This is 1 of 5 books I bought in searching for the one I wanted to use. I reviewed them all in 1 review so you can see my direct comparison without having to try and find my other reviews. Skip down to #4 to see the details on this book.

While my wife and I both had dogs growing up we never had any real formal training. We are now considering getting a dog for ourselves and wished to do it right.

After spending a couple hours reading reviews I narrowed my books down to 5 possibilities.

1) Before and After Getting Your Puppy – Ian Dunbar
2) Good owners, great dogs – Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson.
3) How to be your dog’s best friend – revised and updated edition
4) How to Raise a puppy you can life with – Clarice Rutherford and David Neil
5) It’s me of the dog, how to have the perfect pet – Victoria Stilwell.

To start your favorite choice of book will vary where your beliefs lie on 100% positive approach vs use of correction/discipline. The current pendulum appears to have swung to the 100% positive side of things. Many reviews I read (particularly about the How to be your dogs best friend) are particularly critical of the alpha roll. I just want to highlight in the revised and updated edition they specifically say they “no longer recommend this technique and strongly discourage its use to our clients”.

My disclaimer would be that I lean towards a 100% praise/positive approach but am open to the EXTREMELY rare need for correction in certain circumstances (eg. dangerous/threatening behavior towards strangers/children not improved by praise/positive). Also note that I read these 6 books over the course of 1 week. My opinions are based upon the retained impressions I have from the books with occasional direct reference. I may over-emphasize certain parts but it could be because that was what stood out to me and not necessarily what the author intended/wrote.

So that said lets get to the books.

1)
Before and After Getting Your Puppy – Ian Dunbar
This is my favourite book of the 5. It is 223 pages and does a great job of covering all the topics.

There is a good overview of dog psychology but the strongest aspect of this book is that it is divided by developmental deadlines. The areas that need to be strongly worked on and emphasized at each stage of development from the first day of arrival in the new home to months down the road. Areas of particular focus are bite inhibition, socialization with people, household etiquette, home alone, sit and settle down commands and dog-dog socialization. At the end of the book is a homework schedule with checklists and days of the week that you can photocopy to make sure you are reaching these goals. The language of this book is easy to read and the information is detailed enough that you clearly understand the point without being so wordy that you lose the important take home points. If you can only have 1 book and you are getting a puppy I would buy this book.

Highlights: this writer is a strong proponent of crating/confinement, having the dog sleep outside the bedroom, and feeding entirely by having food/kibble in chewtoys that the dogs work on all day as opposed to bowl feeding. His is a 100% positive approach and treats play a central role. There is only a small blurb on clicker training. There is not much on how to select a particular puppy from a litter.

2)
My second choice (and first choice if you are buying or have an older dog) is Good owners, great dogs by Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson. In fact I would STRONGLY recommended buying both this and the Before and After Getting Your Puppy as they are extremely complementary.

This book is a bit longer at 282 pages and the pages are a bit larger but there are quite a few more pictures. It is easy to read language and while it contains a lot of information is is not overly verbose. It is very good with dog psychology and dog communication. It has a brief section on how to choose a particular puppy from a litter. He is a proponent of crate/confinement outside the bedroom and while provides information on establishing this the Ian Dunbar book goes into much more detail. The strongest part of this book is the training information. Every topic has very clear descriptions and photos that also include the hand signs for each command. While you may cringe a bit at the number of times “give a correction” or “give a little pop on the lead” comes up the basic information is excellent and would be easily modified to a treat/positive approach. The number 1 reason to buy this book is every one of the training section includes “solving common problems” related to that particular topic which makes it very useful as a reference when your dog does not do what the other books say it should do easily. Also there is a full 80 page chapter on understand and solving canine problems such as house breaking, separation anxiety, chewing, excessive barking, jumping, ect AND what to do about them.

Highlights: this writer is a moderate proponent of crating/confinement, having the dog sleep outside the bedroom, feeding 2x per day in bowls. His is a mixed approach with both praise but also corrections. Certain training topics require physical positioning/manipulating of the dogs. Treats DO NOT play a central role. There is only a small blurb on clicker training.

3)
How to be your dog’s best friend
At 336 pages this is the largest book. Text is quite dense and there are not that many photos though most training topics include enough photos to clearly get the point across. This is a good book with many relevant topics. Good coverage of dog psychology and communication. Excellent coverage of the important training topics. Primarily a positive/treat based training system but corrections/discipline are included. As mentioned above they no longer recommend the alpha roll. Their reasonable discussion on this is:
“What we do take serious exception to, in all the rhetoric, is the suggestion that training has to be entirely positive for it to be humane, that corrections have no place in a modern thinking approach to obedience training….. Dogs are quite capable of understanding that there are negative consequences for certain behaviors beyond simply not receiving a treat, and this knowledge can lea to consistency and reliability in training results…… Furthermore, even though we are strong advocates of a positive approach to training, we do not believe it is either fair or helpful to suggest that corrections are never appropriate.” The topics cover all aspects of dog training and behavior and they offer solutions to problem behaviors. There is no real information on selecting a puppy from a litter. Excellent section on general dog care, dog grooming, ect.

