The Best Puppy Training Books: A Comprehensive Guide
Suppose you are the owner of a new puppy; congratulations! Owning a puppy is a rewarding experience, but it can also be confusing and frustrating. Training your puppy is essential because it will help determine their temperament and your relationship with them for the rest of their lives.
If you’re looking for books about training puppies, you know that there are many of them to choose from. We’ve picked the ten best ones to help you decide. We hope these reviews will help you find the right book for your needs.
Product Name | Product Image | Check Price on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
The Complete Guide to Raising the Perfect Pet With Love | ||
How to Raise the Perfect Dog: From Puppyhood to Adulthood | ||
Fun and Simple Ways to Care for Your Furry Friend | ||
The Puppy Primer |
The 10 Best Dog Training Books
1. Best Overall: Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution: The Complete Guide to Raising the Perfect Pet With Love
Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution is an excellent book for training puppies. A well-known dog trainer who found success on YouTube is Zak George. He’s appeared in two shows: Animal Planet’s “SuperFetch” and the BBC’s “Who Let the Dogs Out.” His book assists readers in locating the best dog, food, and veterinarian. Housebreaking, barking, biting, and jumping are all examples. His book and videos may help train your puppy.
This book’s disadvantage is that it is not focused only on puppy training. The book also talks about finding a puppy. If you already have a puppy, this information will be useless to you. Another disadvantage of this book is that it is best for people without dog experience. If you are already familiar with dog training, you might want to find a more advanced reader.
Pros
Cons
2. How to Raise the Perfect Dog: From Puppyhood to Adulthood
The best puppy training book is Cesar Millan’s “How to Raise the Perfect Dog.” Cesar is a famous dog trainer who has a TV show on National Geographic Channel. His book covers how to train a puppy, but it will also help you throughout your dog’s life. It talks about how puppies develop, how to housebreak them, and how to correct problems before they happen. You can use the advice in the book for dogs at any other stage in their life.
Some people, however, object to Cesar’s training methods. It has resulted in some controversy. The book is also not a step-by-step instruction book; it takes extra reading to get the proper instructions.
Pros
Cons
3. Fun and Simple Ways to Care for Your Furry Friend: Dog Training for Children
If you are getting a puppy, reading “Dog Training for Kids” by Vanessa Estrada Marin is a good idea. The author is in charge of a school in New York City where young people learn how to train their dogs. This book is jam-packed with helpful advice on how to raise and train your new dog.
This book is an essential guide to training your dog. It covers the basics like housebreaking, commands, and fun tricks. This book can help children form a strong bond with their dogs and give them confidence during training. It’s also great for adults.
However, some have said that this book is expensive and falls apart quickly.
Pros
Cons
4. The Puppy Primer
Dr. McConnell, an ethologist, wrote the Puppy Primer. It is a certified applied animal behaviorist with more than 25 years of experience working with cats and dogs. She advises dog owners to set reasonable goals for their puppies. It entails realizing the distinction between teaching a puppy to wait for food while being led and teaching them to sit for visitors. The best and worst ways to play, how to housebreak your puppy, socialization, positive reinforcement, and fundamental obedience instructions are all covered. Overall, it trains you to be a good dog owner rather than teaching you how to train your dog.
This book has some basic information. It will work well for beginners, but people who have more experience will not learn anything new from it.
Pros
Cons
5. Everything You Need to Know About Puppy Training in 7 Simple Steps to Raise the Ideal Dog
The CEO of Zoom Room, a dog training company that emphasizes positive reinforcement, is the author of “Puppy Training in 7 Easy Steps.” The book provides strategies to assist you in deciphering your puppy’s behavior and body language. It implies that you can determine the reason behind their behavior. Everything from housebreaking and socializing to leash walking and the best ways to puppy-proof your home is covered in this book. The writing is crisp and straightforward, doing reading and understanding the directions simply.
This book might be good for beginner dog owners because it covers some basic information. However, some dog trainers might not like the focus on treats.
Pros
Cons
6. Lucky Dog Lessons: 7-Day Dog Training
“Lucky Dog Lessons” by Brandon McMillan can help any dog or puppy, no matter where it comes from. For his “Lucky Dog” show on CBS, Brandon McMillan is well-known for assisting “unadoptable” dogs in behaving better in just one week. The book starts by building trust and then teaches basic commands. It also provides solutions to common behavioral problems and advises training dogs of different sizes.
