Dogwise Publishing grew out of a company named Direct Book Service, and it is a small (but clearly busy!) family-run company in Wenatchee, Washington. Here is a little bit from their About Us page:

Dogwise Publishing now produces six to ten new books a year on topics that are important to our customers. Renowned dog experts who are published by Dogwise Publishing include Jean Donaldson, Patricia McConnell, Turid Rugaas, Roger Abrantes, Brenda Aloff, Sarah Kalnajs, Rachel Page Elliott and Pat Miller. Our focus is on creating humane, understandable and scientifically sound information for people who enrich their lives by working with, playing with and loving dogs. Dogwise Publishing has an insider’s knowledge of dogs and serves both the dog-loving public and the dog-oriented professional.

Note that “humane, understandable, and scientifically sound information.” The emphasis is on reward-based methods like clicker training. While their website carry a wide range of dog training titles from many different publishers, the preponderance of them are very much in line with the principles of my website here, looking at training methods that the dogs enjoy. As the old saying goes, you can catch more flies with honey, and it is a pleasure to be involved with the movement towards pain-free, positive rewards methods of training dogs. Dogwise is at the forefront!

The Expanding Ebook Section at Dogwise

Dogwise has been bringing out a lot of their books as ebooks as well as regular books. This particularly pleases me because until they began this, most of the dog training ebooks were very high priced. Here is a link to the homepage of their ebooks section

I usually buy their ebooks in PDF format, which can be printed out, though mostly I just read them on my laptop. They also put their ebooks into the Mobi format which works on Kindles and in the ePub format which works on Ipads, Nooks, and other e-readers. You get all these format for one price, so if you start out with something as a PDF and later want it on your Kindle, you just log into your account with them, go to “My Ebook Shelf” and download the other format. They have help on the download page too.

The Dog Forum and Some Useful Lists

There is an active and friendly forum here, with sections on dog training, general chat, health, wellness, and nutrition, and showing dogs.

Here is a page which is a list of lists created by customers and staff. You can make your own list if you want to add one!

Dogwise has a variety of other lists in their sidebar menu too.

My Relationship with Dogwise

Besides being a customer, and sometimes posting reviews on their pages, I am also an affiliate of Dogwise. That means that if you click through on one of my links to them and buy something, I may earn a small percentage of the sale with no cost to you. It’s a way that Dogwise can reach more people, helpful to them as they compete with bigger websites.  I have been doing this ever since I began training-dogs.com… geez, I don’t remember exactly what year that was, but  it was  in the past century!

I still remember very clearly the  first sale I made from Dogwise. Someone bought Dr. Ian Dunbar’s excellent puppy training DVD–well, it was a video then– Sirius Puppy Training and when I saw that on my statistics page at Dogwise, I burst into tears. Not because I had just made my first three bucks or so as an affiliate, but because some puppy somewhere would have a better start in life. Later, as I watched my stats over time, I was surprised to see that some articles I had done on training deaf dogs had resulted in a lot of sales of a couple of books on the topic.

If you are interested in signing up yourself as an affiliate, go to http://www.dogwise.com/Affiliate/index.cfm to sign up, with the name of your website.

Do Take a Look!

Check them out at Dogwise, All Things Dog!

Positive Dog Training Gets Help from Dogwise is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

I don’t read much fiction–as my father was science fiction writer Cordwainer Smith (link to my site about him), I grew up hearing more than a lifetime’s worth of scary tales. So I had never read a word by Koontz, an extraordinarily prolific and popular author, because I thought his stuff was too horror-filled for me.

But  Amazon has this useful–or tricky–feature where you can download a selection from the start of a book onto your Kindle. (Or your free Kindle reader for PCs or Macs, link takes you to Amazon page that explains how.) So I figured that I could look at the first chapter. That word “Joyful” in the title kinda hooked me. So I read the first chapter, and then on a Kindle, you can just click to buy the book and download the rest immediately. Without a moment’s thought, I did.

I was immersed for hours in the story of how Dean Koontz and his wife Gerda had been so hardworking for so many years that they had never had a dog or a child. But they both loved dogs, and evidently dogs feature in many of his novels. They had been deeply involved in supporting Canine Companions for Independence, which trains and provides service dogs at no cost to kids and adults with disabilities, and they had good friends in the organization. So they mentioned to one of their friends there that they were about ready to get a dog.

She found them Trixie, who had been a service dog but had needed surgery for a bad elbow and couldn’t go back to the person she had been assisting because of regulations about the health of service dogs.

Trixie changed their lives. In SO many ways. I’m not going to tell you any of the stories… Koontz does that so incredibly well. I did cry… several times.

I will comment that it was a tremendous pleasure to read some of the passages, here and there through the book, where he talks about how Trixie was to him and his wife a manifestation of the Divine. Here is one such bit:

I believe that Trixie, in addition to being a dog and a child and an inspiration and a revelation, was also a quiet theophany, a subtle manifestation of God, for by her innocent joy and by her actions in my life, she lifted from me all doubts of the sacred nature of our existence.

(can’t quote a page because Kindles don’t show them but it is at 88%)

That captures so well what brings me back to dogs again and again. If that point is not your cup of tea, I think you’d still like the book.

Trixie  has her own part of her dad’s website: Trixie Koontz.

