What are your favourite dog training/behaviour books?

...and why?

I still ove Dogwise by John Fisher, so many ideas that were new at the time and the whole thing was a voyage of discovery. I used it to train one of my dogs and it worked brilliantly. It is pre clicker and things have moved on but it is still a good read and thought provoking.

Anything by Karen Prior is readable and enjoyable which always helps.

I also loved Joyce Strangers little booklet called I'm Nobody's dog can I be Yours? About rescue dogs and lots of good advice about not rushing things.

rune

So far 'The Culture Clash' by Jean Donaldson. Brilliant.

It was recommended by folk on this site which is why I got it

Have just re-ordered culture clash as lent it to a friend and they lost it! also LOVE ; dogs by the coppingers absolutely fascinating!

Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson

Because it is very accessible, avoids scientific jargon, and gives very clear demonstrations of how dogs view things and how to train kindergarten, high school and college versions of behaviours.

In fact I have never read a JD book that I did not enjoy.

Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen PRyor

Because it is very logical, it demonstrates the 8 ways to change behaviour, their pros and cons AND how you can use them not just for pet training but for partners, children, employees etc.

Culture Clash for all reasons already stated.

I also found `Understanding and Handling Dog Aggression - by Barbara Sykes` very useful.
I know many people don`t like it because it uses the D word, but I think she uses it in the pre-CM way - simply to denote a leader or would-be leader.
It`s mostly an account of how she coped with a very aggressive dog. It is a very realistic account, with mistakes and stuff that didn`t work in there too. Plus some excellent advice.

Another fan of The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson, it's straightforward, gets to the point, and it's written by someone who really "gets" dogs.

Turid Rugass - Calming Signals :What your dog tells you, great book, opened my eyes, and have recommended it to several friends who have had problems with their dogs, and it has really helped them too.

Dogs by Raymond Coppinger, am rereading it at the moment, brilliant book.

The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell (which I'm planning on rereading sometime soon!). I think this book is so important because rather than just telling you why your dog does what it does, it tells you how what YOU do affects your dog. It was the first book I ever read on dog behavior and it explained so much!

Bones Would Rain from the Sky by Suzanne Clothier (another book I plan to reread again)...it's just a brilliant book on dog behavior. It explains a lot about dog behavior and shows us how much we can learn from dogs. It really helped improve my relationship with my dog. I absolutely loved it and it's one of my #1 favourite books.

For the Love of a Dog by Patricia McConnell. A great book on dog emotions, refutes all those people who say dogs have no emotions.

The Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller. Very easy to understand. It explains why positive training works so well, talks a bit about her conversion from force-based methods to positive ones, and gives very specific ways to teach basic behaviors and how to address some common problem behaviors. It also includes some bonus games, which can be fun to do.

Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know by Alexandra Horowitz. Another great book that's out there to really help you understand what it is that dogs can understand.

And last but not least! Canine Body Language by Brenda Aloff. No need to explain that one!


Oops, one more! Bringing Light to Shadow by Pamela Dennison, which is about how she rehabilitated a human aggressive border collie over 18 months and how he passed his CGC test. She does it in a diary sort of format, day by day almost, so you get to see the very slow progress, get to see where things went wrong and how they ultimately succeeded. Great book for anyone dealing with rehabilitating an aggressive dog and wanting to use positive methods.

Although she hasn't written any books exclusively about dogs, they cover most domestic species, I find Temple Grandin's work on animal minds absolutely fascinating.I suspect she's spot on the button - or at least I hope so!

"The 100 silliest things people say about dogs" by Alexander Semynova. She is a behaviorist with 20 years experience of studying dogs and she debunks the wolf-pack theory.

It is an easily readable book as you can just dip into it because it's split in 100 different bits.

I'm selling it on my e-bay site if anyone's interested! Having a de-clutter and have other dog stuff on there and will be listing some small dog t-shirt/coats for £2.00 buy it now price that are new.