Comments on: Treats, Play, Love: Make Dog Training Fun for You and Your Best Friend

By: J. Lyons

J. Lyons — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:13:21 +0000

I was excited to read this book! All the other reviews are pretty good. But, I really couldn’t stand it. First of all, the author seems to have her majority of dog training experience working with greyhounds, which I don’t have. The photos in this book (black and white, some looking pretty outdated) are about 95%+ of greyhounds. Anyone with a greyhound might find this book helpful. She adds a lot of personal stories about her dogs, some of which contain useful information, and some of which added nothing and could have been left out. I feel that this book is geared more towards breeders and people who want to show their dogs. The author also seemed to use a lot of generalizations which I didn’t like. I have a pit mix, and the only thing about pit bulls in this book is in the aggression section and she basically bashed pit bull owners and the dogs themselves, which I did not care for (Not that I feel she should have included a ton about pit bulls, but the rude comments added nothing and could have been left out). All in all, there were a few good tips in the book, but I regret buying it (even at the used paperback price) and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone but greyhound owners. Rating: 2 / 5

By: P. Kennedy

P. Kennedy — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:39:31 +0000

There is good info in here but it is overshadowed by the author’s ego. Once again, as another reviewer stated, it’s all about her greyhounds. And while we’re at it, can we please find a training book that shows small dogs of different breeds that aren’t necessarily the sharpest pencils in the box? A book that doesn’t list the author’s own dogs’ championship titles not only throughout the book but in an appendix in the back of the book!?! A book that is written by an author who hasn’t broken their arm patting themselves on the back? As a professional trainer, I can appreciate all that this author has accomplished in her life. But if you’re going to write a book on dog training for the general public, please leave out the bragging. Most people don’t know what all the letters and numbers after a dog’s name means anyway. Nobody really cares. Write an autobiography if you have the need to toot your own horn and then publish it as such. The basic dog owner wants their dog to have good manners and understand and obey basic commands. If you can get through the author’s personal yada-yada-yada prevalent throughout, this book describes things well. There are better books out there that just describe the how-to’s. And those books list the author’s credentials on the intro pages which, in my opinion, is the only place that information belongs. Rating: 2 / 5

By: Larry Foster

Larry Foster — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:01:32 +0000

Patricia Gail Burnham loves dogs and KNOWS how to train them in a loving fashion. Her first book, “Playtraining Your Dog”, was excellent, and this book adds new methods from her experiences. Her methods work!! Rating: 5 / 5

By: Traci Freeman

Traci Freeman — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:58:17 +0000

This book is great. I have two Chi’s and need all the help I can get! The book is informative and definitely useable in everyday life. Rating: 5 / 5

By: s

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:43:54 +0000

understanding the behavior from the dog perspective is helpful in understanding how to treat problematic behavior Rating: 3 / 5