The Love That Dog Training Program

by Larry Kay, Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz

Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz is a very special trainer. She knows dogs instinctively, and, drawing on lessons she learned from raising three children, she uses the power of positive reinforcement and bonding to train dogs to be joyful, obedient, and devoted members of a family. Dog lovers throughout the Washington, DC, area know She trained each of the late Senator Ted Kennedy€™s dogs, and when the Obama family were deciding on a puppy€” and could have chosen any trainer in the world to work with€”it was Ms Sylvia-Stasiewicz who trained Bo.In The Love That Dog Training Program, a lively, accessible, authoritative book, she shares her invaluable and proven program. Her method is based on positive reinforcement. She believes in trust and treats, not choke collars; in bonding, not squeezing or hitting. Her dogs are happy and self-confident, spirited yet very well-behaved. The basic program is five weeks, it takes only 15 or 20 minutes a day, and it works f

Genres: Animals

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2010

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be honest, at first I did not think much of this book.

The author (in an attempt to be relatable I'm sure) mentions how one of her dogs shredded her couch pillow when she left him home unsupervised. My first thought was - wait! I don't want to take training advice from someone who has a dog that eats her pillows!!!!

BUT our new puppy did not like being in her crate (well, really she seemed to not like us leaving her - it wasn't the crate so much she seemed to mind but she is a chew-aholic so leaving her out at night right now is NOT an option!).

Out of desperation, I looked at the section of the book on crate training. Using magical turkey hot dogs and this book's advice, my puppy dramatically stopped barking on the first day (about 1 minute vs. 5-10) and by the 2nd day, she stopped barking completely!

So now I am a believer of this book and I'm going to continue referring to it for any other training issues as they come up.

I'm giving it only 4 stars though instead of 5 because, well, I'm still having a hard time with that sofa cushion incident!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I read it before I got the dog.

[Luyi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A translated version in Chinese.

Briefly skimmed later chapters in order to gain an insight.

[Jean Texera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will pull this out when I get a new dog!