Book: The Art of Raising a Puppy

IMO it's kind of old school, I read it, I took some theories, just like I do with all authors, trainers, behaviorists, etc. I, myself, don't go by just one school of thought.

I think one of the original members of the monks, kind of broke off some of the theory behind them (someone may know more about that).

IMO, this is the best behaviorist, author that I have read, and used in my training of my Jasper.

http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB790

Here is more on him

http://www.siriuspup.com/about_founder.html

Just FYI, he is very different then Cesar Millan (some people don't like him), however I take some from him as well, I use what is best for my dog, abit of everything.

IMO I don't think there is one single text you could ever go by.

Good luck.

The thing I've come to realize about book recommends is no one book has all the answers.

The Art of Raising a Puppy is old school true, but they do have some nice info on picking a pup for yourself and how to keep pup occupied.

I will also recommend from my own collection

The Other End of the Leash-Patricia B. McConnell
The Dog Listener-Jan Fennell
Good Owners, Great Dogs-Brian Kilcommons w/ Sarah Wilson
How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend (revised edition)-Monks of New Skete

Take these, and others, read them and work out a training program that works for both your dog and you.

As for old school books, I actually found and bought a copy of "The Koehler Method of Open Obedience for Ring, Home and Field." Now that is old school.

Yeah, this was my first one too. I loved it, but I was going into it as a prospective breeder, so I loved all the early stages of puppy development stuff. This stuff does not really help a new puppy buyer much as these stages have come and gone.

I also continually refer to The German Shepherd Today by Winifred Strickland, and I like the books by John Cree.

I almost want to suggest the Marley book to every prospective puppy buyer, just because as silly and stupid the owners of Marley may have been, they stuck with the dog through thick and thin and it did chronicle many of the things new owners go through with a dog.

On training and living with dogs, I read whatever I can, try to be open minded, decide what may or may not work with mine, experiment, throw out a lot, and keep some. So far I have been moderately successful.

The Monks were a big step forward back in the 1970s - 1980s. It's 20 + years later & the thoughts have moved further along the continum toward more positive. (The Monks took steps this direction and worked more with trying to understand the dog than many of their predecessors (sp).) I always liked but never fully implemented their idea for a puppy play yard. Scuff shakes are now, fortunately, out of favor.

I love "Bones would Rain from the Sky" - For training, my favorite is Sheila Booth's "Purely Positive Training."

For a source - I'd go with Dogwise over Amazon -- because I want Dogwise to survive and Amazon doesn't need my business. That rainy dog show in Canby, Oregon 7 years ago had as a bonus to Barker the Elder's second novice leg a DogWise booth! How absolutely great to have everything you ever heard about right there!

So for the Monks - I'd look it over & x or rip out anything on compulsion training & then think the book was OK. (I have first eds on these. I am old. So are the books.)

I trained Massie with the Monks first book. I still have it: a hardback edition with chew marks in it from a friend's puppy. I knew nothing about training when I adopted her at 10 weeks old and I used that book as my training bible. I bought the second one too right when it came out. I haven't recommended it in years though. I prefer:

Pat Miller
Patricia McConnell
Suzanne Clothier

I especially recommend Pat Miller's, "The Power of Positive Training" book for a new puppy/dog. She's got a great training program in there and it's easy to follow.

I like McConnell's, "The Other End of the Leash" for better understanding the way a dog's mind works.

And Suzanne Clothier is a good introductory read for new dog owners.