Jelly Bean versus Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

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Summary: Am I Missing Something?
Review: I was disappointed with this book. True, it does have a lot of interesting information and I totally agree with his method of training with respect and trust, not using force or aggression. But I bought the book expecting to find the answer to an aggression problem I'm having with an adopted dog, who IS being trained only with respect and positive methods. Instead, the book is full of examples of dogs with behavioral problems, and if you find one that correlates with a problem you may be experiencing, as you hurriedly turn the pages to find the solution, instead you read "the dog was brought to me and I retrained him...and now he's a happy faithful friend." No where did I find any information about Mr. Meisterfeld's training program. He admonishes dog owners for causing their dog's behavioral problems by catering to the dog and treating it like a human, not giving it territorial and psychological boundaries, not giving it a job, but again no specifics are given. Just what is his definition of these boundaries? Dog stays outside? Dog is restricted to one room in the house? And psychological boundaries - dog's every move and waking moment are dictated by the owner? What constitutes a job? Are daily obedience lessons enough? I am not new to the breed that I have and my previous dog was obedience titled so I'm quite familiar with training. This new dog was put on the "nothing in life is free" program from the day I got him and it has been very effective in establishing me as his master and setting behavioral boundaries for him. However, an aggression problem is new to me. I was hoping to find the answer in this book but instead am no closer to a solution than before.

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Summary: This is an important book
Review: This book saved my dog's life. we got our dog from the pound as a youngster not a puppy. We quickly found out that she was a biter but had no idea what to do about it. All of the "trainers" we called to help suggested we put her down. I found this book in our library and we transformed her from a shy cowering fear bitter into a wonderful outgoing family pet. Just the concept of eye contact alone was more than worth the price of this book. I am not a natural with dogs, I needed the tools this book provided. This is not a book about what most people might consider basic puppy training, but if you want to understand your dog this is a great book. I am buying a second copy for my grand daughter who just got a puppy for Christmas.