[.ca] Playtraining Your Dog (ISBN 0312616910)

a great approach to training 'independant' breeds:
I really appreciated the insights into finding 'motivators' for independant breeds such as sighthounds and in my case, Siberian Huskies. This book is a mainstay on my dog training shelf. In addition, I recommend William Campbell's 'Behavior Training in Dogs' (at least the edition I purchased in the 70's).

Without a doubt, the single best dog training book I've read:
Play training was a lifesaver for us when "traditional" training methods proved too harsh for our dog. The strength of this method is that it makes training a fun, positive experience for both dog and trainer by working with the dog's own natural instincts and enthusiasm for play. At age 12, our dog still responds to obedience commands with joy and enthusiasm (even though he hasn't been kept in active training), thanks to Burnham's methods. Definitely two thumbs up!

The Dogs Deserve This Book!:
When I first bought this little book I was simply impressed by the author's greyhounds. I figured anyone who had that much success with a greyhound must have something interesting to say! Little did I know I was getting a treasury of dog training information. Play Training Your Dog has wonderful motivational techniques, fully explained. Most dogs turn into wonderful 'rag' dogs and for those who don't it's easy to turn her methods into one using food, or another toy. More valuable though than even the training information, are the chapters on having fun with your dog, showing, and anger management. The entire book is also smattered with stories making it an easy fun read. Overall EVERYONE should have this book. It's the one I consistently go back to. And the only one that I agree with completely except for one minor item (the forced retrieve as written in the book). That aside though, the books lends itself to many situations and training methods including clicker training. It truly is a great book.

Not bad, but not the best you can do.:
I was frankly rather disappointed by this book. I love the writing style, and the author's anecdotes about showing her dogs are hilarious. Unfortunately, I was expecting more actual ideas for games you could play with your dog that would motivate or teach him, and there isn't much that's new in this book. Also, as a clicker trainer, I find the fact that the author claims to support learning by positive reinforcement to be mildly amusing, since she's miles away from what most of us would call by that name. (I got The Culture Clash at the same time as this book, and the difference is striking.) To sum up, I think this was a useful, cutting-edge book... for 1986.

Excellent motivator for show dogs:
having shown dogs for 25 years it is always great to find a publication like this that makes training fun for your dog, rather than him/her just having to do it. Although it is designed as an obedience book, many things in the first part of the book also apply to show training as well. I often reccommend this book to people, but unfortunately it is very hard to purchase in Australia