I finally finished The Other End of the Leash last week. It’s the best book on dogs I’ve read so far. I wish this was my first dog book, instead of Cesar’s Way. I learned a lot from both, but McConnell’s would’ve been much more helpful during the first month with Walter.
She says to avoid books by trainers who say to use collar pops as corrections. But, she lists Good Owners, Great Dogs as one to read, and that’s where I learned about corrections. I’m embarrassed by how I tried to train him early on, especially trying to correct him for on-leash aggression (frustration). It’s also where I read about prong collars and gave me the stupid idea of trying it on Walter. (I used it a couple of times and then returned it.)
I also have her book on separation anxiety. A lot of the information in that is already online, but not everything. It’s expensive ($8 for 37 pages), but I think it’s worth it. It helped me realize Walter doesn’t have it, so I’m not stressed about leaving him alone. I haven’t crated him in a long time.
On a related note, the other day, I saw a lady with a pitbull at the dog park. The dog was wearing a shock collar and a prong collar. Poor dog.
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