The book is long and has a lot of reading. But it also has stories from McMillan’s life. You will also need to buy equipment for some of the training techniques.
Pros
Cons
7. The Art of Raising a Puppy
“The book ” Art of Raising a Puppy” is about raising puppies. It was authored by monks who have been raising German Shepherds and training various breeds of dogs for almost 30 years. The book is more than just a guide on how to train your dog – it takes you through puppy-raising, from finding the right pup to training, socialization, and general care. The monks stress the importance of building a strong bond with your dog.
However, this book is long and does not provide much training. It has a lot of stories, but it also goes into detail about how a litter of puppies develops. It might not be essential for most puppy owners.
Pros
Cons
8. Positive Reinforcement Training for the Best Dog Ever: A 5-Week Program
Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz wrote the book “Training the Best Dog Ever.” She was a seasoned dog trainer who had worked with various canines, including former White House dog Bo Obama and Senator Ted Kennedy’s pups. Unfortunately, she died shortly before this book was released.
The book is designed to help puppies or adult dogs with destructive behaviors and habits over five weeks. You only need to spend 10 to 20 minutes per day working with your dog to see results. The book can also help dogs feel more confident and comfortable while out in the world.
The book has some problems. It is long and has a lot of the author’s stories. It makes it hard to read. The information is also disorganized because it jumps around a lot.
Pros
Cons
9. How to Housebreak Your Puppy in Just 7 Days Using Puppy Training!
Ken Phillips’ book “Puppy Training: How to Housebreak Your Puppy in Just 7 Days” benefits those who have trouble housebreaking their puppy. The topic is covered throughout the entire book! It offers straightforward, step-by-step instructions that should be effective even if you work a full-time job. It addresses concerns like accidents after you’ve taken your puppy outside several times and advice for quickly housebreaking your dog. If you want to understand your puppy better, this book also goes over the psychology of puppies.
However, the book covers the essential information that will work well for beginners. But experienced dog owners might not find it as helpful. Additionally, not every puppy will effectively become housebroken in just seven days.
Pros
Cons
10. Puppies for Dummies
“Puppies for Dummies” by Sarah Hodgson is an excellent book to read if you consider getting a puppy. It covers positive reinforcement, redirection for problem behaviors, and puppy psychology. It also provides information on socialization, keeping your puppy healthy, and how to train it to behave well.
However, this book has some problems. Sometimes it is inconsistent because the instructions are detailed in some places but not in others. It also needs more editing because it has a lot of typos and grammatical errors.
Pros
Cons
Buyer’s Guide
If something doesn’t feel right to you, don’t feel obligated to do it just because one book says you should.
Subjectivity
No one book is perfect for every puppy and owner. Different books work for other people. Your puppy’s breed, and background, are essential factors. And not every dog trainer agrees with the same methods. If you can, you should take your time reading through reviews and looking at the synopsis and sample chapters. If something doesn’t feel right to you, don’t feel obligated to do it just because one book says you should.
Stories
You will go through a wide range of experiences if you own a dog. You can read books about training puppies to get some ideas of what you might go through. But don’t worry if you don’t want to read the whole book. You can skim the stories if you’re going to get the information about training techniques.
Author
Not all dog owners will concur with the author’s methods of training. The author is knowledgeable; therefore, what works for them might also work for you. But be wary of well-known authors. Your puppy and if following someone’s advice helps you will always be the most crucial factor.
Read more: New Self-Help Books for Pet Parents
Frequently Asked Questions About Best Book For Puppy Training
There are some basic things that a puppy needs to learn, such as his name, potty training, and not to bite your hands. Puppies also need to learn socialization skills so they know how to behave around people, in different places, and around other things.
Start by teaching your dog what “no” means. Show it a treat in your hand and say “no.” Close your hand around the treat so the dog can’t get to it. Once the dog stops sniffing and licking your hand and turns away, praise it and give it pleasure from your other hand.
Dogs of any age can start to be trained to improve their reactivity. However, it is essential to remember that the longer a behavior occurs, the longer it will take to retrain the dog.
There are many possible reasons why your dog is acting crazy. Some of these could be that the dog needs more exercise, is rewarded for the bad behavior, is stressed, fearful, or has separation anxiety. It could also be due to a change in daily routine or an injury or illness.
Crate training is not imprisoning your dog. It is a way for them to have their own space where they feel safe. Crate training can help anxious dogs. You can create positive associations with the crate by using treats and games. Be patient; your dog may take a while to get used to the crate.
