Playtraining Your Dog

Rating:
Summary: Excellent motivator for show dogs
Review: having shown dogs for 25 years it is always great to find a publication like this that makes training fun for your dog, rather than him/her just having to do it. Although it is designed as an obedience book, many things in the first part of the book also apply to show training as well. I often reccommend this book to people, but unfortunately it is very hard to purchase in Australia

Rating:
Summary: a great approach to training 'independant' breeds
Review: I really appreciated the insights into finding 'motivators' for independant breeds such as sighthounds and in my case, Siberian Huskies. This book is a mainstay on my dog training shelf. In addition, I recommend William Campbell's 'Behavior Training in Dogs' (at least the edition I purchased in the 70's).

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not the best you can do.
Review: I was frankly rather disappointed by this book. I love the writing style, and the author's anecdotes about showing her dogs are hilarious. Unfortunately, I was expecting more actual ideas for games you could play with your dog that would motivate or teach him, and there isn't much that's new in this book. Also, as a clicker trainer, I find the fact that the author claims to support learning by positive reinforcement to be mildly amusing, since she's miles away from what most of us would call by that name. (I got The Culture Clash at the same time as this book, and the difference is striking.) To sum up, I think this was a useful, cutting-edge book... for 1986.

Rating:
Summary: a great approach to training 'independant' breeds
Review: Play training was a lifesaver for us when "traditional" training methods proved too harsh for our dog. The strength of this method is that it makes training a fun, positive experience for both dog and trainer by working with the dog's own natural instincts and enthusiasm for play. At age 12, our dog still responds to obedience commands with joy and enthusiasm (even though he hasn't been kept in active training), thanks to Burnham's methods. Definitely two thumbs up!

Rating:
Summary: Obedience training a sight hound
Review: There are plenty of books on obedience training for dogs. But what if you don't own a Border Collie or a Poodle or a German Shepherd? What if you own a basenji, or a Whippet, or a Komondor, or a Greyhound? How do you get started? Matter of fact, how do you get the dog not to bite you?

This book answers some of these questions, and tells about the way the author managed to train some of these less likely obedience candidates. The goal generally was qualification in Utility Class, which typically takes several trials. We see how Ms. Burnham managed to train several greyhounds and even a komondor (the photo of the komondor clearing the bar jump is one of the most unbelievable photographs of a dog I have ever seen).

As a basenji owner, I found this book useful and enjoyable.