My Favorite Dog Training Books
- On Talking Terms With Dogs Calming Signals - This book by Turid Rugass is by far one of the best ways to learn about canine communication. If you want to learn to understand and communicate with your dog better this is the book for you!
- What is My Dog Thinking? - This book by Gwen Bailey is a great introduction to dog body language for beginners. It's full of great photos and is simple enough that children around 11 or 12 years old could probably understand it. If you're interested in learning more about canine communication and dog body language this is a great place to start!
- Don't Shoot the Dog! - This book by Karen Pryor is filled with wonderful information about teaching and training for any species! It's one of my favorites and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to develop better teaching skills.
- 50 Games to Play with Your Dog - This book by Suellen Dainty is filled with fun ideas for tricks and games to play with your dog.
- Aggression in Dogs - This book by Brenda Aloff is the most complete guide to dog aggression I have found. She covers pretty much every kind of dog aggression there is and discusses training plans and how to work dogs through them. I learned so much from this book!
- Before You Get Your Puppy - This free e-book by Ian Dunbar has lots of great information to prepare anyone who is getting ready to bring a puppy home.
- After You Get Your Puppy - This is another one by Ian Dunbar. You can get this book as a free e-book if you create an account with Dog Star Daily. It is a great read to help set you on the right track with your new puppy. It can be a little extreme in that it makes it sound like if you make one single mistake your puppy is doomed for life. NOT TRUE! Everyone is going to make mistakes. What is important is that you recognize it, learn from it, and move on. Don't let yourself feel like a failure for every little mistake you make. I still love this little e-book, though. It is filled with lots of great information to help you with your new puppy!
- Animal Madness - This book by Laurel Braitman is absolutely fascinating! This book discusses a lot about how we've come to understand not just the animal mind, but the human mind as well. It discusses how our relationships and the way we care for animals has changed and evolved over time as well. While she does have some standpoints that I disagree with, the overall book is amazing and I highly recommend it!
- Control Unleashed - This book by Leslie McDevitt has so much great information on training, confidence building, getting more focus and reliability out of your dog, and more! It has lots of great information to help you build off leash reliability with your dog.
- 101 Dog Tricks - This is a super fun book full of different tricks to train your dog. It has easy to understand, step by step instructions and pictures, making it easy to follow and do yourself.
- Canine Enrichment for the Real World - This book by Allie Bender and Emily Strong is amazing. Enrichment is such an important part of your dog's daily life. I had no idea what a huge spectrum it covered. It is crazy how many behavioral issues can be resolved just by making sure your dog is getting proper enrichment. I have been blessed to get to know and learn from Emily personally. She is such a wealth of knowledge and I was so excited to get to have constant access to some of that knowledge through this book.