Product Description
Praise for Dog Problems, Winner, Best Book on Care and Training, Dog Writers’ Association of America “Delightfully written and abounds with common sense.” —Deborah Lawson, The Philadelphia Inquirer “A mus… More >>
Dog Problems
Written by admin on June 30th, 2010 in Reference.
Tags: Problems
This book is misnamed. Its supposed to be for professionals, yet it contains exactly the same overly-general advice in all of her pet-owner books. At one point, in the discussion on aggression, she states that if the dog is really out of hand the reader should seek the help of the professional! Duh!
I’ve enjoyed and learned from Ms Benjamin’s books over the years, but found nothing new in this one – its all recycled material. And way too vague to be truly useful to the advanced trainer, much less the professional.
Rating: 2 / 5
There are better ways to train dogs and other animals that do not advocate “stringing the dog up” by the neck when it misbehaves. When I read this in what is a widely acclaimed book, I removed it from my recommended reading list. This jerk and puke method of training is outdated and ineffective. Operant conditioning is the way to go for long-lasting results that does not cause your dog to fear you. For dogs with an aggression problem, do NOT use Benjamin’s methods or you will likely get bit!
Rating: 1 / 5
Punishment, punishment everywhere. I recommend that you skip Carol Lea’s books — she way overemphasizes the outdated dominance model.
All of these behaviors are natural dog behaviors. We’re asking them to live in a very unnatural environment with what are, to them, very unnatural rules. Skip this book and choose ones that treat dogs as dogs, not as furry humans trying to take over your world that must be dominated at all cost.
I’d pick Jean Donaldson’s books or Terry Ryan’s Toolbox for the Problem Dog before this kind of book any day.
Rating: 1 / 5
This is an excellent book for people who have mild or moderate dog problems. It is well written with a sense of humor, and with insight into the behavior of dogs. It is a book by a professional trainer, not for professional trainers.
Carol Lea Benjamin does not advocate punishment. In fact, she advises to NEVER hit your dog. Appropriately correcting a dog is not a punishment any more than appropriately correcting a child when they run into a street is a punishment. In addition to describing how to properly correct your dog, she points out human behaviors that inadvertantly encourage dog problems, when and how to use praise to encourage positive behavior, how to redirect behavior, and that sometimes, we can eliminate a bad behavior just by removing the trigger.
Rating: 5 / 5
The writing style is great– easy to read, fun, and shining with the author’s love for dogs. In general, the advice is sound too, but in several places the recommended “punishments” are harsh, violent, or simply bad training. Read and use this book by all means, but have a look at Karen Pryor’s _Don’t Shoot the Dog!_ to get a better handle on effective training techniques.
Rating: 4 / 5