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How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend: The Classic Training Manual for Dog Owners (Revised & Updated Edition) (Hardcover)
by Monks of New Skete
| Category:
Dog, Pet, Animals, Home |
| Market price: ¥ 278.00
MSL price:
¥ 258.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
This outstanding reference book is a must -read for all dog-owners despite those who disagree with the monks in their physical discipline approach. |
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Author: Monks of New Skete
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, The revised and updated edition
Pub. in: September, 2002
ISBN: 0316610003
Pages: 256
Measurements: 9.6 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00615
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0316610001
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Rate this product:
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- Awards & Credential -
One of the best received but also most debated guides out there to dog training. |
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- MSL Picks -
This book is absolutely marvelous. For the intelligent dog owner, it is absolutely perfect. The suggestions are honest, straight-forward, and practical. For the idiots, well, it's just going to ruin their dog because they don't understand their dog enough to judge a situation appropriately. ONLY buy this book if you are willing to take a critical look at your dog and what they are doing and why they are doing things. You must be willing to work with your dog, and continually assess where you are with your pet and how they are responding to training. It is not a "fix it quick" kind of book, there are no shortcuts here. But if you want to learn how to develop a closer relationship with your dog and learn how your dog sees it's world and responds to it, this is the book for you. Yes, they do talk frankly about physical punishment, but let's be honest here - no one reading this review who cares about their pet wants to use physical punishment, and neither do the monks. But should you need it or find yourself giving in to it, this book is honest about what methods of physical punishment will do more harm than good. It shows you how to redirect that physical punishment into a constructive correction rather than beating your dog and turning it into a neurotic mess. Yes, positive methods are better, the book does not suggest that they are not, but sometimes punishment happens, and a responsible dog owner needs to know what is taking it too far before they actually make that mistake. The goal is preventing mistakes by the owner, not teaching you to beat your dog. So the people who claim that they made a mistake are, in my opinion, people who didn't understand how to continually monitor their dog. Yes, they would have been happier with another book and they might not have ruined their dog. But then, they could also have actually listened to the dog as well as to the book, and figured out what was and what wasn't working.
(From quoting M. Hogan, USA)
Target readers:
All dog owners, or those who love dogs.
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- Better with -
Better with
The Art of Raising a Puppy
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The Monks of New Skete have lived as a community in Cambridge, New York, for more than 30 years. They support themselves by breeding, raising, and training dogs at their monastery. They are also the authors also of In the Spirit of Happiness: Spiritual Wisdom for Living.
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From Publisher
Entirely revised, with a fresh new design and new photographs throughout, this new edition of How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend preserves the best features of the original classic and expands the book to cover and include:
- new observations about dog behavior (natural behavior as well as problems) drawn from the monks 24 additional years of experience training dogs of all breeds
- new trends in training- new equipment (e.g., invisible fences)
- new reflections on the philosophical aspects of the dog/ human relationship, and dozens of new stories and case studies that bring to life the monks essential training concepts.
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| View all 9 comments |
Publishers Weekly (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
The Monks of New Skete have been raising and training dogs for over 30 years at their Cambridge, New York, monastery, and this volume-updated from the 1978 version-offers solid insights on dog training, behavior, grooming, feeding and a host of other topics. Whether discussing country, city or suburban dogs, the monks dispense good advice on humane care, such as admonishing owners to avoid "canine incarceration," i.e., leaving a dog confined alone for long periods of time. While the book does contain many useful, tried-and-true techniques for obedience-stay, heel, down-stay, recall and the like - its unique value lies in the monks' insights and thoughts about the human-canine bond. Concepts such as discipline and praise are more than merely a means to an end, the monks maintain: they are extensions of a caring attitude and real communication with a canine companion. Without devolving into New Age psychobabble, the monks make philosophical and spiritual observations that no dog lover could resist, and which just might make a convert of the uninitiated. |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
I am astounded at the number of negative reviews of this book that blithely ignore what's actually in it. As others have stated, the recommendations to hit a dog come with plenty of warnings and caveats that it only be done in extreme situations and only if you're comfortable doing it and only if that's how you chose to deal with some specific, serious problem your dog may have. They never, ever recommend hitting a dog for say, simply refusing to come, the way some of these reviews make it seem.
Also, many people keep harping on the Alpha Dog Roll. Here's what the 2002 edition states, verbatim: "(in italics) We no longer recommend this technique and strongly discourage its use to our clients. Though it can be argued that it has a natural basis in pack life, in a dog-human context it is potentially very dangerous and can set up the owner for a serious bite on the face (or worse), particularly with a dominant dog. The conditions in which it might be used effectively are simply too risky and demanding for the average dog owner; there are other ways of dealing with problem behavior that are much safer and, in the long run, just as effective.
Let us repeat: the disciplinary techniques explained in this section should not be applied haphazardly and for a slight misbehavior. There is always the chance that autocratic dog ownders, having learned discipline techniques, will misuse them. Watch yourself - owners whe are physically or verbally domineering wind up with cringing, neurotic dogs. Discipline, like praise, must be meaningful. It must communicate the owner's displeasure clearly, and on the dog's level of understanding and perception, for unacceptable behavior."
