The Art of Raising a Puppy
by The Monks of New Skete
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Book Reviews of The Art of Raising a Puppy
Book Review: The Art of Ruining a Puppy
Summary: 1 Stars
Given the harmful, almost insane nature of some of the Monks of New Skete's training advice ("How hard should you hit your dog? If she doesn't yelp in pain you haven't hit her hard enough." -- pg. 44, orig. ed. HOW TO BE YOUR DOG'S WORST ENEMY) it's hard to take anything they say on the subject of dog training seriously.
That said there is a modicum of sound and practical information in this book. Not enough to override the horror of putting your dog in the hands of those who would advise you to hit her until she yelps in pain. (If I had my way, it would be against the law to give such training "advice," and probably IS in some jurisdictions.)
Then there's the fact that the monks are way behind the times when it comes to understanding the nature of a dog's social instincts. HINT: There is no such thing as an alpha wolf, alpha dog, or pack leader. That is a complete myth, as has been proven by the top wolf experts in at least the last five years These researchers don't even like to use the word alpha anymore because "it falsely implies a hierarchical structure." (L. David Mech, et al, Canadian Journal of Zoology, 2002).
And how do the monks reconcile the fact that "dominance displays are uncommon" among wild wolves (Mech, Canadian Journal of Zoology, 1999) with their belief that nearly everything a puppy does, in terms of its social behavior, is either dominance or submission? If a dog's social instincts are inherited from wild wolves and if, according to the real experts on the subject (like Mech), wild wolves almost never act dominant or submissive towards one another, where is all this dominant and submissive behavior coming from? Maybe from the way the monks treat the animals in their care?
I've been training dogs in New York City for fifteen years and I've only seen one instance of what could be called dominant behavior, and it was between two adult males, both unneutered. The owner of the dog that exhibited this behavior quickly stepped in, yelled at his dog, and smacked him really hard (though the dog didn't yelp in pain, so the man apparently didn't hit him hard enough). Yes, that got the dog to temporarily stop what he was doing, but in my estimation it's just that kind of mistreatment that caused this totally unnatural behavior to develop in the first place! Dogs who aren't mistreated never exhibit unnatural "dominant" behaviors. They just don't.
This is so sad to me because the real nature of the dog's social instincts is for cooperation, group harmony, and -- for lack of a better word -- love. How do the monks get this so wrong? Why don't they see this beautiful aspect of a dog's nature as being his primary social impulse?
I guess when you live in a monastery and you have a mindset that tells you it's okay to hit dogs until they yelp in pain because they understand it's your right as a nonexistent "alpha wolf," you're bound to be a little removed from reality.
If you have the slightest twinge of love or compassion for your puppy, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!!!
Book Review: Sensitivity Plus
Summary: 5 Stars
In July 1997 I wrote the following review for this book in our breed club magazine. It is probably worth repeating it. My thoughts have not changed.Some books are more special to me than others. On my shelves I have many books on dog behaviour, obedience, psychology etc. but there is one that stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes right down to the nitty gritty of raising puppies, and that is the most sensitive of books, "The Art of Raising a Puppy".
Back in 1978 The Monks of New Skete published a book entitled "How to be Your Dog's Best Friend" and told how the Monks obtained their first German shepherd in 1966 and how "Training dogs grew organically out of our experiences with our own dogs". Their careful breeding and training of their German shepherds and the training of visiting dogs became the means of financing the running of their community. "The Art of Raising a Puppy, published in 1991 is a quantum leap forward in sensitivity; I loved it from the moment I read the first few pages and was gently lead through Anka's gentle birthing of her puppies. It matters not a jot that these are all German Shepherds; we can easily relate everything to our Rhodesian Ridgebacks. The affinity these monks have developed with their dogs almost sends a shiver down one's spine. As I read on I felt myself agreeing wholeheartedly with what they were saying...and wishing that I could have been the one to say it! They have managed to convey all the minutiae of canine behaviour that only constant and vigilant observation teaches and then convey it to the reader. I could not find a single area of puppy upbringing that was not covered; from the initial decision to purchase a puppy, finding a breeder, aptitude testing, general care, basic training for puppies, lessons from the pack, discipline and common puppy problems, and much, much more: a veritable wealth of knowledge all in one book. For instance there is a chapter entitled "Reading your Dog" (one of my favourite hobbies) with subtitles, Canine Communication, Vocal Communication, Visual Communication, Olfactory Communication, Pack Dymanics and Training the the Pack. And throughout the book there are excellent photos, some of which give you a puppy's eye view of the world, also their adaptions of the classic illustrations of canine facial expressions and body language. This magic book will certainly enlighten those who misread the messages that out canine friends give. In "How To Be Your Dog's Best Friend" they speak of "inseeing" and its importance in your relationship with your dog ..."Inseeing is standing inside your dog's psyche, putting yourself at her centre, where she is a unique, individual creature, and understanding her from that perspective", and they again reintroduce this concept in "The Art of Raising a Puppy" The closing chapter reminds us that "When you take the time and energy necessary to raise a puppy correctly, wonderful things happen. The dog becomes a friend.
