Truly a compassionate and yet extremely effective approach to forming a relationship with your friend. I've read several other books that were helpful, but this one has an overall theme. Should be a required read for new dog owners. Heck, we don't even require ANY training to have a child. Fantastic how these techniques can be applied to a dog of any age! Start now! Anyways.. loved the book, easy and pleasant read, applying the directions with great success. Thank you Tamar for this wonderful book and for the Operation Heros and Hounds program. Semper Fi. ( )

Part one of this book can easily be skipped by those who simply want instructions on inventive, non-aggressive ways to train your dog. The first part is largely biographical of [a: Tamar Geller|392527|Tamar Geller|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] and serves to explain how it was she found herself training dogs, and the basis for which her method of dog-training comes from. While reasonably interesting, if you simply want instructions for training it's not really necessary and will only serve to take up time you could spend learning how to train your dog. The explanations for why her methods work are also repeated in the second session anyway.

Her method of dog-training she calls "Play-training" or "The Loved Dog Method." The basis of her belief is that dogs learn best through positive reinforcement and play. A dog is more apt to stop an unwanted behavior if you offer them an alternative, rather than punish him. In my experience, this sort of methodology has been adapted by most trainers, and it is a bit archaic to think that 'traditional' punishment methods work. i.e. shoving a dog's nose in its own excrement only serves to confuse and stress the dog out as much as it does you. When you think about the logic of that method... yeah, it falls apart quickly.

Her method seems sound, if a bit amusing to read about. "Dolphin noises," "making a party," and the dog's "wolf-nature" are all somewhat ridiculous phrases but I can see why they appeal to some. Essentially, celebrate every victory, but not necessarily with treats. Make things fun for you and the dog. Reward behaviors randomly once the behavior is set, and ensure extra rewards for exemplary behaviors. The best advice I found in this book came in the way of training in different situations/scenarios. It isn't intuitive that "sit" is still "sit" when another person orders it, or it's ordered outside, or in a different position. "Sit" to the dog might just be something one does whena person stands in front of you in the living room. Repeating behavior in a variety of novel situations is a very good, and needed, thing.

I think everyone has had the experience of a dog being perfect for a trainer or in obedience school and then terrible once it gets back home, after all. ( )

This book will be boring for the advanced trainer, but it is a good, basic obedience book. It could have used some illustrations to clarify her instructions. The name dropping got tedious as well. ( )

As a non-expert who wanted to learn a more loving method for modifying dog behavior, I found this to be a clear and concise guide with some very helpful methods. I volunteer with rescue dogs who have very difficult histories, and any help we can give them makes them that much more likely to be adopted. However, my personality does not gel with methods like jerking the leash or forcing submissive rollovers. I needed a different method and found Tamar's story interesting, and her approach something that I can actually do. Her insight on getting the dog to associate your commands with pleasure rather than pain helped me understand how to make the training fun for the dog, and also allows me to lavish the love upon the poor rescues that they desperately need. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a well behaved and happy dog! ( )

This book is much more than a dog training guide--Gellar tells her story of being raised in a dysfunctional family, serving in the Israeli army, and how she developed her love for dogs. Highly entertaining, well written, and much useful information. ( )