How to Raise the Perfect Dog: Through Puppyhood and Beyond

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There is no way for me to fairly rate this as far as accuracy goes, so this rating is based on readability and interest created and sustained. For those of you who do not know, Cesar Millan – He is a Mexican born American Self Taught Dog Trainer who gained World-Wide Fame with the Television Series ‘The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan’ – which is currently in its 8th Season and being broadcast to over 80 countries worldwide. He has an unbelievable fan following along with books & DVD’s to his credit on Dog Training. Like humans, little pups also need to acquire social skills. They need to be trained so that they can interact appropriately with not just humans but other pets, including cats as well as other dogs. Encourage your dog to meet other dogs during walks or visits to the park. Regular social interaction with people and pets leads to the pet getting accustomed to outsiders, which can help control unwanted aggression. With routine social interplay, you are sure to avoid embarrassing accidents of your pup’s social misbehavior. 4. Schedule: At the end of the book, there’s a section that has the most common behavioral problems with dogs. This is nice since you can use the headings to skip the topics that aren’t pertinent to your dog. But, even these sections are extremely short and are missing the steps needed for training.

The book contains everything you need to know from how to select a puppy that would suit you and your lifestyle, to what to expect at each stage of your puppy’s life, importance of nutrition & vaccination, the common mistakes of dog training, how to correct problems, to how to bring out the best in your dog. So after putting my baby to sleep who was part of my family for thirteen years, we decided to adopt a new puppy. She's a rescue and I wanted help getting to establish good behavior and socialization early on. Since I love reading, I went and bought a bunch of books including this one. Let me start by saying that I grew up in a house full of dogs (when I graduated college, my parents had 4 indoor Shelties), and am currently a dog owner. As such, I can thoroughly appreciate Milan's television show, and have applied some of the principles he endorses to my own life to good effect.Hm, now what could you possibly do to your dog that might result in "adverse effects" (dog-speak for "getting bitten and/or creating a fearful and/or aggressive dog"). And if you ARE doing something that results in "adverse effects" ... gee, maybe that's a clue that you shouldn't be doing it. What I found impressive was the logic behind every action that he suggested. He has this crazy yet amazing logic to make you realize dogs can be controlled without force but by understanding them

Much like the television shows featuring this TV entertainer (he is NOT a dog trainer), there's a clear "Don't try this at home!" warning and another advising readers to seek the advice of a professional. Well, if Millan is not a professional (and clearly, by all dog-training standards, he's NOT), he has NO business giving dog-training advice. In addition to co-authoring six books, Cesar has created numerous instructional DVDs and continues to host a popular series of seminars where attendees learn how to apply his extensive knowledge of dog psychology and rehabilitation techniques.

Every little pup needs tender, loving care. Try to spend the maximum time with your cuddly little buddy. Enjoy your time together by engaging in fun games and activities. You can easily train your dog while playing with it. Spending quality time helps create a strong bond between the owner and the little puppy. That’s not all. The puppy feels secure and will respond better to training instructions. Try to communicate with your little bow-wow as much as possible. Pups often give signs through behavioral habits. These behavioral signs are its medium of communicating with owners. Dog owners should therefore learn to observe these behavioral signs to understand the dog’s needs and feelings. 8. Be Consistent:

The biggest criticism I found was that the book is more of an emotionally laced contribution than a logical step-by-step manual. The method and manner in which the author talks about a dog is as if everyone should have their entire life revolving around the animal – which may be possible for him but not everyone else. Yes, I agree that there are a few many human beings whose entire life revolves around their pet but please not me.

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Millan's advice about how to communicate with puppies was somewhat useful--he places a lot of emphasis on understanding that your dog isn't going to respond to normal human communication and that attempting to humanize your dog is a big mistake. The concept of using "calm-assertive energy" is more like a general thing to keep in mind while interacting with your dog...certainly useful, but I guess I was hoping for more concrete advice.