Book Review: Limited Scope -- Disappointing
Summary: 2 Stars
This book came highly recommended, as being very popular with vets and puppy owners. It has a lot of information on training a puppy to come, sit, lay down, heel, etc. There is also interesting information about dog psychology. Most of the advice in this book depends upon someone being home with the puppy all day long, everyday.
We got a new puppy three weeks ago. Knowing little about dogs and nearly nothing about puppy care, we purchased this book as our primary source for puppy raising advice. I'm very disappointed. Some of the early puppy training games are fun and seem to work fine. Some of "how to speak puppy" advice seems to work. The "how to pick a puppy" appendix (a couple pages only) worked great. But most of our puppy raising questions are not answered.
Numerous topics of extreme interest to new dog owners are simply not addressed. There is no advice on problem behavior, how to teach your puppy good manners, and such. What if your dog barks too much -- from what I've read the most common reason for someone to give up a dog? The authors don't say, just "puppies bark". How to tell when puppy is house trained fully? Nope. How to get puppy to tell you when they need to go out? Nothing. What about jumping on furniture? Go fish. How should I house train if I can't be there for puppy every 1.5 hours all day long? Nothing. How do I train my puppy to calmly accept being alone for brief periods? Apparently, you don't. What toys are good for dogs? No opinion given. What is a simple game that kids can safelty play with my dog? Nope, they apparently haven't heard of playing with dogs.
Additionally, some of the advice simply does not work. Their durring meal advice is to force the puppy to lay quietly, by putting a foot on the leash close to the collar. All this accomplishes is a franticly squirming dog. How is that helpful? I'd like to have our puppy lay quietly during meals, but this book will never help accomplish this. Their companion advice on meals is that having a whole lot of other dogs laying quietly during meals demonstrating the desired behaivor helps. Well, that is useless to me!
Overall, a very disappointing book that claims a lot and delivers little.
Book Review: Perfect for the amateur who wants a friend & companion
Summary: 5 Stars
My husband agreed to a Dalmation for my wedding present in spite of all the misgivings he had about the breed. I purchased many books on dog training to ensure that our dog would be a welcome member of the household all its years. In each of them, I felt that there were holes in the philosophy, problem solving that might cause injury to my dog. I wanted a well thought out, cohesive plan that addressed daily training, submission, and problem behaviour within a philosophical framework. This was the book that became our bible. It was sane, safe for both the dog & us, and it showed immediate results. We got our puppy at 8 weeks, by 12 weeks she would sit, lie down and stay on command for up to 15 minutes whether we were in sight or not. The techniques in the book were so effective that we were able to implement them easily, with just a little time set aside every day. When we began puppy classes at 6 mos., we were immediately promoted to the advanced obedience class and worked with dogs that were showing successfully in obedience with two of the top trainers. They owned and showed the #1 and #2 obedience dogs in the country. Our dog is now 7 yrs old, because of how good she is, we can take her everywhere. She is welcome at our friends, neighborhood children come to play with her, there are even restaurants that insist she come in. Our dog owes the fact that her life is full and happy to this book. She has never had to be tied up, left behind or locked in a room. The quality of her life is so much better,because these monks shared their knowledge in this book. People always ask how we trained her, we go to your website, print out the page and give it to them, because we do not want them to think any training book will do. Ideally, people would read this book before choosing a puppy and then be completely prepared for the sustained effort needed in raising and training a dog.Book Review: Some good information - A lot of bad techniques!
Summary: 1 Stars
I have to say that the people who rate this book "5 stars" must have the most submissive dogs. The techniques used in this book (especially grabbing a dogs scruff and shaking him/her)tend to scare and threaten the dog. If you have a submissive dog, this is not a problem (aggresively). However, if you have any bit of dominance aggression or fear aggression dog and use the monks' techniques, you may have a BIG problem. Dog's who are dominant agressive or fear aggressive may lash back (bite or bark) from the apparent (to them) threat. I can attribute all of the problems (which were many) that I had with my dog to this book. I used the scruff shake when he was younger (3-8 months) and although he did not "misbehave", he became afraid of me and actually quivered at the sight of me when he thought he may have done something wrong (even if he didn't). I am a person who believes in discipline, but am also one who believes in strong relationships. Punishing a dog physically only makes a dog afraid of you and does not build your relationship! Unless you are a person who does not care about your dog's psyche, I suggest you do not use any of this books' techniques. In my opinion you are supposed to build a relationship with your pet and "teach" him/her to do the right thing. Dogs can only learn from the praise they recieve, not the punishment. There are a ton of books that teach positive reinforcement, and those are the books that teach you to build a strong relationship with your pet -- not a fear relationship.
I did, however, give the book 1 star because there is some useful information on how dogs think, etc. Nevertheless, I would never recommend any of the punishement techniques; because when it comes down to it your dog reflects you; and if you have not taught him/her properly, it is your fault -- not the dog's!