Fun training with toys, treats, lures and rewards. Easy and effective, dog-friendly techniques for teaching a new puppy old tricks (such as basic manners), or for teaching an older dog that is new to training.

Heralded by many dog trainers as 'the best dog training book ever written'. A comprehensive workbook for the motivated dog owner, comprising sections on basic off-leash obedience, temperament modification, behavior troubleshooting, training theory and health care. The definitive text for lure/reward training philosophy.

You have read the positive reviews by many others, and this led me to buy this book. Yes, the general ideas are plausible, although nowhere near revolutionary. Be prepared to find this book unattractive. Right in the beginning, Dunbar creates vicious scenarios (dogs are euthanized, are run over by cars, cause accidents), from which he extrapolates. Why not just stick with "this works, and that is how I do it"? I didn't find it very compelling. The layout is cramped, small, relatively unattractive.

The author may understand dogs, but I am really not sure whether he understands how to appeal to many average readers.

How many times have I walked through the park to see a dog pushed in a baby carriage? Or a small breed carried in a "baby pack" type sling? Ian Dunbar's approach is training from the dog's perspective and this has worked for me. One of my favorite quotes is "A Dog's a Dog" which is so true. Dogs need to do dog things, not to be treated like human babies! My dogs were digging up our garden. At the advice in the book we created a "doggy sandbox" and the pups stay out of our garden. I highly recommend any of Dr. Dunbar's books!

I was very interested in Ian Dunbar's "positive reinforcement techniques" as an alternative to more confrontational methods. I was very shocked to find out that he recommends booby-traps for effective punishent of dogs on page 72 on his book. He suggests creating a trap that drops twenty pebble-filled beer cans on your dog after the dog triggers it by taking a bacon-fat soaked bait e.g. from the trash can.

Dunbar finds this kind of "effective punishment" very clever because it doesn't affect the dog-human relationship. I find suggestions like this completely inhumane. Traps like that will scare a dog out of his mind and you risk coming home to a traumatized and maybe even injured dog. Please do not fall for such outdated punishment-based training methods. The re-labeling of these methods as "reward-based" or "positive reinforcement" doesn't make them any less abusive.

First let me say that this book and the more recent "Before and After Getting Your Puppy (Dunbar 2004) are virtually identical. There is a little additional material in the later volume, but in that book states that all important training MUST occur in the first 6 months of puppydom. One day later is too late. For those of us who aquired the dog when slightly past six months - well - let's just hope it's not true.

That said, I think most of the training techniques in Dunbar's books are reasonably effective - but he cops out on some very important behaviors. Many older puppies and dogs have greeting behaviors that include frantic jumping, pawing and scratching and even excited nipping. If an owner and his dog are ever going to have a social life (or a uneventful walk,) it is essential that these behaviors be corrected. These behaviors are particularily challenging because they are cccurring when a dog is in a high state of agitation and far less likely to attend to, or even hear, commands.

Dunbar's recommendation is to have a party (with at least twenty people) and have all those individuals repeatedly enter the house armed with treats. The dog is instructed in the proper behavior and rewarded when he/she complies. Treat and repeat until Rover gets the idea. Then have a party the following week to make sure it all stuck. Dunbar also wants you to have all these good natured dog lovers to walk around the block a number of times carrying treats so that Rover can "run into them" on his walk and be shown (again, and again, and again) how to behave. Now in theory, this is a great approach, but the truth is that most of us don't have twenty or more friends willing to spend a number of hours, two weeks in a row, assisting us in our dog training. As this is his only suggestion for correcting greeting behavior, it leaves the majority of us in the lurch with jumpy, hyperactive greeters who will no doubt drive away the friends we do have.

I enjoyed reading this book. It gets into a dog's head. It may be a little common sense at times, but not everyone has common sense. A good book to buy that combines training with dog behavior.