How to Raise the Perfect Dog by Cesar Millan

[Heavenly]

I just finished reading this book in preparation for our new puppy and I just wanted to post my opinion of it. I was incredibly impressed with this book. All of his lessons on how to raise a puppy make so much sense, and honestly make the task of raising a puppy seem much less daunting. He offers tips and advice for almost everything you can think of and everything is dealt with in a very positive manner. Honestly, to me it seems like the perfect AP book for dog-raising. I recommend anyone with a puppy or even an adult dog to check out this book. You won't be disappointed!

[ErynneM]

Can you give some examples of what he recommends?

- E

[greenmagick]

I have not read this book...but the books I have read by him I completely disagree with his method. He has some good info...but he is way off on many of his solutions. Again, I dont know about this particular book, but in general, he is not at all AP friendly imo...he uses force and intimidation.

My fav for puppy raising is Dr Ian Dubar's Before and After You Get Your Puppy.

It is available as a free pdf here

Before

After

Before I got my last puppy I decided to research everything I could. I had a good amount of dog experience already including managing a grooming and boarding kennel. I bought all of Millans books I could find and even some of his videos....then I discovered authors like Suzanne Clothier, Patricia McConnell, Paul Owens (the real dog whisperer) Ian Dunbar, Karen Pryor, etc...and literally my life was changed.

[Ola_]

I will try to check it out. I've not been very impressed with his other books but I'll reserve judgement on this one till I can look through it.

[Zach'smom]

You may want to try The Other End of the Leash by Patricia B. McConnell, PH.D.
We are clicker training our 1 yo (or possibly 2 yo) shelter dog. The book was really insightful and full of wonderful information. Our dog trainer recommended it to us.

[Sam*]

I also really liked The Monks of New Skete books and videos.

[Doodlebugsmom]

Originally Posted by Heavenly

I just finished reading this book in preparation for our new puppy and I just wanted to post my opinion of it. I was incredibly impressed with this book. All of his lessons on how to raise a puppy make so much sense, and honestly make the task of raising a puppy seem much less daunting. He offers tips and advice for almost everything you can think of and everything is dealt with in a very positive manner. Honestly, to me it seems like the perfect AP book for dog-raising. I recommend anyone with a puppy or even an adult dog to check out this book. You won't be disappointed!

There was actually a Dog Whisperer episode based on this book. I just happened to catch it at my mom's house recently. I was highly impressed with the way he went about choosing and raising a puppy. People do tend to think of Cesar as one who uses force and/or intimidation, but he doesn't do that with the puppies at all. I think he does that type of thing with dogs he usually works with on the show. He's usually working with a dog that has behavior problems due to their owner's lack of dog-raising knowledge. I've actually never seen him do anything forceful unless under attack by an aggressive dog, though.

[Heavenly]

I think people get the wrong idea of him but there is absolutely nothing in the book that is harsh to the animals at all. His training methods make a lot of sense and seem very straightforward. I fully intend to use his methods for our new puppy. I read the Ian Dunbar book but it's not really my cup of tea.

[greenmagick]

Well, I have read his other books and have seen his shows. You have to do what you want, its your dog. Ian Dunbar is probably one of the best known and most respected individuals in the dog behavior world....what he says is actual truth about dogs and their behaviors etc. Millan, though from a lot of backlash does seem to be softening up some and is not starting to use treats sometimes etc., bases his work with adult dogs mostly on dominance theory, which has been disproven.

Also, he has a natural way with dogs...he gets results using methods that would backfire for the vast majority of people.

For others who are contemplating using his method...

this is one of my favorite sites explaining the issues I have with it...
http://drsophiayin.com/philosophy/dominance/