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BookmarkTreats, Play, Love is the collected wisdom of Patricia G. Burnham, the author of the highly successful Playtraining Your Dog, which has been in print for more than twenty-five years. Now, after fifty years in the business, she brings to this new book a focus on food training your dog with small treats, while still incorporating fun and games into teaching basic and advanced obedience. Burnham uses no compulsive training or punishment for incorrect or unwanted behaviors (such as barking, biting, urinating inside, or begging), but rather offers rewards for correct behavior, thus reinforcing it.
Topics covered include :
· Basic obedience training for puppies (exercises for sit, down, heel, and stay)
· House manners for older puppies and adult dogs (no whining or barking)
· Recipes for tasty dog treats that your four-legged friend will do anything for
· Understanding your dog’s personality
· Preventing dog bites
· Dealing with shy or fearful dogs
· Advice and exercises for training and showing a dog in obedience trials in novice class, open class, and utility class
· Reflections on the end of your dog’s life
There are more than 100 photos and line drawings throughout the book to illustrate movements and exercises, and for owners who want to show their dogs, there are detailed descriptions of what they can expect once they enter the ring.
Although Burnham works almost exclusively with greyhounds (which are notoriously difficult to train), her wisdom and expertise apply to all breeds, and her warmth, sound advice, and personal tone make Treats, Play, Love a joy to use.
There is good info in here but it is overshadowed by the author’s ego. Once again, as another reviewer stated, it’s all about her greyhounds. And while we’re at it, can we please find a training book that shows small dogs of different breeds that aren’t necessarily the sharpest pencils in the box? A book that doesn’t list the author’s own dogs’ championship titles not only throughout the book but in an appendix in the back of the book!?! A book that is written by an author who hasn’t broken their arm patting themselves on the back? As a professional trainer, I can appreciate all that this author has accomplished in her life. But if you’re going to write a book on dog training for the general public, please leave out the bragging. Most people don’t know what all the letters and numbers after a dog’s name means anyway. Nobody really cares. Write an autobiography if you have the need to toot your own horn and then publish it as such. The basic dog owner wants their dog to have good manners and understand and obey basic commands.
If you can get through the author’s personal yada-yada-yada prevalent throughout, this book describes things well. There are better books out there that just describe the how-to’s. And those books list the author’s credentials on the intro pages which, in my opinion, is the only place that information belongs.
I was excited to read this book! All the other reviews are pretty good. But, I really couldn’t stand it. First of all, the author seems to have her majority of dog training experience working with greyhounds, which I don’t have. The photos in this book (black and white, some looking pretty outdated) are about 95%+ of greyhounds. Anyone with a greyhound might find this book helpful. She adds a lot of personal stories about her dogs, some of which contain useful information, and some of which added nothing and could have been left out. I feel that this book is geared more towards breeders and people who want to show their dogs. The author also seemed to use a lot of generalizations which I didn’t like. I have a pit mix, and the only thing about pit bulls in this book is in the aggression section and she basically bashed pit bull owners and the dogs themselves, which I did not care for (Not that I feel she should have included a ton about pit bulls, but the rude comments added nothing and could have been left out). All in all, there were a few good tips in the book, but I regret buying it (even at the used paperback price) and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone but greyhound owners.
I have read dozens of dog training/behavior books. This books adds insights the others didn’t. The history of positive and demand/punishment training was interesting. I also thought her discussion about a dog’s challenge to the owner was also needed and helpful. The book is about the power of positive training, but with a full understanding of demand/punishment training. I highly recommend it.
Dogs in the wild spend a majority of their day figuring out how to find food, Patricia Burnham points out. Thus, if a certain behavior produces food, a dog will naturally and happily do it again. If you produce food in response to playing what he thinks is game, he will think you are the greatest thing on earth and pay attention to you despite all sorts of distractions. Aversion training (“If you heel, I won’t jerk on this choker collar”) may have it’s place, but not with my new puppy. It has the potential of creating a dog that does not enjoy working and learning with you.
I have trained dogs with correction in the past, but with a new puppy, I thought I’d at least read some of these “positive training” books. I am a complete convert! “The Power of Positive Training” has some great points as well and some step-by-step instruction. Instead of a clicker, I praise the dog and get the same response.
“Treats, Play, Love” is full of decades of experience, logical explanations for how different training methods work or not, and an historical prospective on training. Burnham also acknowledges when some forms of aversion training are appropriate and for which dogs it works. Pat Miller, in “The Power of Positive Training” seems more morally opposed to punishing dogs. I prefer someone who discussed all options.
If you have a dog, whether you are training for show or just to be a nice pet, whether you’ve trained a dog before or not, READ THIS BOOK.
This book is great. I have two Chi’s and need all the help I can get! The book is informative and definitely useable in everyday life.