In order to be a good dog owner, you need to train your dog to be a well mannered pup that knows how to listen and behave. Your dog doesn’t need to be as talented as a dog show winner, but he or she still needs to know when to sit or stay and how to act properly when other people are around. The first part of your dog training arsenal should be a few good books. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get all you need from just one, either. It’s advisable to consider a few different sources and come up with a training regimen that best suits your specific dog. It will almost certainly involve some trial and error; there’s no avoiding it. Developing a communication style with your pup takes time and patience. The more knowledge you bring to the situation, the better the both of you will fare.
Here’s our list of the best dog training books, written by experts in the field of dog training and obedience.
Cesar Millan is a popular name when it comes to training dogs and dog behavioral issues. He is an expert and you can find him on television and in many books. Cesar’s Way is a classic and evergreen book on training your dog the right way.
If you’ve even seen him on TV you know he has a way with dogs, even the most unruly of them. With this book you can learn how to train your dog the way he has trained many and come out with a well balanced dog that you don’t have to be embarrassed to take out in public.
The Monks of New Skete have been raising German Shepherds and training all breeds of dogs for decades. Their book aids dog owners, old and new, in raising and training their dogs. A few years ago a new edition of this book was made available, which added more photos and more information, from canine health and behavior to raising a dogs in urban environments.
Team Dog was released in January of 2015 and is the culmination of 15 years of experience working with dogs for author Mike Ritland. This book teaches you the science behind the importance of gaining your dog’s trust.
Using the discipline and consistency of military training, Ritland shows how you can apply similar lessons to your pooch. It’s more than just an adventure in obedience training, but a must have book for anyone that wants the perfect dog for their home and family.
Positive reinforcement is a popular training method and this is a book that utilizes this method to its fullest. Author Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz was the trainer for President Obama’s dog, Bo. She also taught each of Senator Ted Kennedy’s dogs. This is a great step-by-step guide to a happy and well behaved dog.
There is pretty much a “For Dummies” book for everything. That includes one for dog training. You’ll be happy to know that you don’t actually have to be a dummy to benefit from the training advice this book offers.
Dog Training for Dummies will start you right from the beginning with what you need before you bring your dog or puppy home and finishes off with fun tricks to train them after they’ve learned all the basics.
This book is packed with training tips for a variety of tricks, including fetching a beverage from the fridge. A well-exercised dog is much less likely to destroy your house or act out, so consider this if you’re looking for activities for your pup.
While dog training typically focuses on the basics of housebreaking and correcting unwanted behavior, going a step further and teaching your dog a variety of tricks helps aid their overall obedience and keeps them engaged. By challenging your dog to learn something new and perform on command, you can keep them stimulated, which will add to the dog’s good behavior.
For another approach to the issue of dog training, Patricia McConnell turns the eye back on the dog owner. By understanding our natural inclinations to act a certain way around our dogs, owners can adjust their behavior first, setting the stage for proper trainer behavior. This book seeks to explain the whys behind the training, rather than just give you the hand motions and commands you should employ.
Pairing this with another book on this list will give you a broad sense of the psychology of human-dog interaction.
The late Sophia Yin’s tome on the subject of dog training focuses on the early years of the dog’s life, the very beginning of teaching a puppy how to behave. Using the template of seven days, this book also focuses on showing you exactly how to perform each step by including over 400 images.
When you first get a puppy, you need to be quick about instilling good manners, but you also want to bond closely so you get the most out of the relationship with your pet. This is a good book for making that happen.
Dogs try to communicate in a variety of nonverbal ways, not unlike babies. They don’t speak English, so they can’t tell you what’s bothering them, which usually leads to them acting out. Using anecdotes of problem dogs that she helped correct, Jan Fennell explains how to bridge the gap and train the perfect pup. The book includes a 30-day training guide so you can easily utilize the information within.
Written by contributors from the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, this book takes a scientific look at the way dogs learn. As this list confirms, there are many methods to training your dog, but as a species, they learn in a consistent way that can be understood through analysis.
By helping you understand the fundamental nature of canines, this book will help you decide how you want to train them by providing examples and highlighting what vets think is the best approach.
Here’s another option using the framework of a week to fast-start your dog’s training. Brendan McMillan has a CBS show called Lucky Dog where he showcases his approach resucing unwanted and unadpotable dogs. Those include the seven Common Commands, which will quickly get you started with controlling your dog safely.
This book has 336 pages of tips, tricks, and illustrations that will build a bond and help you adjust to your specific dog’s energy level. If you like, you can even check out McMillan’s products from Petmate including the Shake & Break Training Tool and the Lure Stick.
Zak George has a YouTube channel with nearly two million subscribers on which he demonstrates a number of techniques for training your dog without punishment or harshness. That means you can buy this book to have the handy reference guide on hand, but then revisit his videos to augment your understanding of the lessons therein.
This guide covers everything from dog selection to general dog healthcare, in addition to the expected guides on housebreaking and training out bad habits. The focus of this book and his popular videos is training so that your dog is happy the whole time, which could benefit their behavior in the long run.
Across this collection of four volumes, you’ll learn the four most useful skills for managing your dog both at home and in public. The sooner you master each of these, the sooner you reduce both your stress and the stress that you dog feels when they know you’re upset with them.
Book one focuses on keeping your dog calm and getting them to chill out. Book two expands on that by teaching impulse control around food, open doors, and even other creatures. Book three focuses on leash training so excusions out of the house are liveable. Then, when you’ve mastered those, you can move onto book four, which is focused entirely upon off-leash recall. Once you have these, you’ll have all you need for safe and sane dog ownership.
Most bad dog behavior (and for that matter, people behavior) derives from fear. Whether it’s separation anxiety, fear of other dogs, or fear of the vet, emotional trauma can inform a dog’s reaction to experiences. Somewhat along the lines of the Zak George book, this one focuses on removing and healing fear-creating triggers and developing a bond with a happy, stress-free dog.
This covers dog anxiety medication, keeping them occupied while you’re at work, and even grooming. Use this book to counteract a number of potentially stressful or dangerous situatoins your dog may unknowingly create for the two of you.
Utilizing the advice from the other books on this list could prove difficult if you can’t interpret what your dog is feeling. Though the cover design of this book leaves a lot to be desired, this visual encyclopedia to dog body language could prove invaluable for picking up on cues while you go through dog training exercises.
