Dog Training for Kids

This would have been a helpful book for our family last spring when we adopted our rescue lab/setter, Moose, since it had been a while since we brought a new dog home and he had a lot to learn. The book goes through basic information about what to do when adopting a dog, with a little bit of emphasis on puppies. It goes over lots of safety information like foods dogs can't eat and how to dog-proof your house, plus things like what things you'll need to buy (some are not things I consider mandatory). Then there are basic commands to teach like recognizing their names, then simple tricks like sit and drop it, then fancier tricks like bow an for shame (put a piece of tape on their nose that they'll try to brush off so they learn to paw their face like they're ashamed), and finally fun games to play with your dog like obstacle course and soccer. All total there are about a dozen tricks, commands or games in each section, with a few more in some.

There are simple sketches showing some of the tricks but most do not have illustrations. The steps are well detailed but may be a little long and complicated for some kids. Positive training is used, with treats. Discipline is not mentioned but physical discipline is not encouraged. It's rather dog-friendly in terms of pointing out appropriate behaviors that may bother us but are normal (like sniffing other dog's rear ends) and is very gentle in training.

I disagree with some of the training advice, like the advice to train puppies to go to the bathroom inside for the first four months of their lives on puppy pads since they won't be fully vaccinated yet. And some of the training information makes things seem much easier than they probably will be, like teaching dogs to walk with a loose leash and heel. For the most part it's good, step by step techniques that should ultimately work though with patience and practice.

This is the third or fourth dog training/tricks book I've read this year and it's a pretty good one. I do prefer the books that have lots of color photos of the steps, but this one has more detail and troubleshooting of steps than some. It's also nice that this is designed specifically for kids.

All in all, this is a fun and helpful book for kids who are getting a new dog and want to have fun teaching it manners, tricks and games.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

(Note: This book did not exist on Goodreads yet despite being available for purchase later this month. I created an entry and put in all publication information for it.)