I have a reactive dog and have been working with trainers on control and focus for two years; many of the exercises we have done in our training have come from McDevitt's Control Unleashed program with our trainers modifying them to work for my dog. When our agility trainer mentioned McDevitt's book to our intro to agility class, I thought I should buy the book so that I could continue working on control exercises on my own.

After having read the book cover to cover, I am disappointed to say the least. Much of the book seems like shameless self-promotion. In almost every chapter, McDevitt says something like "When I published the article ____ in ____ . . ." and does not go on to mention what the article was about or how that article can help with the training exercises she is discussing in that chapter; it seems as though she expects her audience to have prior knowledge of these articles. While a professional trainer may have read these articles, most dog owners will not have read them (and the book does say in the intro that it is written for trainers as well as owners), so at the very least a brief summary would be nice.

McDevitt also spends a lot of time talking about her dog Snap as an example of the problems she is trying to help people solve, but she doesn't actually explain many of the techniques she used on her dog in easy-to-understand steps. For example, she states she uses touch and massage to get each of her CU classes started; however, instead of describing step by step how to properly pet your dog to calm them, she just says she uses it and there are many ways you can do this. I know from my classes that there are ways to pet dogs that increase excitement, too, so it would be really nice if she discussed at least a couple techniques for calming petting, such as the one our trainer taught us about petting the dog's tail into a relaxed position. Without our prior knowledge from working with trainers, I would not have had any clue what McDevitt was talking about in this section and there are many other places like this in the book.

There are some exercises that McDevitt provides numbered steps for, and those sections are great. She gives detailed steps for how to teach "Leave It" and gives variations to make the game more challenging for dogs that have gotten the basic command down. If there were more sections like this, I'd rate this book higher--I know the exercises can work, but if you are looking for a book that teaches you all of the exercises step by step, you won't get that here. I bought Kate Perry's Training for Both Ends of the Leash for a friend who got a new puppy, and I would recommend that book far more highly than this one because it succeeds where McDevitt fails--it provides actual steps for accomplishing the training goals the book sets out.

For the amount of money I spent on Control Unleashed, I was expecting far more from the book. ( )

I'm in a class right now with my super-shy scaredy dog that is based on the curriculum described in Control Unleashed. The class is doing wonders for my dog and our relationship, so the principals in the book work. I appreciate that it's all about understanding where your dog is at, now, this moment, and that all the exercises are "games." A little dry at times and written more for the instructor than the handler, but still very well worth a read if you have a dog that becomes so anxious that he/she can't work. ( )

My dogs and I are loving the games and exercises in this book. We're already clicker training fans, and these games add to the fun. ( )