Highlights: They are proponents of dogs sleeping in the bedroom. Feeding 2x per day in bowls. Mixed approach primarily with praise/treats but also corrections. Nice section on dog massage. There is only a small blurb on clicker training.

I think this is a great book. It could easily be used instead of Good owners, great dogs but can also complement it as there are some different strategies not included in the other book. That said due to the density of the text, the length of the book, and my vague impression I do prefer Good owners, great dogs.

4)
How to Raise a puppy you can life with
At 153 pages this is a shorter book. It is the strongest book on the stages of puppy development and provides a detailed breakdown including what should be trained at each stage. It also has one of the best sections on what to look for in choosing a puppy from a litter. It’s weakest area is in the training information. Information is provided for all relevant topics but the information is generally in a condensed text format and where the the other books may have 2-3 pages on a topic with pictures followed by 2-3 pages of common problems with solutions, this book may cram 2-3 topics on a single page.

Highlights: Best book on dog development stages. Good for helping choose a puppy from a litter. 100% positive/treat based approach but depth of training information can leave you wanting more.

5)
It’s me of the dog, how to have the perfect pet
221 pages and the photos are in color. 100% positive approach. Good coverage of dog communication. The majority of this book is with regards to general training topics but information can be brief and the pictures were more artistic in nature than educational. I found the information to generally be a bit on the superficial side, sometimes hard to get the important points among all the filler words. Honestly it was a pretty book with most of the information you need for training but lacks the real meat of most topics and is missing many general care topics. If it was the only training book you had you would probably do fine but it does not compare to the top 3 choices listed above.

Highlights: Good section on dog communication. Covers most topics and includes common problem areas. 100% positive/treat based approach but depth of training information can leave you wanting more. Not much info on general dog care.

Summary: So Before and After Getting Your Puppy, Good owners, great dogs and How to be your dog’s best friend are all good, complete owners manuals for dogs that each include pretty much all you need to know. Your choice depends on how much you want to read and what training method you are most comfortable with. I would buy Before and After Getting Your Puppy and one of the other 2. How to Raise a puppy you can life with and It’s me or the dog, are more superficial and you would require other books for more detailed information on training and basic information on dog ownership.

How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With 4th Edition
by Clarice Rutherford (Author), David H. Neil (Author)

This book was recommended as a must have by my breeder when we got our English Bulldog. She is extremely stubborn even at only ten weeks of age and definitely wants to try and be the alpha whenever she can!! I am not a fan of harsh training methods or exerting dominance over dogs to prove that you are the alpha. They seem a little archaic and macho to me honestly. This book is none of that thankfully. It does an awesome job of breaking down the different stages of puppy development and what to expect with each one. Then it tells you exactly how to train your puppy for the stage he or she is in. AND WITH NO NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT OR "BE THE ALPHA" BULL!!!! It is all redirecting attention and positive reinforcement. Since that is what our breeder started with it has been super easy to just continue it. Our puppy is only ten weeks old and is 80% litter box trained, fully crate trained and knows sit, down, stay and come. We are currently working on "no bite" and "drop it". I really didn't expect to have results at this young of an age. The methods in this book really work if every family member sticks with them 100% of the time.

From Amazon...
How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With explains how puppies develop in mind and body from birth through one year of age. You ll learn what the breeder should do before you get your puppy, how to select the right puppy, puppy temperament testing, and what to do when you get your new puppy home. Rutherford takes you step-by-step through raising a well-adjusted, well-mannered puppy, including positive dog training lessons on basic obedience, behavior modification for puppies, and how to correct and prevent common problem behaviors. She explains the calming signals dogs use, canine body language, and how to use your understanding of those when training your puppy.

Raising a puppy can be extremely frustrating if you don't know what to expect. I bought this book after about 2 weeks of having a puppy, and the first two weeks I was filled with doubt... like, "Is my dog broken?" "Why does he hate me?" "He's already aggressive towards humans and biting all the time!". Well these questions are normal but they come from ignorance. This book alleviated SO much stress for me because it answers questions and logically explains how to deal with situations that make you question your sanity. My puppy and I have gotten along much better since I read this book.

I will note that a lot of the book talks about what the breeder should've done. I recommend reading it even if you didn't get your dog from a breeder, because you need to know what kind of preparation is expected before you move onto more formal training or making sure the puppy is house trained.

I bought this book before the purchase of my new puppy..I wanted to make sure that I could handle and train a puppy that would end up being a pleasure to live with..After reading this book, I knew what to look for when I went to look at the puppy, because of the information in "The Temperment Test", I knew what to do with the puppies when I looked at them for the first time. I am fully confident that:1.)I can raise a good puppy that my family can live with,2.)That I picked the best puppy that would suit my family's livestyle. I highly recommend this book. Full of valuable information!

I sell golden retriever puppies and this is the book that I recommend to all of my customers. It has no nonsense approach and clearly helps in the daily training for a happy and well behaved puppy. At the end of the book there is a puppy temperament test used by breeders to determine the right fit for your puppy with the new family. This is an awesome training book.