and interestingly enough, how to cope when your dog dies – apparently this is something that is avoided by other dog training books and manuals.I believe in these books so much that I consider them to be the first and best authority on the subject, and if you had to choose only one book to buy when considering buying and raising your own dog, this book would be it.
Joe –
A Rational Approach
My wife and I are “new” puppy owners. Neither of us has owned a dog in a very long time… decades to be more specific. We want to raise the dog in a mutually successful manner, and this book outlines a lifetime-of-training and relationship-building philosophy that we both buy into. Due to the demands of being a new puppy owner, my initial read-through was fragmented and bounced around as I needed to solve specific problems, but I went back and re-read cover-to-cover. The book is well written and easy to understand. Like most other dog training books it merely scratches the surface of the human-dog relationship, but, compared to other books, the Monks method stresses the relationship. There is an extensive reference list at the back of the book, organized by chapter, that you can use to get more information. We are “training beginners” and have not had to consult the additional resources, although we also like the book called “New Dog” by Dr. Bruce Fogle who is less into relatioship building but more into methods. The Monk’s book also provides “home-brew” recipies for things like eliminating odor, stains, and cooking treats and specific methods for training things like sit, down, recall, etc. I would classify this book as an introduction to dog training that I found highly informative and rewarding. I just want to raise my new puppy in a “healthy” manner that will provide a mutually-rewarding relationship and this book provides the path.
Vaibhav Sharma –
This book is really really great. In fact, the techniques mentioned in the book worked for me almost instantly within a single day. Highly recommend that this book must be read before a pup is gotten home.
Iris –
Muy completo. Contiene muchos consejos útiles y está muy bien redactado. Sin duda, una buena compra.
lynn michell –
Wonderful, interesting, compassionate account of dogs and monks.
arturo nelson –
Estos monjes llevan educando perros y conviviendo con ellos por muchos años.Todo el que tiene un perro deberÃa leer este libro. Ademas de que te ayudara a convivir con tu perro te ayudara en las relaciones del dia a dia.
jgp –
This is a very detailed introduction to dog training. I had already read their book on puppy training but needed this for an adult dog. Very helpful and enjoyable to read as well.