Product Description

One of the reasons we share our lives with dogs is to enjoy their company – while they help us loosen our grip on this no-nonsense, career-driven world. Once you and your canine pal have serious training (for obedience, basic good behavior, and so on) under the belt, you can take the edge off by injecting the whole training process with some fun tricks and games.

Tricks and games are open to dogs of all sizes, shapes, and ages. Every dog can learn to do something they’ll enjoy. A Poodle, for example, can learn to dance. A retriever needs to fetch. Bichon Frises love their parlor tricks. Huskies want to pull a sled, herders love to herd, and so on. As for you, the dog owner, you  need to be sure your pooch knows who’s in charge. You need to be the trainer, not the trained, before you and your dog can move on to tricks and games.

Dog Tricks For Dummies makes trick training fun for you and your dog. You can teach simple tricks, like wagging the tail on command, and more complex ones, like fetching a soda from the refrigerator. This handy guide also shows you how to

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29150 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780764552878
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Back Cover
Easy-to-follow illustrations throughout

The quick and easy way to make trick training fun for you and your dog This fun and friendly guide shows you how to teach your dog tricks, from the simple (wagging his tail) to the extraordinary (fetching a soda from the refrigerator). Dogs of all sizes, shapes, and ages can learn new tricks, and this book's clear, step-by-step instructions show you how to train your special friend to perform.

About the Author
Sarah Hodgson has been training dogs for more than a decade and has appeared on TV shows such as NBC's Today and The Rosie O'Donnell Show. She is the author of several dog books.

Customer Reviews

Top dog of trick training books
I have read through several dog training books all to be disappointed at the lack of a "trick" training section. I have my 2 month old Aussie in obedience classes in hopes to have her compete in Agility and Obedience shows however they are not teaching any fun tricks, just-sit,stay,down,etc. I am very glad that I purchased this book because it covers everything lacking from class and the dog training books I have.It teaches you tricks to teach your dog that I didn't even know were posible. It covers opening and closing doors, putting away toys, jumping through hoops,counting and much more. You won't be disappointed with this book.

Great book, bad editor!
Sarah Hodgson does a great job of giving step-by-step instructions for training tricks, something that is harder to do than it looks! Everything in here is dog friendly and fun. I taught my dogs several of these tricks, and we made up a few new ones based on what we'd learned.

I wish that there was more content to the book, though. Perhaps 75% of it is filler. There are whole chapters on feeding, medical care and basics like sit, down and stay. Certainly, all of these topics are important, but they have only tangential relevance to trick training.

There are several other filler chapters about dog sports. Why fill 50-odd pages with brief overviews of skijoring, carting and flyball? Each of these sports has more than a few good books that readers can refer to if they're interested. Being a Border Collie owner in Texas, I have no use for info on the Iditarod!

I would much rather have a smaller volume filled with stuff that I want to read. All of this filler dilutes the book, and makes it harder to pick out the valuable info.

Easy and Effective Training Techniques
In the past I've stayed away from any book whose title made such a negative statement about its reader's intellegence, but when I went searching for information beyond the basic "sit, stay, down, heel . . " commands this was the only one of the shelf. It was actually worth the embarassment of walking through the store with a big yellow and black volumn that seemed to scream, "the woman carrying this is an idiot." Looking back, anyone watching me juggling the book, my squirmy chihuahua puppy, Jesse (obviously in bad need of SOME kind of training), my purse, and a bag full of doggie paraphernalia wasn't thinking I was the smartest person in the store.

The first lesson I learned after buying this book, was to do my shopping online! Beyond that, this book clearly and concisely explains the steps to teaching an amazing array of tricks, many that are fun and clever, but also others that are extemely practical.

The method the author uses (breaking complex tricks into a series of smaller, easy-to-teach skills) is both effective and fun. She also is very frank and kind in explaining that not all dogs are good at all tricks. Her discussion on breeds and their natural abilities helped me identify the tricks my little guy would most likely learn and excell at.

Right now we're learning the 7 basic commands and, at 4 months, my puppy is already getting compliments on his intellegence and good manners. Jesse and I highly recommend this book.