Good Dog! Practical Answers to Behavior Questions [NOOK Book]

An easy to read guide with a wide variety of information and resources for any dog owner. Good Dog! has a wealth of information for dog owners. Each chapter is composed of problems or annoyances dog owners my have. First the reader is introduced to

Good Dog! has a wealth of information for dog owners. Each chapter is composed of problems or annoyances dog owners my have. First the reader is introduced to the problem and some advice is given. Then in a question and answer format dog owners share their concerns and answers are then given to each individual questions. Each answer is followed up with additional resources, which included online links, information and training techniques by animal behaviorist and their training techniques which provides the dog owner with a wide variety of different ideas as dogs are unique. Other solutions are management tools including clicker training, and when it comes to separation or noise anxiety and separation distress the reader is also provided with information on other natural options like desensitization Cd's, anxiety wrap, a pheromone called Adaptil and a few others.

The most important advice I found in this book has to do with taking your dog to a vet, especially if the problems you are having started out of the blue. By having your dogs health checked first, you can narrow down the problem. Because it could turn out that the very reason that the problem or situation exists could be due to any wide variety of things, from something as mild as a vitamin deficiency or allergies to a more serious health issue like a bladder infection or even kidney disease. Of course you dog cannot speak and you are their best advocate, so the best thing for a pet owner to do is write these symptoms down before going to the vet, so they are prepared.

Some problems and situation I have found the solutions and advice in this book to be helpful with in our family with our dogs includes "Jumping at the Door," "Too Much Fun," Excessive Barking," "Separation Distress and Noise Anxiety." Separation distress and anxiety was a minor problem that has become a major problem in our household ever since we adopted a second rescue dog. Our older dog has either taught some of this behavior to our new dog and my husband is to blame or both. My husband has a problem with not giving independence to our new dog (Frankie) due to feelings of empathy. Before I read this book my husband allowed the dog to constantly lay or attach itself to him when he is relaxing. So when I read the chapter with information on hyper-attachment I was thrilled that I could no present my husband with information on what he has been doing and not have him turn a deaf ear. I was so glad they had a name for this and immediately spoke to my husband about it. My husband is now working on this bad habit.

The only downside of this book of course is, you may not find that particular dog problem you are experiencing in this book. This however can happen with any dog behavioral book, so one should not assume this book may cover every situation. Because each dog is unique in his own way this book provides a wide variety of resources and links the reader can research on their own. I would recommend this book to any dog owner whatever their problems or situation may be.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Easy read.

This was an easy read with real life Q&A. It has good content but consistently kept referring to previous solutions throughout the book. Was ok but not a lot of actual training methods or advice.

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