Looking for book/DVD recommendations for "do-it yourself" training - Page 1

I have a 11 week old GS puppy and I want to dedicate time to work with her and teach her good behavioral habits. She will only be a pet and nothing more (not a show dog) and for now I'm just looking for the basics like how to walk at my side, how to make eye contact, stay, etc.. at some point I need to teach her to stay in my yard without running away or attacking strangers that come onto my property!
I found some positive comments here in the forums on an author, but after reading some reviews of her book on amazon.com I don't think it's right for me because hitting was mentioned on a few of the reviews.
I'm just looking for correct techniques to use on my dog.

Thanks

Wings,
Everyone's got an opinion,
I think beyond working with a puppy, William Koehler has a few good points even though he's a bit long winded.
Parts of his method are very good especially the longe line, while other parts you may not care for.
Basically with a puppy be consistent and use positive reinforcements and rewards, along with planning and prevention.
Lot's of love and bonding, socializing, and the planning ahead is really important.  It's better to prevent a problem than to correct it after the fact when your dealing with a puppy.
Hope ya find something that works for you.
Moons.
 

check youtube for "tab289",his info is easy to understand and digest..."michael ellis" has some very good stuff on youtube also....you'll surely be able to find others on youtube that you may like better,but i think these are good,not complete, but some great ideas to get you started.

I agree with Two Moons- everyone has an opinion on what style of training works for them. You can always find negative book reviews.

I'm not sure where you are located but BowWowFlix, a dog training dvd rental service, ships to Canada and the US. I usually find it easier to watch than read a dog training explanation; often the really subtle cues are very important. Even though I don't do Schutzhund, I found reading the obedience sections in Ivan Balabanov and Karen Duet's book to be very helpful in terms of understanding the theory behind obedience training.

I'm new to dog training and I've found it really helpful to take obedience classes with a good professional trainer to develop a solid foundation for both of us. Watching videos of dogs on youtube somehow makes training look way easier than it actually is. Perhaps I'm just slow but things aren't always obvious to me and I need a live human to point out what I'm doing wrong. Sometimes training is just plain work and it takes a lot of time (eg. a solid recall under distractions). I have never regretted the money I've spent on obedience classes; I consider it an investment in a stress free home life.

Just my 1 cent Canadian for what it's worth.

Laura

I, too, strongly recommend taking the pup to classes in addition to reading books and watching DVDs. The pup needs the socialization with other dogs, for one thing, and then, as Laura said above, it's often hard to know what you are doing wrong, unless an experienced person is there to point it out to you.

Also, you need to proof your dog's obedience. A nice recall in your backyard is one thing, but a recall with the distraction of multiple dogs and handlers is quite another. Having your dog learn that may save its life one day, if it happens to get off leash next to a busy street!

Like Moons, I started out with Kohler, but obedience is kinder and gentler now, though the principles behind it are still pretty much the same. Ivan Bablanov and Michael Ellis are very highly regarded. I have seen some of Michael's DVDs, but they were strictly geared to schutzhund trainers. He may have others that are not, though.

Ivan helped a handicapped friend of mine train her service dog, and also taught it to protect her. She was already an experienced trainer, before she developed multiple health issues. He helped her work around her limitations so that she could still control the dog. Now, THAT'S what I call a good trainer. Many trainers get too focused on one particular aspect of training, and they would not be able to 'think outside the box' enough to work with someone who's handicapped.

I started out with personal experience, personal trial and error when I was a kid, I was like a Dr. Doolittle with animals. Ten years ago I grabbed three books that opened my eyes on some points and had a wealth of information. What stinks is a while back while in New Mexico I lent those books to the kennel hand we were staying at and on our last day we missed each other and they never got returned.

Can't exactly remember their titles. I believe I have seen one of them under Leerburg's site. A light tan paperback with a drawing, (looks like pencil) shows a decoy with a dog. I want to say two sets of drawings? "Training the working dog" or "Training the protection dog" and I believe the author is German. Second book, a hardcopy medium size shows a photograph of a GSD on the tip of an A Frame with a dumbell in his mouth, "Schutzhund Training" "Schutzhund Theorys" can't remember. I believe the auther is a German or American woman. And the third one is a blank in my head.

Maybe some of our members have those books?

Could be one of the books on my coffee table. :)

Schutzhund: Theory and Training Methods by Susan Barwig and Stewart Hilliard

Der Schutzhund (The Protection Dog) by Helmut Raiser

Schutzhund Obedience: Training in Drive by by Gottfried Dildei & Sheila Booth

Laura - Thank you so much for the BowWowFlix link!!  I am signing up today!

Try Michael Ellis. It is reward based training methods.

Laura! Thanks. The first one is one of them. Then I got to thinking maybe I can find then on Amozon.com? Looked under Leerburg at first but didn't find them. And there was the second one, had to scroll @ 9 pages; "Training the Competitive Working Dog", what stinks is I had a ton of notes written in that book! And I haven't looked for the third one yet, Can't picture that for some reason. 

And Dawulf, fourth/fifth page was a book titled "Training the bird dog".