Teach Yourself VISUALLY: Dog Training (S. Hodgson) Reviews

Teach Yourself Visually is a series of self-help books that teach a subject using pictures to stimulate learning in a step-by-step way.  This makes Teach Yourself Visually Dog Training an easy book to learn from and would suit a wide demographic, including children.  Chapter one covers the basics on understanding your dog's world view and basic dog behavior.  Chapter two goes into greater depth on canine body language and understanding - how we can communicate better by adapting our own behavior.  In chapter three training tools are discussed including special types of training collars and leads, clickers and methods of confinement for training purposes.  Chapter four is unusual in that it covers preventative environmental conditioning which will help with everyday handling, adapting to environmental sounds, being around children and dealing with household noises.

Chapter five covers puppy training, and introduces the concept of positive reinforcement, i.e. saying "yes" more often than saying "no."  Basic obedience is covered in chapter six, and seven is about maintaining control over your dog when it is off the leash.  Chapter eight covers the all-important aspect of socialization which includes people, dogs, other animals and other unfamiliar things a dog will come across in its environment that you will have to deal with.  All things fun are included in chapter nine such as tricks and games, and eleven deals with "crisis management" in the form of troubleshooting common behavioral problems.  The useful appendices provide information on health care, finding a vet, choosing the right breed of dog for your lifestyle and introducing a new baby to the household.

The visual aspect of this book makes it fun and easy to use.  The introduction has an interesting feature in deciding what type of personality your dog has.  This is meant to help you when training your dog and understanding the way that it will respond and addressing its needs.  A "Personality Test" is provided to work out which category your dog fits into, and is divided into two main age categories as well.  The results will give you a good starting point for starting training with your dog.  There is also a questionnaire for deciding which breed you want to get, which is quite helpful. 

This is not an in-depth guide to dog training or dog behavior and might be a little simplistic for some people's needs.  But because of the clear presentation and uncomplicated language it would be great for kids and would get them interested in working with their dog and forming a lasting bond.

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