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Just thought this might be a good reference topic.

What is you favourite training book - ie: where you get a lot of your ideas/ training tips from????? Basic outline of what the book covers??

I think it will be a great way of picking up 'good books' for training :eek:

Mine?

Kay Laurence:

Clicker world obedience

Clicker agility (not written by Kay, but falls under that blanket)....

Morgan Spector: Clicker training for obedience....

both are excellent for trialling :mad

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I LOVE "Culture Clash". :D

Another great book is The Idiots Guide to Positive Dog Training

How 'advanced' is this one? Can you use it as a reference?

I know that some of the idiots guides are very basic but others are very comprehensive.

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Another great book is The Idiots Guide to Positive Dog Training

I've often wondered about this. As Laffi said - how advanced is it???

Can you pick things up from it as a reasonably 'experienced' trainer???

Flickinig through it and i've always thought it looks good :D

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Being right into tracking (which is worth doing if you are thinking of doing UD..) I like Enthusiastic Tracking by Sil Saunders. You will do no harm following him.

I also like "Tracking Dog" by Glen Johnson very much.But you need to apply it carefully. You would track most dogs to a standstill if you followed it literally.

There are many other classics on tracking to, but you need to sort out how you want to train your dog before hand. Pearsall's Scent is pretty good, so is Patterson's Tracking form the beginning if Schutzhund tracking is your thing.

For theory I like Lindsay, Abrantes, Cognitive canine 11 is worth a look, good myth debunker, I also have been looking at other works on animal cognition too. The alex papers are extremely dry but worth reading to get the brain cells going.

I read widely, both positive and not. I often buy books on spec, and the last lot had some real shallow publications. Don't buy "Natural Dog Training" unless you like a bit of a giggle.

It is written very much like Jan Fennels stuff, you keep turning the pages hoping for some "meat", but in his case, you have to go for believing in telepathy as the primary method of communication between dog and man. I did give the parcel a good rattle, but couldn't find the crystal. Believe you me, his attempt at physics is abysmal.

What I really want is a book to explain to me how to get myself and my poodle through Novice, open and UD with no nerves and no fails, for my eyesight on my left side to return, and a book to tell me how to do congruent body language, all on 30 seconds a day.

I keep on showing my poodle my older dogs footprints, because despite the bad press i sometimes give him, he got through encouragement , novice , and open on two fails.I now realise that not every dog does his, and sort of forgot to let him know. :D It was illuminating to note how few dogs are getting through open these days.

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Hey Laffi and leopuppy,

For what its worth my instructor when I was training at the Rotti club recommended the Idiots Guide to Positive training as well worth getting. She mentioned it on several occasions to me - they were private lessons before classes actually started since I was after some open work rather than the classes which were only structured through to novice. She is one of the tutors on the delta CGC course and even given what she knew of my background in positives she still recommended it.

So there you go my opinion for what its worth.

I love Morgan Spector :D .

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Agility (for very beginners): Susan Garrett "Shaping success"

Obedience : Morgan Spector "Clicker training for obedience"

I agree with Susan Garrett's "Shaping Success" being an excellent book, but for anyone who's into agility not just "very beginners". :D

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Agility (for very beginners): Susan Garrett "Shaping success"

Obedience : Morgan Spector "Clicker training for obedience"

I agree with Susan Garrett's "Shaping Success" being an excellent book, but for anyone who's into agility not just "very beginners". :D

LOL, well I am a very beginner and it's one of my first books about agility. That's why it's hard for me to judge if it's good for more advanced people :( It's perfect for beginners, even with puppies who are not physically ready to start agility.

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Another great book is The Idiots Guide to Positive Dog Training

I've often wondered about this. As Laffi said - how advanced is it???

Can you pick things up from it as a reasonably 'experienced' trainer???

Flickinig through it and i've always thought it looks good :D

It is probably one of the best 'Idiots' guides, it is written by Pamela Dennison who has a fantastic reputation and I can see why when I read this book. It has theory and 'how tos', even covers things like stress and calming signals. I think it is a great reference book to have handy, although Leopuppy you may already know a lot of the info.

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'Building Blocks for Performance' by Bobbie Anderson is excellent.

Covers foundation work for puppies for obedience, agility and even herding.

