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(84 reviews)
Editorial Review: Every dog owner must make a choice: Do you want a fearful and submissive pet, or do you want a happy, joyful, and well-mannered member of the family?Tamar Geller's mission in life is to teach her cruelty-free method of "life coaching" for dogs and their people. Her revolutionary play-training uses mutual understanding and respect -- and puts an end to outdated methods that rely on physical exhaustion, choke chains, prong collars, dominance rollovers, or stressful aggression of any kind.
A former Israeli intelligence officer who witnessed the horrors of military dog training methods, Tamar went on to observe wolves in the wild. She discovered that wolves educate and socialize their cubs with games, bonding, and body language, not dominance or punishment. As a result, she developed teaching systems that address a dog's authentic nature, part wolflike and part toddlerlike. Learning can be a positive experience that dogs enjoy and look forward to, and we can actually make it fun for...
Customer Reviews:
0 of 0 found this review helpful:
Beginners' dog training (with excessive name dropping), 2008-07-10
I enjoyed this book, since I'm at the beginning of learning about dog training, in advance of getting a dog. But dear god, that woman likes to name drop! Did I mention Oprah's dogs? What about Olivia Newton-John? And my favorite, her best friend in the world is married to some moderately successful somebody, and she barely mentions her best friend to describe what her best friend's husband does... and then she gets to their dogs. Yikes.
That being said, she has a nice message, I like the nonviolent approach, and the fact that she does incorporate some pack behaviorism (alpha dog without the alpha roll or forced submission).
Next, I'm reading "The Other End of the Leash", "Culture Clash", and "How Your Dog Thinks" for a little meatier training. Tamar Geller is light and has a nice kind philosophy, and some good ideas about how to handle your dog(s).
0 of 0 found this review helpful:
There is No EASY Button, 2008-07-08
I've read several negative reviews of this book and of other dog-training books on Amazon and honestly it seems like people just want an Easy Button. The more books your read and the better you know your animal will help you develop your own style of training. Each person is unique, so where I don't allow my dogs on the furniture, many people reading this may love the cuddle time with their pup. No one book is giong to 100% resonate with you, so it's really about learning as much as you can and setting your dog up to succeed.
Climbing off my soap box, I think this is a great book for almost any dog owner. Let's face it, the majority of pet owners would hardly call themselves experts so it's frustrating when reviewers say books like this are recycled material. I commend anyone who's taking an active interest in learning how to train their dog. For those who want something clear and simple Tamar delivers. This is a How-To book that helps with the basics.
One of my favorite suggestions she gives is to have the dog sit for everythjing, just as if you were teaching a child to say please. The dog is in a calm state of mind and getting whatever reward he's sitting for in only that position. My dog now sits whenever he wants anything. Doesn't mean he always gets it, but it's his way of asking nicely instead of jumping in my lap.
When she talks about teaching tricks and behaviors, it was like a lightbulb went off in my head. I had never thought not to repeat myself over and over. The more I tried it (and it took patience on my part) I found that it actually worked quite well. Tamar instructs us to wait and let the dog "think" about it. I swear I could see the wheels turning in my dog's head. It's all logical though. If you asked me sit down and knit a blanket I couldn't do it. Saying it over and over and louder and louder would not overcome the fact that I don't know how to knit. With practice and incentive though, I could learn. So can your dog.
My last commetn for the book is training to "Back Off" I didn't understand its value at first, however I'm already teaching my 7 month old puppy the behavior b/c I use it so much. Instead of jumping and getting excited for what he wants, my dog almost does the opposite by walking away from me and then sitting. The best part is that he does it on his own. When I do tell him "off" it's either b/c he's in harm's way (like when I open a hot oven) or I just need space (tying shoes, putting food bowl down, or opening a door) it's nice for him to take a step or two backwards without it being a struggle. Overall this book taught me how to teach functional behaviors. The biographical part is maybe not necessary, but it does show why she's trying to take a loving approach to dog training. I recommend this book for anyone who looses patience with their dog and wants to react some way other than yelling. It's much less stressful =)
0 of 0 found this review helpful:
Great dog training book, 2008-04-26
As a mother of five dogs, I found this book to be very helpful, Tamar's techniques are quite different.
It does seem that you can teach an old dog new tricks.
I would recommend this book , not only for her advice , but as a "good read" , as well.
0 of 0 found this review helpful:
The Loved Dog, 2008-04-10
This book by far is the most enjoyable read I've had in a very long time. Not only is the author fascinating, she's intelligent and extremely entertaining. Her methods for training a dog are superior to anything I've tried in my 40 years of dog training, our labradoodle pup was literally house broken after 1-1/2 weeks of arriving home with us.
1 of 5 found this review helpful:
Hugs and Kisses, 2008-02-17
There is a rapidly growing religion of dog training which is "Positive Reinforced"...treats,etc . The origination appears to be from the humane society and ASPCA. These numerous books, seminars, DVD's, training schools are primarily written, produced and operated by women whom are of the extremist personality type. This book is a part of this whole movement. This book does have good things to say about training and you can learn some things from it. The problem with this whole touchy feely "Treat Movement" it is primarily geared towards Suburban type dogs (Goldens, Labs, Etc Etc) which as a whole are easily trainable and the owners usually only require only basic-intermediate training. Suburbia is the framework of this "gentle Training", which is fine...everyone should start at that point. The method begins to rapidly lose steam when it comes to more difficult training. Example: Recalls under ALL circumstances (Such as Chasing Deer) and extreme aggression and other behavior issues. Beware of this whole left wing touchy feely Dog training movement. If you don't think they are extremist, make an easy going statement reference training to any one of these numerous authors...let's say, bring up a Prong Collar or E-Collar (Neither of which if used correctly are abusive towards a dog), you will find out real quick where these women are on the extremist scale.
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