Best puppy book

[holmessweetholmes]

We have finally definitely decided to get a dog and identified a couple of potential breeders.
I've lurked around this board a bit, reading all the useful advice and have seen some pretty strong views about training methods etc.

I'm very keen to give our puppy the very best start (including puppy classes etc) and avoid as many pitfalls as possible, so what book would you all recommend, so I can read up in advance ! Thanks.

I have The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey.
I tend to take some of it with a pinch of salt, if memory serves it goes on about hierarchy which has been discredited, but practical advice is very good, especially with socialising and basic training.

It's a while since I had a puppy though, so there'll probably be other books that are more up to date.

Thanks . Yes, the hierarchy thing is something I've seen people talk about on here (about it being discredited, I mean). I have watched some puppy training videos, which were all about rewarding and praising desirable behaviour and ignoring undesirable behaviour. Looked pretty effective. I like the idea of clicker training too.

Currently have bought perfect puppy - not much use....think dog not great. Total recall - we're working through the programme and following kikopup on you tube for clicker training.
Ignoring the bad stuff is hard, kikopup teaches a distraction noise which helps enormously. My bloody pup is very stubborn. Has learn to toilet on command but everything else seems to be complied with on a whimsical basis.

Life Skills for Puppies is great - it appears to be out of print at the moment but is available on kindle

Thanks soddinghormones - will have a look at that. Luxaroma - I have all that to look forward to! I've looked at the Kikopup videos - they make it look easy !

Hi there

In terms of ongoing puppy training I would recommend the following puppy training book from Amazon The Experts Guide To Puppy Training.

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00LSY3MU2?Version=1&entries=0

Hope this is helpful.

We've had our puppy for two weeks now, and I have The Happy Puppy Handbook by Pippa Mattinson. What persuaded me to get this one was all the reviews about her Total Recall book. We'd like to move on to that, so thought this would be a good start.

I really like it so far and pup is very well settled, sociable and coming on well.

Thanks everyone!

Life skills for Puppies.

Anything by Ian Dunbar (all free online). He's amazing. I followed every tip and have ended up with Perfect Dog.

I can't believe I'm writing that, three years after being on a new puppy thread here (namechanged since). I was tearing my hair out, seriously depressed by him, and thought I would hate dogs forever.