Top 10 Dog Training Books for Anyone in 2019


Dog Training Books are the best friends for any new owner. A lot of you will ask, “Why do I have to read dog training books? They are just dogs” Unfortunately, a lot of new owners still don’t get the idea that dogs are a huge topic, and there are a lot of “SCIENTIFIC REASONS” for everything they do.

Reading Dog Training Books to train your dogs well

We are in 2019, and unfortunately, some owners still believe that using the old techniques (Choke Colors, yelling at dogs, hitting them, etc.) is the best thing to get a well-trained dog. For God’s Sake, you have to reprogram your mind again, please! There is a lot of researches that had been made over the last few years to prove that the Old-school technique of training dogs is no longer useful and that it worsens the behaviors of dogs rather than training the dog professionally.

Disclaimer

We have listed the Dog Training Books here from our point of view. We have read over 34 books in Dog Training, and we have seen that these lists will be the most helpful. We aren’t paid by any mean of means to promote any of these books, but we do offer affiliate links to our top 10. The listing is based on our personal experiences, and we aren’t affected by any external factors.

When Is It Acceptable To Use Old School Dog Training Techniques?

I will be fair enough; some situations require the old school techniques like a Rottweiler trying to bite every person he meets. This situation will require a combination of Old school and new training techniques. First, we put a choke collar to start holding the dog well. Then we can begin training him and rehabilitating him again to be able to live a beautiful life.

There are a lot of situations where we can use harsh techniques; however, I prefer to stay away from them as much as possible as they build the foundation of a fearful dog rather than a lovely bond between you and your dog.

Damages Caused By Old School Dog Training

I’ve conducted a list about the damages old-school techniques might cause:

  • Emotional Damage: Can you go to a psychiatrist and ask him, “How many children do you meet every day that are suffering from the parental abuse they have?” He will tell you a lot. Same to dogs. You took your dog at a very young age from his mother and brothers, threw him in a weird darkroom (or garden), and chained him up. He was playing and having fun and suddenly found himself in the middle of a dark room with a strange person. He considers, indeed, you know as his parent, the person who will act like his mother. So he loves you to the moon and back and gives you the unconditional love that you would never find from any person. Then, you suddenly started yelling at him, using choke collars, trying to teach him to do things “THAT HE DOESN’T UNDERSTAND YET” and keep harming him for no reason.

    Scientists have proved that old school training is the reason for almost 90% of the behavioral issues in dogs.
  • Physical damage: This includes the following:
    • Choke Collar: It causes severe injuries to the neck and, if not used correctly, can lead to killing your dog if overused.
    • Electric Collar: Causes burns around the neck and can lead to an Electric Shock that leads to the dog’s death.
  • Unpredictable behaviors: If your dog was going to play with a child, for example, then you used a choke collar, you will suddenly see him growling and biting the child. That’s not because he’s a bad dog, but you are a terrible owner. You made him aggressive that he started biting people. That’s why I always yell at people in parks when they let dogs play with each other with leads, I always tell them, “Hey, the dogs will attack each other instead of playing, because this equipment stresses them! So FOR GOD’S SAKE, remove it and let the dogs play with each other,” and yet people still find me crazy.
  • Teaches nothing: Ok, I speak Arabic, but, Mr. Erwin (the owner of K9backpacks) speaks dutch. So we can never understand each other. That’s why we both communicate in English, a middle language that can be understood by both of us. What we say in English is then interpreted in our brains into our languages (Arabic and Dutch). Now imagine, if Mr. Erwin just wanted to speak with me in dutch, then he started yelling, then he started threatening to fire me if I didn’t follow the instructions he gave me in DUTCH! Do you find that fair?

    Your dog is the same, and he doesn’t speak ENGLISH OR ARABIC OR DUTCH OR NORWEGIAN OR SPANISH, etc. He has no way of understanding those things. And you can’t understand his language, his tone of barking and his body language. So you both should communicate in a language where you can understand each other, and it’s the training language. So you start luring him to do specific movements while repeating the word of each movement and thank him when he does it correctly. Now, if you are using a choke collar, you are just trying to punish that he doesn’t understand your language because you didn’t offer training form the beginning. So please, think about it next time you hear him whining because he doesn’t understand!

But the son of my Father’s Friend who has Trained Dogs for his Whole Life Used Old School Techniques, and it Worked

First, let me confess, guys, Old School Training is fast. After 3 or 4 days, the dog will make a sit whenever he sees you and will try to bow down for you like he was his servant, and you will be amazed like “This Soheir on K9backpacks is wrong, and her words are full of lies”. And on the other hand, positive training will take months to achieve this kind of obedience. So the maths is simple, use Old Training.

After one year, you found your dog immediately and without warnings have bitten your sister, your neighbor, or your friend. Your dog refuses any person to enter the house. You can’t walk your dog anymore. And bit by bit by bit, your dog is becoming the new master of the house. Then, congratulations, you sold or abandoned your dog because he became a beast. On the other hand, our dog that took a year to be well trained is the sweetest furry baby ever. Everyone sees him fall in love with him immediately, he never grabs on the street, and he waits patiently for any new orders.

