Understanding the Dog's Mind Through Survival & Comfort Paperback – May 18, 2021

This book does a great job helping the reader understand how a dog’s mindset and how as a handler you can influence positive behavior. The book is to the point and easy to read.I have seen Calvin and Primo, his personal dog, in a competitive setting, and it is clear Calvin’s methodology is strong enough to handle even unusually stressful situations. I am also a client of Calvin’s company, K9 Experience, and have seen how his methodology has helped our young German shepherd deal with fear and anxiety in different settings.There are many places online where you can find “how to” type information about dog training. This book goes further and explains the underlying mindset that really drives a dog’s behavior. As a relatively inexperienced dog owner, this is tremendously helpful in understanding my dog and how to help him live a happy life.

I was recommended this book by our GSD pup’s trainer and was hesitant to purchase as I am probably one of the slowest readers out there. But, the way this book was written (being to-the-point with very easy comprehension), I was able to read it in less than a day and I was not disappointed. This book I would say isn’t meant to give you all the tips and tricks (although it does give some here and there). It’s meant to help you understand why our dogs do what they do so we can have a foundation to work on as we daily train them for the rest of their lives. It gave a lot of assurance for someone who owns a reactive dog as well as now knowing what to counter condition alongside the guidance of a trained behaviorist. Bottom line: our logic is not our dog’s logic and I am so thankful that it’s much simpler than that. It really is all about survival and comfort.

I like this book very much. Truly helped me as a first time pet owner.

By reading this book I was actually able to see some mistakes I was making with my dogs at home and learned new things as well. It was a easy book to read and I am so happy with it I ordered extra copies to give to family and friends that I know have dogs or are wanting to get a dog. This book is going to have a huge impact on developing my philosophy for dog training. I am 24 years old and my goal is to become a trainer and this book will be recommended to all my clients in the future.

EVERY dog owner or person considering buying one NEEDS to read this book! An easy read that will help you understand a dog's motivations and how properly reinforce good behaviors. Having behavioral issues with your dog? This book will teach you what you've done to unintentionally reinforce these bad behaviors and how to break the cycle or prevent them altogether. No one wants a dog that is going to pee in the house and chew their favorite shoes or, even worse, attack someone. It's our responsibility to raise well adjusted and well behaved dogs. This book gives you the keys to success!!!

Seriously going to buy a case of these books and give it to every one of my clients! This book puts the human-dog relationship in perfect perspective. Anyone who reads it will be able to implement this mindset and achieve a great relationship with their animal. This is going to help the average dog owner immensely and improve the effectiveness of all training when the dog goes home because the owner truly understands their dogs thinking and instincts instead of humanizing it. Love it, must read for any dog owner.

Loved reading this book. It is definitely a must read. I applied the information given by the author (Calvin) and I now have a totally different dog. He performs 100 times better than before getting the knowledge from the book. Apply yourself and this methodology and you will succeed. Calvin if you ever read this, know that I thank you for taking the time to share this knowledge with the world. Much appreciated. I look forward to reading your other books too!David C.

Every dog owner should read this book. Especially those who consider themselves “Dog Parents.” I am guilty of many of the wrong things a dog owner can do that actually reinforces negative behavior. All the while thinking I was doing what is best for my dogs. This book is very well written and enjoyable to read. I already implement many aspects of Calvin’s training method as I use balanced dog trainers. I’ve stopped putting human emotions in my dogs and am happy knowing why they do what they do. Knowing my dogs feel safe and secure and I will protect them, is the dog equivalent of love. I want them to feel safe and secure more than anything. I think every good dog trainer should have their clients read this book before they start training!

A must read for ANY dog person from pet owner to experienced trainer. Takes you right into a dog’s mind and instinct. Easy to read and gets you hooked right away. Great reference tool!!!

Feel it’s pretty basic and more talks about the guys life experiences than actually teach you about dog training. Was recommended this book so was rather disappointed I didn’t find it as good as I expected.

Overall a very interesting read, short book that can be finished in 1-2 seatings. Lots of interesting notes comparing how we think vs how our dogs think, and why it’s important not to reason for them in the way we reason for ourselves. The dogs simply don’t think that way.Only watch out is that, for some reason all the d in italic has come out as big black dots. Taking off one star for this.

very concise and easy to read. I would definitely buy the course if an online training program is in your future plans.