Click to Calm: Healing the Aggressive Dog

This book was recommended to me by a student at my obedience school and I believe that anyone who is knowledgeable with clicker training (and who has taken the time to read the entire book) will find it to be extremely valuable. The author first shares her own experiences, which are humbling yet very interesting, then proceeds to give incredibly valuable advice. Her "recipes" are clear and concise - refreshing for us experienced trainers and lifesavers for inexperienced dog owners. She covers so many topics relating to inappropriate aggression in dogs, including general dog-dog and dog-people (including children) aggression, resource guarding, and multiple dog households. She gives solid advice for managing the household and for training new behaviors. One of the best chapters is near the end, where she describes what some people in the dog world refer to as NILIF (or, Nothing In Life Is Free). This program, in which a dog learns that humans really do control everything important to him, and therefore he had better start complying, is proven and very, very effective. Yet the dog is never hurt... instead the dog-human bond is strengthened (or created!). Although most of what she wrote was familiar to me, I found myself really appreciating some of her insights.My only criticism is that I didn't see mention of the importance of having a dog thoroughly checked by a vet for possible medical reasons for aggression, nor was there information on proper nutrition which can play a part in a dog's behavior.Thanks, Emma Parsons, for adding to the growing list of books designed for people dedicated to working with our beloved canines in only positive ways. Since punishment only ever suppresses behavior, never actually extinguishing the desire for it, positive reinforcement is the only way to go if you are committed to working with your aggressive dog.Mary Woodward, APDTGreenwood Dog Training School[...][...]

I was hooked right from the start. The author's story about being a dog trainer with a reactive dog resonated true for me as well. I have a very nice, sweet, lap dog of a baby Australian Cattle Dog. He is great and gets along with other dogs well. However, when I am feeling anxious (as I am a lot, especially when things are changing) he feeds into my anxiety and becomes defensive on my behalf. His sense of our personal space shrinks and he does not want anyone else in it. I am also a trainer and have worked countless hours to desensitize him and counter-condition him, but the latest reactivity I thought might be the end of our competition days and even the end of our hiking days.However, this book gives lots of useful information and training recipes I am already using and teaching. This is the first book I have ever read on aggression and reactivity that specifically mentioned the handler's response. Because if you are doing well with your dog, you are truly a team. I am much more aware of my responses and my dog seems to have come back into balance again. He was not the most severe, but he is big enough that a bite would cause damage. The training recipes in here are easy to follow and there is stuff for anyone from the beginner to the advanced trainer. I read it in a week, and that was only because work, life and sleep got the in the way. I highly recommend this book to anyone dealing with aggression and reactivity.

Great info. After only applying a couple of these ‘recipes’ I have already noticed an improvement in my dog. Excellent source in understanding dog psychology. This book provides a lot of information but is set up in a way that makes it easy to locate the action you are working on improving. Sometimes the ‘recipes’ seemed a bit unrealistic but I guess after enough time and building off previous exercises they could be achieved.

Our dog Floyd got attacked in our hallway by my neighbors dogs 6 months ago and started to react to them. This behavior increased towards all the dogs of our building and some strangers inside the building. Our dog is 18 month now and is a wonderful love bug of 105 lbs. So any type of aggressive behavior was not acceptable especially because they were not manageable.I saw 2 trainers previously to read this book. The first one told me to find a way to change Floyd's attention when the trigger as coming by but he was so stressed that it was not working. The second one, told us to keep him on a routine (he was already on a routine and we took training classes with him), and nothing could be done because he was traumatized. The muzzle was the only alternative if the routine was not working.I found click to calm and red it in 3 days. I had all my answers. Emma is describing simply what to do and how to do it. It is easy to follow and to understand. I contacted Emma Parsons personally for her to recommend a trainer in my area (chicago) who could help me with the clicker training. She kindly reply and wrote to a trainer in my area. We started the program in August with Laura Monaco Torrelli. Floyd improved so much. We had to put him on anti anxiety medicines for him to be more relaxed and to me more responsive to the training but I highly recommend this type of training. Our road will be long but in 2 months the results are phenomenals. He is not aggressive towards all the dogs anymore and he is getting better with the neighbors dogs. My advise is - This is an awesome base to start training your dog, and if you are like us and need some help, look for a trainer in your area who should be able to guide you and recommend the best way to help your dog. It is not as well a magic pill, you need to put dedication into it and work everyday with your dog, but at the end it pays off.

Técnicas 100%recomendadas.El libro refleja mucha experiencia personalPero también reflejaDiversas técnicas positivasDel programa clicker TrainingEl libro es esencial para profesionales.

An amazing book for those with a reactive dog. A must read. The best book I've found so far.

Buen libro si gustas de trabajar en positivo,el uso del clicker es indispensable lo cual lo puede volver algo complicado si tienes un perro como los que se describen en el libro pero es una buena alternativa de entrenar reactividad

I have read many dog training books over the last year. When we adopted a puppy, I was worried I would make a mistake so I started reading everything I could about training. I am sure I have made a lot of mistakes along the way! Our puppy is now one and has been socialized to everything and everyone. But he can be "bossy" at times, to dogs and to some people, like men who have rough housed with him (my dog loves it). So I read this book to see if I could prevent any further bossiness or it turning into aggression. I absolutely love Emma Parson simple but effective suggestions and have applied them with great success. This book is clear and to the point. He is rarely bossy (he used to demand attention from my husband by barking at him) and listens very well to instructions from all family members. I have tried many different training methods along the way with my previous dogs: Caser's methods, with treats, without treats with more physical force , etc, and I have found that my golden responds the best with clicker training. It's a highly intelligent way to train dogs, and, from my experience, highly effective if done properly. But I know every dog is different, and the training needs to be adapted to each individual dog.

Eines der hilfreichsten und authentischsten Hundebücher, das ich in letzter Zeit gelesen habe. Mir gefällt die amerikanische Art, die eigene Geschichte zu erzählen und wie sie daran gelernt hat. Dann v.a. sehr konkrete Tipps mit genauen Schritten, wie man etwas Bestimmtes einüben kann. Einfühlsam und pragmatisch geschrieben. Kann ich sehr, sehr empfehlen!