So Your Dog's Not Lassie: Tips for Training Difficult Dogs and Independent Breeds

by Betty Fisher

OK. You're dog doesn't live to please you. There, we've said it. Contrary to what you've always heard, not all dogs want to earn their owner's approval. Sometimes they seem as if they could not care less. But this is no secret to you -- you know your dog's not Lassie. With this book you will come to understand and appreciate that for hundreds of years dogs were bred for qualities like independence, dominance and determination. While these traits make dogs excellent hunters, trackers and fighters, they can make day-to-day living with your pet a real challenge. Betty Fisher and Suzanne Delzio will teach you how to employ or overcome the traits that make your dog difficult to train. They will show how to use body language, food, voice, training structure and style to convince your stubborn dog to do what you ask. Without force, you can turn your difficult dog into a perfect pet, or even a successful show dog.

Genres: Dogs, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1998

Reviews

[James Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for training independent breeds like Old English Bulldogs. I have had alot of success over the years using the tips in this book.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this book while browsing the used books at Goodwill. Awesome find! I have a tendency to chose dogs who are very intelligent and this usually means they have a definite mind of their own. This book has a lot of great tips for independent-minded dogs. I am raising my first puppy completely on my own (not a family dog) and would like him to be very well-behaved. This book has helped me grasp an understanding of what the more intelligent dogs require in making them want to work for you.

There were a couple things I didn't like much about the book...
-There are several boxes of information set out from the text. These have good pointers and I like the general idea but the boxes are mostly set in the middle of paragraphs (and a lot of times in the middle of sentences) which distracts from the portion being read. It would have been a lot more effective to place these boxes at the end of the section. This might just be personal preference but I found it distracting.
-There was a lot of information on competitions thrown in with the normal training stuff. There is a chapter at the end dedicated to training and I think ALL of the training stuff should have been stuck at the back, in this section.

Those are only minor complaints though, in comparison with what I learned from the book. I loved it and can't wait to start implementing some of the tips provided.

[Jennifer Priester · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is probably fine for puppy owners but what I really didn't like about it was that it said that adult Chihuahua's could not be trained, and I was looking for how to teach my adult Chihuahua some new tricks, which from help from the show, It's Me or the Dog, and Victoria Stillwell's book also titled It's Me or the Dog, I was able to successfully train my dog what I wanted to. I believe there are better dog training books out there, such as the one I mentioned here. And as a side note, my Chihuahua is currently a senior dog and is still learning new tricks and he is a normal, everyday, stubborn Chihuahua but he has proved it is possible to teach an adult Chihuahua.

[Kathy McC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of wonderful suggestions. Entertaining examples of "strong-willed" dogs. Enjoyable writing style.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best dog training books I have read. It helped immensely with my difficult dog.