Best agility foundation book I have read is 'From the Ground Up' by Kim Collins

Another favourite (although not really a training book) is 'Bones would Rain from the Sky' by Suzanne Clothier

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Susan Garretts Shaping Success and Ruff Love both are great books not just for the Agility Enthusiast, but for general dog training information on Positive Dog Training for all types of dog sports.... 100% recomendation to add to anyones collection :(:rofl:

Complete Idiots Guide to Positive Dog Training, also another 100% recomendation for everyone wanting to learn more on Positive dog Training :(:)

I have also just got a beginners guide to Agility by Laurie Leach, would be more suited to the beginner and has some great info

For Agility books, the Clean Run special additions:- Contact Training, Weaving, Jum,ping and the Puppy issue are also a great resource for the Agility enthusiast, and i would recommend all for people doing Agility

Now for DVD's would highly recommend Greg Derretts Foundation Training and Great dog Shame about the Handler, Susan Garretts Success with One Jump and her latest release Crate Training DVD :rofl::rofl:

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I really need to hunt up some Susan Garrett stuff - I love Greg Derrett Stuff, but am yet to see SG :(

If you love GD then you will also love SG, i have been lucky enough to go to a seminar with both SG and GD and just recently another 4 days with Susan, working on foundation stuff and the one jump ex as well as a mini 2x2 weave training session, all were fantastic.... i am already planning the Linda Orton Hill seminars next year

all of SG stuff can be found at agilityclick.com

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Clean Run Magazine!! :thumbsup:

I've also been told that Click and Play Agility by Angelica Steinker is very good but I haven't read it.

If you're into clicker training you will love it !

Leopuppy - I would also recommend anything by Susan Garrett.

'Shaping Success' is a great read by itself even without the 'agility component'.

Just remember it is a few years old now and represents how Susan Garrett trained this particular dog (Buzz)

I believe her new dog Encore has been trained a little differently as you will see in the 'One Jump' video (excellent resource for a variety of levels) and as she now teaches at seminars. (Even Greg Derrett has modified his handling system slightly compared to the original videos- can't wait for his new one which is supposed to be out later this year)

If you get a chance to do a seminar with Susan Garrett - take it!

I went to Canberra earlier this year and she was fantastic.

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Clean Run Magazine!! :rofl:

I've also been told that Click and Play Agility by Angelica Steinker is very good but I haven't read it.

Currently reading 'Click and Play Agility by Angelica Steinker' and loving it!

Also reading 'Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt' - loving this one even more! What I love about this book is the pure positive aspect and the emphasis of building a relationship with your dog, learning to read your dog etc. Lots of training exercises too.

Have also read Culture Crash and loved it!

Don't shoot the dog iby Karen Pryor is a good read.

Just finished On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas - very interesting read.

Have also read bits & pieces of 'How to right a dog gone wrong - a roadmap for rehabilitating aggressive dogs by Pamela S Dennison' - my Brittany cross is reactive to strange dogs - so I have purchased quite a few books about 'dog aggression' - however, I am in denial and prefer to say he's reactive as opposed to dog aggressive! :rofl: He's fine with any dog who comes to our house - but has a tendancy to chase other dogs when we're out and about - which of course I don't allow and hence avoid busy dog parks.

Yet to read:

Click to Calm - Healing the aggressive dog by Emma Parsons

Scaredy Dog - Understanding & rehabilitating your reactive dog by Ali Brown

Getting in TTouch with your dog - Linda Tellington Jones

Have been on a bit of a spending spree on clean run/dogwise /amazon websites!!! :rofl::rofl:

I have read Jan Fennel / Ceasar Millan and didn't like any of those books. :rofl:

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Yet to read:

Click to Calm - Healing the aggressive dog by Emma Parsons

I own that. :laugh: Click to calm is quite a good resource if you have a dog who is aggressive because they're a bit nervous or scared of other dogs. It concentrates on teaching "good" behaviours with clicker and food, then getting the dog to practice them progressively closer and closer to other dogs, until the dog isn't scared of other dogs anymore (basically it's desensitisation and counterconditioning). Might be good for your Brittany. Although I have to say that the author kind of annoyed me too with her "all punishment is abusive" preaching (the background story is that her adolescent male dog started to get a little stroppy around other dogs, she had no idea how to assert leadership kindly so she allowed a professional trainer to completely abuse him with very severe mistimed prong collar corrections - which escalated the aggression tremendously - and from that she concludes that all punishment is abuse and all aggressive dogs are really just fearful and can be cured by clicker. Just struck me as a bit illogical and closed minded, and IMO not really true.)

To answer the thread question though, I quite like the book "Schutzund obedience, training in Drive" by Dildei and Booth. It's not just for schutzhund obedience, a lot of the stuff can be applied for regular kennel club obedience too.

Loved Steven Lindsay's three big "Handbook of applied canine behaviour and training" books, but definately they're not a casual read, they're more like huge reference books. Also loved "the other end of the leash" by Patricia McConnell. It's not strictly a training book, doesn't teach you how to train a dog, but it does have lots of information on dog behaviour and communication that is relevant to training.

Also rather like "Play Training your dog" by P G Burnham, though that's less of a step-by-step training book, and more of an entertaining read for people who happen to like obedience trialling.

And as a free resource, a lot of the articles on the Leerburg website are IMO really good.

Like some of the previous posters, I was unimpressed by Behan's "Natural Dog Training" and by Jan Fennell's books.

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