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: It's always nice when a book lives up to expectations
Summary: 5 Stars
After having read several Cesar Millan books, a Victoria Stillwell book and a several books on potty training, leash training and general puppy rearing from various veterinarians before this book, of all the books I've read, while many covered the same topics, this is certainly my favorite. It is the easiest to read and the easiest to understand.
Unsurprisingly Millan, Stilwell, the various veterinarians and the Monks have similar approaches to puppy rearing, they just use different words to describe the same things. The Monks have the leg up over the others for the ease of reading this book has.
The approach is the non-punitive approach. What this means is that you don't "punish" the puppy/dog; you simply don't reward the bad behaviors and always reward the good.
In the real world, people try to attach human emotion and apply it to a dog, who then sees this as weakness and exploits it. By raising your puppy the Monk way, you will never be in a position of need where your dog will be running your house because you never give him/her the chance to fall into bad habits such as nipping, biting, using your house as a bathroom and general disobedience.
One benefit of the book that I hadn't really had any experience with, is the puppy massage. The puppy massage described in the book is relaxing for the puppy and therapeutic for me, especially after a hectic day at work.
If you read no other books on puppy raising, read this one. It gives you methodology for picking the right puppy, explains the various pieces of equipment you'll need and also guides you to build the proper foundation for a stable puppy that not only obeys you, but also treats you a true companion, which is all anyone with a dog should ever be looking for.
Book Review: Personalize this advice!
Summary: 4 Stars
It's always helpful to keep in mind that each dog/person team is going to create a new way of teaching/learning and that you must know yourself and your dog before you start advanced training. That said: this book is the one book I give everyone I know who's getting a puppy. And I do it BEFORE the puppy arrives, because the discussions about who should and should not adopt a dog are serious and seriously important. The book gives a pretty good idea of what the new dog person can expect. The section on puppy development from conception is amazing - so many interesting facts I didn't know! But the training philosophy in the book is not my own. I take bits and pieces of it, but I have always had retrievers, a much softer breed than the monks' shepherds. Much of what the monks teach is reasonable, but discardable with certain dogs. Not sleep on the bed because it creates dominance issues?? Ha! The only dominance issues it creates in my house is 2 retrievers jockeying for space on the pillow. Alpha roll? No, not with my breed. They're sensitive enough that all you need to establish dominance is ... well, your presence, I guess. And training with treats? I was taught, when raising a guide dog puppy and later a Canine Companions for Independence puppy, that food can be a very inconvenient training tool and that IS true. Service dogs receive only praise. But the average dog responds wonderfully well to bribes, and the average dog's lifestyle will adapt. All in all, though - this is a wonderful, insightful and instructive book, and one every single person considering a puppy - whether it's their first or thirty-first, must have this book.Book Review: Puppy raising DOGma from the Monks...
Summary: 4 Stars
Let me begin by saying that I am not an expert on this topic, but I love my puppy... and feel I need to be.
The merits of this book is that it documents the THINKING, experience and methodology of a group of monks who've dedicated their lives to raising German Shephards... the downside is that it ONLY discusses their method, and does not take into account any others - - of course, this is not a fault of the book - - they are simply describing their approach (which they feel happens to be right, and all others wrong), but while their method is not "radical", I'm wondering if the method is really for everybody and all dogs... (The method, incidentally is somewhat orthodox leash training - - and does not use treats as rewards... I worry that some people might get out of hand with the POP-no's, and it may not be for PEOPLE who might confuse the corrective associations with acts of utter dominance and intimidation! Unfortunately, in reading a book, how can a person's leash technique be corrected. In the end, at one extreme of the scale the monks warn against coddling and spoiling the dog... but on the other hand, we don't want to traumatize it either!)
another point: their writing style is easy to understand, but at the same time a bit dry (no warm and funny anecdotes, or as another reviewer elsewhere said "psychobabble") - - again, a plus or minus depending upon how you look at it.
In the end, the fact that this book does DOCUMENT in detail the process of how they raise their pups makes it GREAT reading... however I think the key caveat is that it should be supplemented with other reading...
Book Review: "Fixing" behavior at the root: Relationship
Summary: 2 Stars
I have read this book a few times and unfortunately, unlike some of the books in my collection, it doesn't get any better the more I read it!The entire book is actually quite good, aside from some outdated advice and training techniques. But the Monks do not address perhaps the most important issue: a trust-built, communication-forged relationship with your dog! They also advocate what I call "doggy breakdowns" with some of their techniques such as the alpha-roll, the head shake, and other very physical methods. As one reviewer mentioned, these may work on the kind of dogs they have, but as an owner of terriers for more than 10 years I will tell you that terriers can get very spiteful. This is completely understandable when you realize you must earn your dog's trust and respect in order to have it! Also, these methods can literally break (emotionally and mentally) a soft, immature, formerly abused, or mentally "slow" dog. I have seen it happen. It is not pretty.
Benevolent leadership. Communication. Rewards. I don't feel any of those things are covered in this book, or at least not to the extent they should be.
Do not rely too heavily on this book. There are WAY too many better guides to "being your dog's best friend" to just read this one. I highly recommend that anyone interested in raising a puppy the right way first learn the art of thinking like and communicating with dogs.
The basis of any "training," formal or otherwise, is this:
A relationship based on MUTUAL understanding, trust, and respect, between a benevolent leader and his/her companion.
Book Review: Not helpful for my particular situation; we adopted from a shelter
Summary: 2 Stars
I didn't finish this book. My husband and I adopted a 4 month old puppy from the shelter; this book is really more for people who are purchasing a puppy from a breeder. It really starts instructions from the day the puppy is born, and makes numerous comments that the most bonding happens with your puppy in the first 4 months of it's life. A little late for us to be reading something like that since our puppy was that age at adoption, and also, in my opinion, not true. We have bonded extremely well with our puppy despite the fact we didn't choose him at his birth. Yes, the book offers helpful information for training your puppy once it's a few months old, but this information didn't start until seriously halfway through the book and it wasn't anything special; standard dog training tactics that I found elsewhere in a more reader-friendly format. The entire first half of the book was completely useless to me.
I'm sure this is a wonderful book if you are a breeder, or purchasing from a breeder. But if you are adopting from a shelter, or adopting an older puppy that needs training, there are other books out there that will be so much more applicable to your situation and help you so much more. Congratulations! It's a Dog!: Home Schooling for Your Dog was one that I found especially helpful, as it started off with helpful information that I could actually use, right on the first page.