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Summary: Great for Owners of Older Dogs, Too!
Review: This is a wonderful book that taught me a LOT about my dog, why she acts the way she does, and what I can do about unwanted behavior. I didn't buy this book right away because I adopted an older dog and the book's title has "puppy" in it, but after reading the Monk's classic book, How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend (also great) I had to read this one too. The Monks have a refreshing, loving, "spiritual" approach to dog ownership and training. My dog is very glad I've read their books!
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Summary: A life saver for a novice dog-person
Review: I can't endorse this book enough for first-time puppy owners! I've never had a dog before now, and these gifted Monks took the fear out of choosing, training, and understanding the wonders of this truly unique creature. From how to bring our pup home in the car to pup development and even a pup IQ test, the monks made the whole process easier for me and our precious Boykin Spaniel. It's a must-read!
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Summary: Everyone's puppy is described in this book!
Review: How wonderful to have such patient and understanding help in a sometimes frustrating endeavor, raising a puppy. The Monks' advise can be applied immediately, and really works
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Summary: Great training book for gentle, humane training
Review: My dog is now 2 1/2 years old and people always ask me how we trained her to be so loyal, obedient, loving and playful - my answer is "I read this book called The Art Of Raising A Puppy written by some monks in New York and started using it when she was 8 weeks old". I have recommended this book to other friends who have raised their puppies with the monk's philosophies and their dogs are the same - loyal, loving, obedient, and playful. The book stresses the importance of understanding why your dog does things so you can help train/correct them the best way. When you use the methods in the book it seems your puppy obeys earlier and needs to be corrected less than others who do not. Good luck with your training - I hope your relationship with your dog is as rewarding as ours has been. By the way I do a lot of work with the local humane society and they are big on "clicker training" - I have seen many animals trained with this method and they don't have near the bond with their trainers as those I've seen trained with the monks methods. Just wanted to mention that.
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Summary: A Must Own: Clearly written and comprehensive
Review: The Monks compile a great deal of knowledge into one very informative, very well-written, hard-to-put-down book. This book focuses on the development, both physiological and psychological, of puppies: from the dams pregnancy and whelping on. They address what to do, what to avoid, nutrition, etc., for each phase. I strongly suggest that you also read "How to be Your Dog's Best Friend". In the latter book (their first) they make it very clear that you should read not only their book, but many others on the training and evolution of dogs and a variety of other related subjects and provide a recommended reading list. Having read both books (and many others), I felt that they had no pretensions (as some do) to be the utmost authority on the subject. Nonetheless, as for puppy books, this is my number one pick, my guidebook.
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Summary: An indispensible tool for every puppy owner
Review: I have quite a lot of experience with animals having worked around horses my whole life, as well as having a "collection" of household pets, and I considered myself to be competent in the field of dog ownership. One thing lacking in my background, however, was puppy ownership. I have a beautifully behaved adult dog I adopted from a pound, but decided a puppy was in order to carry on with my adult dog who is now quite advanced in age. Without this book, I really doubt that I would have known how to progress in training a puppy. The Monks of New Skete have a prose style that is a pleasure to read (I couldn't put it down), and their insights into dog behavior make so much sense once they are read, but never are "obvious." I plan on giving a copy of this book to each and every friend and family member who acquires a new puppy regardless of their experience. If you have a new puppy or especially if you are even considering getting a puppy, I urge you strongly to get this book and read it cover to cover -- you will not regret it!
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Summary: So gentle and effective
Review: My dog Sparkler and I have benefitted greatly from this wonderful book. No other training method has worked as well for both of us. If I were a dog, this is the book I'd want my owner to get. I think that says it all.
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Summary: Old and outdated, let's move onto new and improved
Review: I remember reading this book years ago and thinking it was an awesome book. The section on the different growth periods of puppies is very good, however, much of the other information is outdated and incorrect. Many aspects such as the alpha roll and their concept of dominance theory has been proven not to work and there are better ways to get your point across to the puppy or dog. Many excellent dog behaviorists such as Ian Dunbar, Jean Donaldson, Patricia McConnel have more recent methods you can use with raising your dog and are highly respected among dog trainers across the country and internationally.
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Summary: Not just a training manual...
Review: I bought this book because I thought it would be a good training manual for my new puppy.
It turned out to be a lot more, which is a mixed blessing. It's great in that it gives a lot of information about how dogs act when they are pregnant, the bond that mother dogs make with their babies, how dogs relate to one another (alpha males, dominance, etc) but as I was reading it, I kept wondering where the training exercises were. I finally found them on page 111.
The first cover things like finding a dog breeder, deciding if a puppy is right for you, preparing for a puppy, supplies you'll need, etc. was really impressed at the breadth of information, along with all of the insight and explanations for why dogs do certain things.
My only complaint, is that the book covers a lot more information than I was looking for. However, this is more my fault for not examining the book thoroughly, rather than anything I can pin on the structure and writing.
Bottom line: If you have plenty of time to read through the book and don't have to train one right away, this book is fantastic. However, if you're looking for a "meat and potatoes" book on dog training, you may want to look elsewhere.
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Summary: A Great Aproach
Review: If you are looking for a wonderful aproach to raising that cute little puppy, this book is for you. It is 10x more informative and useful than 99% of the puppy-raising books out there. The monks' philosophy of kindness, compassion, and lots of love will result in a new best friend is a wonderful way to train your new dog. Buy it today for the best way to raise a dog!
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