I appreciate the time the author took to write the book, but I was disappointed with it. It's worth adding to your library, but Cynthia Branigan's "Adopting the Racing Greyhound" is a much better book - easier to read and organized better.
The content is strangely organized; it repeats and is sometimes contradictory. Maybe it was over-edited by the publisher or has been re-branded from books on other breeds.
Here's an example of a key inconsistency:
The book uses the word "click" extensively when talking about training - about 200 times on pages 89-120.
Page 90: "From now on, when I say *click*, I mean make this sound. When I say *treat*, I mean reward your dog."
Page 99: "When I use the word click, that means that you should use your verbal or mechanical reward marker, such as making a sound with a clicker, and then reward your dog. Never click without treating afterward."
For a Dummies book, I wish they'd have dumbed-it-down a bit more. Here is one quote from the book that illustrates my point: "When I say 'treat,' that's short-hand for reward. It doesn't have to be food. Remember a reward is anything a dog will work for." Remember that I'm a dog dummy. What else would you suggest besides food? I don't think it's petting, because you remind us not to make it something you'll do at times when the dog isn't showing a behavior we want to reward. I don't think it's a favorite toy, because the dog has to stop the training session to play with the toy. Honestly, I'm confused.
This book has some good advice that I didn't get elsewhere:
- To minimize anxiety, don't give the dog too much attention shortly before leaving or immediately after returning. (I believe the book suggests within 30 minutes.)
- To occupy your pup while you're out of the house, give him a kong with peanut butter that's been in the freezer (takes longer to get to it).
- Get your greyhound used to touching slowly. Before clipping the nails, practice just touching them. To prepare him for kids, lightly bump and pinch him.
- Make trips to walk your dog separate from trips to relieve himself - go to a different place, etc. Otherwise, he may wait to relieve himself in order to prolong the walk.
- If your dog gets away from you, run the opposite direction. The theory is that it's a game to him. Chasing makes him run faster, but running away makes you an attractive goal.
- To keep a dog from rushing the door, train him to stay sitting when it's opened. Have him sit. As you reach for the doorknob, stop if he breaks the sit, and start over.
This book disagrees with Brannigan's on a few points.
Crates: Branningan considers them a den and source of comfort. This book says "crates should be tools not prisons."
Radio: Brannigan suggests that a radio may ease your dog's separation anxiety. This book calls them a "waste of your time."
Things I wish these books would have told me:
- I would like a suggested training regimen. Teach sit, then release, then away, them off, then ......
- I'd like the books to discuss the dynamics of a multi-person household - do the two need to use the same commands, etc.?
