Surviving Your Dog's Adolescence: A Positive Training Program

by Carol Lea Benjamin, Stephen Lennard (Photographer)

Overview

In Praise of Surviving Your Dog's Adolescence

"Carol Benjamin has brought her usual wit and insight to bear on what is one of the most troubling phases for dog owners.... Whether you're having difficulties with a youngster or have a puppy who will soon be an adolescent, you can't help but benefit from reading this book." Robert G. Maxwell President, The American Kennel Club

"A concise and practical guide Zthat] confronts almost every potential problem...with solid advice and good humor. It is destined to become a dog owner's next best friend." Roger A. Caras President, ASPCA
A Howell Dog Book of Distinction

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780876057421
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	10/01/1993
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	519,553
Product dimensions:	6.44(w) x 9.53(h) x 0.82(d)

About the Author

About the Author CAROL LEA BENJAMIN is a professional dog trainer with over twenty years' experience with dogs of all ages and with all kinds of problems. She is the author of six other books on dog behavior, Mother Knows Best: The Natural Way to Train Your Dog; Dog Problems; Dog Training for Kids; Dog Tricks (with Captain Arthur Haggerty); Second-Hand Dog: How to Turn Yours into a First-Rate Pet and The Chosen Puppy: How to Select and Raise a Great Puppy from an Animal Shelter. In addition, she has written two novels and four nonfiction books for children. Her award-winning column, "Dog Trainer's Diary," has been published in the AKC's Gazette since 1979.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments.

PART ONE: "I don't mind a reasonable amount of trouble.".

1. Where, Oh, Where Has My Little Dog Gone?

2. Winning Your Dog's Respect.

3. How to Have an Appropriate Relationship with Your Dog.

4. Tools of the Trade.

PART TWO: "A trained dog willingly does what its owner asks.".

5. Is Your Dog a Character?

6. Trade Secrets.

7. The Way to Train.

PART THREE: "Man plans, God laughs.".

8. Guerrilla Warfare.

9. Dealing with Your Dog's Problems.

PART FOUR: "My favorite thing is to go where I've never been.".

10. Building the Dog You Want.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

Lest any dog owner think thorough puppy-training sufficient to ensure happily-ever-after canine camaraderie, the author of the puppy-training classic Mother Knows Best pinpoints a trouble spot in doggie development. At anywhere between five and 10 months of age, warns Benjamin, the typically ``underemployed'' family dog will hit adolescence, and even a previously obedient dog may become ``bratty,'' ``moody'' and easily distracted. The language here may be anthropomorphic, but Benjamin quickly goes on to offer sensible solutions to a legitimate set of canine behavior problems. She bases her training on the well-known model whereby the owner assumes the so-called Alpha role in the ``pack''; while she has explained her theories and methods in previous books, and while most of her strategies for ``winning your dog's respect'' are more explicitly discussed in her colleague Job Michael Evans's People, Pooches and Problems , her focus on the adolescent dog is unique and her insights about general training are stimulating. The tone is chatty and the pace leisurely--which may reassure those in need of sympathy and aggravate others who want to get down to business. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Benjamin, a well-known dog trainer with over 20 years of experience, here offers a recipe for transforming the willful, disobedient adolescent canine into an enjoyable, well-behaved companion. Her method, which will be familiar to readers of her regular column in Pure Bred Dogs and American Kennel Gazette and in her other books, including Dog Problems (Howell, 1989) and Mother Knows Best (Howell, 1985), is based on treating the dog and his human family as a ``pack'' and establishing the dog's owner as its ``alpha'' member. While her book focuses on problems typical of adolescence, such as house soiling, destructiveness, aggression, disobedience, and overexuberance, Benjamin rightly points out that ill-trained dogs will have carried these ``adolescent'' problems into adulthood, making her guide appropriate for any dog owner. In a particularly useful section, she deals with the inherited behavioral tendencies of different breeds and ``character'' types and offers positive suggestions on how to channel these tendencies into acceptable behaviors. An entertaining book teeming with good advice. Recommended.-- Ellen Finnie Duran ceau, MIT Lib.

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