What I mean to say, if you want the results to be short-term, then go with Old School Training, you will have a perfect dog. If you wish to, the effects to be long-term, that’s sweet, you don’t have a choice except positive training

We Don’t Have Time To Read Dog Training Books

I will repeat it. We are in 2019. The technological improvements right now made every book available on your mobile and also available as an Audio Book. So you don’t have to take some of your precious time every day to look at the bog. Instead, you can plug-in the earphones while driving and still learn a lot of new things about Dogs’ behaviors.

Top 5 Dog Training Books for Absolute Beginners

I know that I have written a long introduction, but I wanted to prove my point that Dog Training Books are no longer useless. And I have conducted a list for beginners, intermediates & experts. Here is the first list:

  1. Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution: The Complete Guide to Raising the Perfect Pet with Love
    I keep mentioning this book over and over, and that’s because I appreciate this wonderful-written book by Zak George. It’s completely easy for beginners and will give you an immediate jump in understanding Dog’s behaviors and solutions to most of them. This book is lovely by all means and will make you a knowledgable person in a few months. It’s offered in a wide range of formats too which is excellent (including audioBook which is free for train 😉 )
  2. Think Like Your Dog and Enjoy the Rewards
    “Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that’s how dogs spend their lives” Sue Murphy
    An amazing book that will give you an understanding of the dog’s thinking. Making you able to provide creative solutions for your dog’s problems without the need to listen to anyone. It makes you completely familiar with everything dogs do that enables you to go an extra step further and give a reasonable explanation for any weird thing.
  3. Bonding with Your Dog: A Trainer’s Secrets for Building a Better Relationship
    Victoria Schade was on fire in this beautiful book. She gave a wide range of ways to achieve the most positive training methods I have ever read while providing ideas on how to train and exercise your dog even if you were working for 12 hours a day. Some of these methods are changing the path of walking daily and by creative solutions. This book had a significant effect on the relationship between Kira and me that she became in absolute love with me.
  4. The Art of Raising a Puppy
    “The process of eye-opening is symbolic of everything that happens during this stage – a steady, gradual transformation.”
    Monks of new skete did a fantastic job here. They are providing a full in-depth training guide for puppies. While this book gives training methods, avoid it if you have an old dog as this will not be very helpful. Reading Bonding with Your dog will be much more useful as it applies to all dogs of different ages.
  5. Training the Best Dog Ever: A 5-Week Program Using the Power of Positive Reinforcement
    All the above books can be used over the long term. However, this book, in particular, is written to be used during the early stage to get a well trained and perfect puppy in 5 weeks. While I didn’t use this book because I found it late, but I found that all the people are recommending it for any new owner!

The Above books are great for any person to ready, whether this person is a beginner or intermediate or an expert, and you will feel a significant effect happening when you read them.

Top 5 Dog Training Books for Knowledgable Owners

Not all dog owners are beginners. And because of this, we are writing this post for all owners. We have conducted another list for knowledgable owners:

  •  Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know
    A great book was written to understand the psychology of dogs. It won’t go through training. However, it will give you an understanding of how dogs think and how to cope with their thinking.
  • The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs
    Another beautiful book was written by Patricia B. McConnell to give a quick overview of the behaviors that humans do near dogs and how dogs react to these behaviors.
  • Our Dogs, Ourselves: The Story of a Singular Bond
    Another Book which is written by the author of Inside of a Dog Alexandra Horowitz. Alexandra looks at our relationship with dogs from another point of view. Examining why our bond is shaped like this and what we can do to strengthen this bond.
  • Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words
    If you don’t know Chaser, let me give you a quick interview about this beautiful dog. She is a lovely dog who is very intelligent that she learned 1000 words. She learned all the words of her toys, etc. This dog has enabled scientists to discover very hidden secrets that were revealed after the appearance of this beautiful dog. In this book, Dr. John W. Pilley Jr. Ph.D. tries to tell you the story of this dog and how to unlock the genius part of every dog.
  • Dogs With Jobs: Inspirational Tales of the World’s Hardest-Working Dogs
    One of my favorite books ever. While this book isn’t considered a Training Book, it gives you a vast understanding of why do we grow up dogs. How dogs are trained to do different tasks and show you how beautiful are dogs! I recommend it for anyone as this will give you a considerable boost to train your dog better and better.

Conclusion

Indeed, everyone wants to have a well-trained dog. While there isn’t a single approach or path to getting up a well-trained dog, make sure that any used method will be friendly and never hurt your dog. Reading a book is the best way to learn new things, no one knows “EVERYTHING,” and you have to understand that every day is a new day to learn and a new day that can be used to have a better relationship with your dog. Use every opportunity to raise your dog with love, fun, and happiness and never make him suffer by any mean.

The life of dogs is, unfortunately, shorter than us, and that’s why I always advise people to make it as fun as possible.

Meanwhile, check our latest article about German Shepherds and Cats! Don’t forget to write a comment telling us which book is the best in your opinion!
Have a nice day!

Soheir Maher

Hi, I am Soheir. I have always been passionate about dogs. My first dog was Leo who was a wonderful Golden Retriever after that I got Kira another Golden Retriever who is wonderful too. My passion for dogs made me read a lot about them. Training them personally made me become an expert in everything related to them, that's why my writing is always a mix of experience and science. My writing about dogs isn't for the sake of earning a living but instead, for the sake of benefiting people around the world.

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