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A reader (MSL quote), New Zealand
<2007-01-11 00:00>
How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend is an excellent reference book for the first time dog owner and trainer. As well as the normal chapters on how to choose, socialise, feed, groom and train a puppy, the Monks cover topics as varied as how to read a puppy's pedigree, how to massage your dog, and how your dog's living environment will impact upon his training needs.
Unlike many training manuals, the Monks of New Skete strike a nice balance between "dominance" based training methods and formal training. The Monks stress the importance of earning your dog's trust and respect and the importance of being a strong pack leader for your dog; they also recognise the need for formal training, and spend several chapters explaining how this is best accomplished. Most training books are heavily biased towards one or other method, so it is nice to read a book which realises that both are ingredients in successful dog training.
The training methods discussed are fairly traditional, with the Monks either luring or gently moulding the dog into shape, then praising. However they also advocate classically conditioning a positive reinforcer (keys jingling), which can then be used at strategic times to help a dog relax; and they do discuss and recommend clicker methods for "sensitive" dogs.
Contrary to some reviews posted below, the Monks of New Skete do in fact advocate using plenty of positive reinforcement in their training. Confusion on this issue probably stems from the fact that the Monks do not advocate constantly using food treats while training. However, food treats are not the only positive reinforcement method available to a trainer. As the Monks point out "Food treats are an extremely effective motivator to help dogs learn...however, they are not meant to replace sincere verbal and physical praise." The Monks advocate that puppies are regularly praised, petted and played with during training. Punishment only ever comes after a dog has been shown an exercise multiple times and fully understands what is required of it, and far from being harsh or abusive, is normally limited to stern eye contact or a verbal growl. Scruff shakes and chin cuffs are reserved for the worst transgressions. The Monks take care to emphasise that any punishment used should be immediate, fair and consistent.
There are certainly gaps in this book. The "Problem Solving" section is rudimentary at best (for example, the section on interdog aggression only recommends limiting the dog's opportunity to mark territory, desexing him and muzzling him!). Readers with a problem dog would be well advised to get some more indepth resources regarding their dog's particular problem. The obedience exercises covered are quite limited, covering only the sit, down, stay, heel and recall. Owners wishing to teach their dogs more advanced exercises will need to seek additional resources. It is also disappointing that the Monks only discuss one method of teaching each exercise. With the plethora of options available today to teach even something as simple as a sit - for example, shaping, luring, capturing - it is a pity the Monks did not discuss several options for training each behaviour.
Despite such flaws, How to be your Dog's Best Friend is one of the three training books I generally recommend to new dog owners (the other two are The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell and The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson). These three books complement each other very well. The Other End of the Leash" is a great primer on canine-human communication, whereas The Culture Clash is an excellent manual on operant conditioning-based positive training. How to Be your Dog's Best Friend both fills in important gaps left by the other two books, and puts the case for kind and fair "traditional" style training. |
Eugene Mah (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend by the Monks of New Skete was a book that one of the dog park people recommended to us. Thanks to the wife's aunt, we got a copy of it for Christmas, and dove right in. After getting through a few chapters, my first thought was "This is the book we should have read before getting Nala".
The Monks of New Skete have apparently been breeding German Shepherd Dogs for quite some time now and also run a boarding/training program for other dogs, so they have a good amount of experience with breeding, raising and training dogs and dog psychology/sociology. Much of this collected wisdom (along with plenty of anectodes) is encapsulated very nicely in this book. The book offers a lot of good training tips and insights into the canine mind, which is something I think all dog owners would benefit from to help understand their dogs better. Apart from the training advice and techniques given in the book, I think the most valuable thing this book has to offer are the monks' insights into the canine mind, and how dogs think and behave. A lot of topics are covered in the book, so at 321 pages some of the coverage is necessarily a little cursory. A sizable reading list at the back provides pointers to other books that cover specific topics in more detail though.
For dog owners, this is one that's definitely worth adding to the bookshelf.
BTW, pay no attention to the bad or 1 star reviews at Amazon.com. All of those people seem to have gotten the wrong idea that the monks are trying to get across about disciplining your dog. They give the false impression that the monks advocate beating your dog into submission, which is totally way off base and suggests these people just didn't get what the monks are trying to say about discipline. While a couple of physical punishment methods are provided, the monks qualify their use by saying:
- "physical discipline or correction is never an arbitrary training technique to be applied to each and every dog for all offenses"
- "In considering their use, you should follow the rule of always using the least amount of force necessary to change the behavior. Don't go overboard. Build on your corrections, making them progressively tougher until your dog responds appropriately. Above all, watch your dog: his response will tell you whether the correction is too soft or too stern."
- "physical discipline should be reserved for the heinous canine crimes mentioned earlier, not meted out for every episode of bad behavior"
The reviewers that give the book a poor review seem to have missed all this. The chapter on discipline ends with a section on making up with your dog afterwards, which is a very important thing to do. |
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