Dog Training For Dummies

Mary Ann Rombold-Zeigenfuse, LVT has more than 40 years’ experience in dog training. She owns and operates Best Friends Obedience, a top training school in Kentucky. Wendy Volhard has spent more than 30 years teaching dog owners how to communicate effectively with their pets. She is the creator of the “Motivational Method,” a unique approach to dog training.

• Introduction 1Part 1: Setting the Stage for Successful Training 5Chapter 1: Dog Training: The Key to Your Dog’s Safety and Your Sanity 7Chapter 2: Getting to Know Your Dog and How They Perceive the World 23Chapter 3: Developing Training Savvy 45Chapter 4: Understanding the Vital Role That Nutrition and Health Play in Training 63Chapter 5: Gearing Up for Training Success 99Part 2: Performing Puppy Preliminaries 119Chapter 6: Starting on the Right Foot with your New Puppy or Dog — Planning and Preparing 121Chapter 7: Surviving Your Puppy’s Critical Growth Periods 145Chapter 8: The Ins and Outs of Crate Training and Housetraining 159Part 3: Tackling Training Basics 175Chapter 9: Focusing on Some Basic Training Commands 177Chapter 10: Coming and Going: Two Essential Commands to Teach 195Chapter 11: Mastering Some Fundamentals: Sit, Down, and Stay 211Chapter 12: Going for a Pleasant Walk 227Chapter 13: Going to Bed and All of Its Practical Uses 239Chapter 14: Getting In, Out, On, and Off and Mastering Door and Stairs Manners 251Part 4: Taking Training to the Next Level 261Chapter 15: Dealing with Common Doggie Don’ts 263Chapter 16: Retrieving: Time to Fetch 283Chapter 17: Trick Training for Fun and Bonding 293Part 5: Handling Special Situations 321Chapter 18: Addressing Aggression 323Chapter 19: Helping Buddy Handle Special Situations 343Chapter 20: Keeping Your Senior Dog Young: Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks 357Chapter 21: Saying Goodbye: Losing Your Old Friend 377Part 6: The Part of Tens 385Chapter 22: Ten Reasons Dogs Do What They Do 387Chapter 23: Ten Training Traps and How to Avoid Them 393Index 399