Great Book don't take me wrong

books:


	• Natural Dog Training Kevin Behan Xlibris Corporation, 2002 - 324 pages average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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Best Training Book I've Read

I must say that for those reviewers who complain about the use of corrections or prong collars etc, you've obviously missed the whole point of the book. This book is not based or focused on using correction techniques. If you use corrections simply to suppress a dog's behavior, then yes, you will cause behavior problems and possible aggression as well. But that is not what Kevin is recommending or teaching in his book. The entire premise and theory is based on building and controlling a dog's drive, not correcting a dog to suppress them in order to create a desired behavior. I've worked in the correction based methodology before, and believe me, it's an entirely different world than what is being taught in this book.

I've used dominance based training, as well as positive reinforcement and clicker training. Neither of those methodologies got me the results I wanted. Sure, they both worked to a degree. Dominance training created dogs that were under control, but they sure weren't happy. And there was always that undertone of fear and tension between us. Positive reinforcement and clicker training worked great when we were working. But it would all fall apart in the real world when there were more interesting things to do. Not to say they didn't retain some of what they learned. But they just weren't reliable when using only positive reinforcement methods. I guess if I had continued doing it for the next 10 years, then maybe they would finally be reliable all the time. But once I began using Kevin's techniques, I started seeing an instant transformation in my dogs. They started going from confused and disinterested, to paying attention and being happy to work with me. And it really was almost immediate.

I believe that all forms of training have something positive you can take away from them. Although I've learned that dominance training has little or nothing that I would want to continue using. But natural dog training has and continues to transform my relationship with my dogs. And I am convinced that it can do the same for most people.

It is fair to say that every dog is different, and that there will be dogs that may require a different form of training, or creative elaborations on Kevin's techniques. But I would also say that I have yet to find any other philosophy that works as well for as many dogs as this one.

Any training model will probably work if you dedicate yourself to it. But I think that Kevin's philosophy and techniques provide a way to get the results you want, while respecting and honoring the dog's true nature and spirit, instead of trying to suppress it. And that's why I recommend this book more so than anything else I've come across.

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Best. Training. Book. EVER.

Positive reinforcement trainers talk about how food is a primary reinforcer and always reference how clicker style food based training has trained everything from cats to orca whales. But how many of you require an orca whale to live with you and be naturally obedient in YOUR human world 24-7? And yes you might live with a cat, but do you really require your cat to be outside with you daily and still be mindful of you and responsive to cues? Marker training with treats is a wonderful way to teach a dog a specific behavior, but do clicker trainers really require me as a dog guardian to click and treat my dog forever? Kevin Behan's book taught me how to take my dog's natural prey instincts, in other words, the very instincts that make her a DOG, and channel them into being with me. So even in our day-to-day, she is allowed to fully and joyfully engage in her natural doggy instincts AS WELL AS be with me as a well-behaved member of society. In fact, the training teaches her that the ultimate fulfillment for her natural instincts comes when she is fully focused on me.

Case in point: this morning while I was walking around our local park during the sanctioned off leash hours, my Belgian Malinois mix got a little bored with just walking around, so she wanted instead to be stimulated and energized by DOING OBEDIENCE WORK. I knew that was what she wanted because she kept naturally heeling on my left, looking up at me, asking me with her eyes, CAN WE WORK? CAN WE WORK? So I engaged her in some formal off leash heeling, some recalls, some down during recalls. The whole time she was powerfully driving into me and fully engaged. The obedience work, in other words, was like a play session for her.

There is NOTHING punitive about this training style. Perhaps the word "correction" is used poorly. I would liken it more to teaching a dog the natural danger boundaries, and that the most fulfilling, most joyful, most rewarding, most drive-flowing scenario is to be focused to her handler, whether the dog is plastered to your left side, or 50 yards away in a long sit, or even just meandering around off leash with you.

To me, this is the ultimate reward for any dog - to fully feel like she is allowed to be a dog. And yet because her joy and drive flow is fullest when she is focused on you as the handler, she will always be a fantastic dog to live with. Courteous, friendly, happy, responsive, hardworking, playful and calm. We owe our magnificent dogs that much.

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Great Book don't take me wrong

I have now been reading this book for about three weeks and can't get through it. It's content is of very high interest and surely some "AHA" exclamations from me when I am getting the point. It is a great book for people who are more interested in reading then getting a few picture hints. There are no illustrations in this book what so ever and I probably finding it a bit boring as it feels like I am reading a novel and not a dog training book. So if you are like me and likes a bit of illustrations don't go for this book, If you like reading only you will love this book.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3