Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 All you need for a happy puppy November 7, 2008
This is a great book for a new puppy owner. We bought it when we bought our puppy and followed its advice closely, particularly with regard to toilet training and general 'good manners' - issues like dealing with pack position, territory, food, toys, etc. We were kind but strict early on, just as the book recommends, and made sure that our puppy was put to bed in the same place, not allowed the run of the house, and not allowed on the furniture!
18 months later, we have a lovely dog - well-mannered, fun to be around, but happy and secure. And we let her on the sofa now because she's too cute to resist!
I thoroughly recommend this book!
very puppy owner should read this October 19, 2008
I know it is a cliche, but i never write reviews. However, this book is so good i wanted to encourage everyone to buy it.
I bought this book a week before our puppy arrived and it has been an endless source of information, stress relief and enjoyment. It has provided help in ensuring our puppy is happy, well socialised and well trained so she is a pleasure to have around. Even in her most mischievous moments. It is well laid out and easy to understand with step my step guidance. The writer obviously has a lot of experience and relays this in a practical way. I recommend this to anyone who has or will be having a new puppy!!!!
Great book for a first time dog owner August 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this book a few weeks before we picked up our springer puppy because I had never owned a dog before and wanted to make sure I did everything right from the start.
This book was a great help, and helped me to understand some simple, yet effective, dog psychology (such as who walks through a door first, when you should feed them etc).
The book is easy to read and helped to give me some confidence when we first got our puppy. I've since passed it on to friends who have also found it useful.
Our dog is now 3 years old, and he's pretty well behaved (particularly for a Springer!), and I would put some of this down to this book as it was a great place to start.
This book has helped to keep me sane! July 25, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
We got our puppy 4 weeks ago. Without this book, I would probably have gone crazy. With this book, we have managed to housetrain our puppy in around 3 weeks.
Some really good advice from the book:
1) get a puppy playpen for your puppy. This means that you can keep the puppy somewhere safe so that you don't need to watch it 100% of the time for 16 hours of the day. Otherwise, your puppy will wander all over your house and wee and poo everywhere. Having a puppy pen (NOT a crate) allows you to have a bit more control but still allow your puppy a safe area to play and sleep.
2) the book has a suggested routine for your dog. As this is our first puppy, we literally would not have known when to feed it and when to take it out to meet people and when to let it rest. So the routine was really useful in the first week. After the first week, we established our own routine - but in that first week, it gave us a valuable structure for how to look after our puppy and keep it safe and happy.
There's loads of great advice in this book and we've started teaching our puppy how to sit on command. And we have taught our puppy how to wee and poo in the garden and outside when it goes for walks now - all in just a few weeks thanks to this brilliant book!
The only puppy guide you'll ever need April 19, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
We've owned four dogs over the last 25 years but it's nearly 11 years since we last had a puppy and we'd forgotten just how much work they need. Our old guides had been passed out to friends and family but the breeder of our new pup recommended Gwen Bailey's book as a refresher and it really does have everything you need to know in one book, from early socialisation to the first steps in obedience training.
Whether you are getting your first puppy or like us are out of practice, reading this book before you take your new puppy home will prepare you for what you need to do and give a great source of reference throughout the all important first year of its development.
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