101 Dog Tricks: Step by Step Activities to Engage, Challenge, and Bond with Your Dog

I suggest buying 3 copies of this book… not 1…

First, because its a great coffee table book… hey, Chelcy (the author’s dog) is a Weimeraner – - and both are very photogenic – - on top of it, the graphic design and lay-out of the book are not only sensitive and informative, but very visually appealing… You can feel the excitement and enthuisiasm

Second – - its a fantastic reference book… and the idea of thinking “tricks” instead of cut and dry obedience I think is great for both the trainer and the dog. Though most of the tricks do have elements of obedience to them, they are presented in a way that makes training your dog more fun and lightharded and you’re not thinking, “good dog”/”bad dog”/”leash correction” – - In fact, I like the way the author not only has troubleshooting tips for each tricks, but will even give some ideas how difficult the trick is, what tricks need to be learned first, and how long it takes some dogs to learn. – - Also, all descriptions use simple, practical and effective language… The descriptions match up with the photos and the points are gotten across in a way that communicates the ideas to you and teaches you to teach them to your dog.

Finally… buy a third copy because… some dogs *cough* have tendencies to nibble on certain people’s reading material, especially when allowed in the bed. (o.k. that’s an obedience issue.)

As for the tricks, they range from basic sit/stay/rollover agility type tricks – - to classics like “bring me a beer”/”bring the newspaper” as well as a few parlor tricks/routines. The book also explains standard hand signals as well as commands.

Incidentally – - there I would like a refund for 2 of the tricks. One involves the human doing a handstand, the other a cartwheel… Trust me, if you’re the “bring me my beer” trick type, you won’t be doing those two…

All in all, this is one book that lives up to its own hype! Highly recommended!
Rating: 5 / 5

This is a great looking book, the pictures are lovely. Beyond that, I don’t think it’s a very good training book overall. The step by step instructions are often lacking clear details to teach the tricks and I find it depressing that the author advocates using physical corrections. For instance teaching shake, she recommends “bopping” the dog in the face if she sniffs your hand instead of pawing and to teach heel she recommends “popping” the collar if your dog strays out of line. They’re just not necessary and even gentle corrections can destroy a softer dog’s motivation so why include them? Presumably people getting this book want to have fun with their dogs.

There’s also no mention of using a clicker in the steps, which I think would make it easier to teach some of the tricks…for instance using shaping if you have a dog who doesn’t automatically mouth toys.

Though it is a pretty book, I don’t recommend it as anything more than a picture book. It does have some good ideas but a better training book is “The Only Dog Tricks Book You’ll Ever Need.” I’m glad I bought both of them at the same time so I’m not stuck with this book by itself, though it seems fine with other books so I’m kind of neutral on it I guess.

Edited to add…the more I read this book the more I dislike it. Maybe I’m just stupid but I fail to see how pushing my dogs nose down teaches him to bow. Meanwhile shaping accomplished it in a week. Wish I had known the methods employed before buying this. Just a warning to anyone with similar concerns. Maybe I’m just crazy but I do wonder about the rave reviews here.
Rating: 2 / 5