Click on the image above to go to Amazon, where you can get it for the Kindle, as a hardback, as a paperback, or as an audiobook. Highly recommended!

A Big Little Life: A Memoir of a Joyful Dog, by Dean Koontz is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

Nicole Wilde is a highly regarded dog trainer whose books and DVDs are top notch. Separation anxiety is a common canine problem, and it can be a huge problem for owners. Wilde shares her own experiences with her dog Sierra, a shelter rescue dog. Near the end of the book, she says:

As I write this, it is exactly seven months from the day we brought Sierra home. I won’t say she’s completely “cured,” but for a dog who’s been through so much in her short life, it’s a major improvement… Sierra is finally at the point where she can remain relaxed for a few hours while we are gone. We still wouldn’t leave her alone for a full day, and we can all live with that.

How did they get to that point? The book’s title includes “step by step” and the steps take you through evaluating the situation, for example, figuring out if the dog has separation problems regarding one particular person (our LarryDog has that with me) or whether it’s “isolation distress” that anyone being there can ease. (I think our Lola has this kind, but will try one of the tests recommended to see.)

Wilde has a lot of ideas for when you have to leave your dog or dogs home alone. She suggests methods that you first try out for very brief periods and later extend.

Also, nutrition, being sure your dog gets enough exercise, making a schedule for playdates and other social events for your dog, and using medications under veterinary care are all covered. Thee’s a great section called “The Alone Zone” on where your dog will be when you are out — in a crate or section of your home or yard. She talks about the routine leading up to your departure; notice which parts cause anxiety.

That text link at the start of this article takes you to its page on Dogwise, where I got it as an ebook and have been reading it on my laptop. They have it there as a paperback too. Clicking on its image will take you to Amazon where it’s a paperback and you can read a lot of very favorable reviews. (Prices are identical at the two places.) If you have a dog with separation anxiety, this is the best resource so do check it out!

Don’t Leave Me! Step-by-Step Help for Your Dog’s Separation Anxiety by Nicole Wilde is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

My dogs and I have had a lot of fun as a direct result of 101 Dog Tricks. We’ve done a few of the tricks — and I have made up tricks and games that I do with my dogs. Very satisfying! I notice that during a time when I am training tricks to my dogs, they pay more attention to me when I just walk through the room. Just in case!

Positive dog training is the kind I have used for over ten years no. No painful methods that force a dog to do what you want it to! Pat Miller is one of the best writer/dog trainers explaining these methods. This particular book includes a step-by-step training program that will take you six weeks. By the end of it, you and your dog will likely have a different relationship and you both will have learned some useful new things!

This book is not another training manual, although it does have plenty of training advice.

Rather, it’s a book about understanding dog behavior, written by an academic with a a heart. She discusses many of the ways that we humans use body language in different ways than dogs do,  with the resulting misunderstandings. She tells us how we can better understand our own actions and dogs’ responses. I’ve learned a lot from it. I observe more subtleties in my dogs’ expressions, for example.

Well, I could go on… and on… maybe in another blog post! What are your favorite dog training books that use positive, pain-free methods?

Dog Training Books is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

He informally adopted one dog. Then there was another. Then a pregnant bitch, then …well, I won’t give away too much. You can read more about it at Amazon by clicking on the image, or you can look around his website nowzaddogs.com to find out what is currently happening as a result of that tour of duty. I won’t give away the story by saying what is on the site.I did have a concern when I checked the book out of the library that reading about dogs in war-torn Afghanistan might cause me to lose a little sleep, and in fact it did! But the book doesn’t dwell on gruesome events. There are a few, but far more important is Pen Farthing’s love of dogs that shines through.

In fact, I just discovered that he has written a sequel now:

… and it’s available on Kindle! I got a Kindle recently, love it, and just bought this book… oh well, maybe I will wait till evening to read it, but I am not sure I would bet on it.

One Dog at a Time: Saving the Strays of Afghanistan is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

I read voraciously, and dog books go right to the top of my piles, but the first time I tried I just couldn’t get into A Small Furry Prayer: Dog Rescue and the Meaning of Life (Amazon link), by Steven Kotler.

The second time I picked it up, I read all afternoon and finished it all in a couple of days. I really didn’t want it to end.

I wanted it to keep going so much that I read all the endnotes and consoled myself with the fact that there were two websites on the dust cover. I didn’t get out of bed and go right to them only because our cat Misty had had the rare opportunity to curl up next to me instead of our cat Moonlight. Somehow it wouldn’t have been in the spirit of the book to put my desires ahead of Misty’s in that moment.

I couldn’t get into A Small Furry Prayer at first because it was so far beyond my comfort zones. Buy a small ranch in northern New Mexico, and rescue something like 25 dogs? Not me. Give me a much tamer life, please! The very idea made me so uncomfortable that the book sat in my bedside reading pile ignored for months.

But Steven Kotler is a very good writer and a very funny one, and the outrageous stories of his life with his wife and all those dogs are blended with erudite and far-ranging reflections on ethics, biology, genetics, flow states, and much more. The stories are charming, beguiling, occasionally grim, and altogether absorbing.

You can read the first two chapters of A Small Furry Prayer on Kotler’s website. You can get the book there (there may still be free review copies mentioned on that page) or through the Amazon link I mentioned above.

A Small Furry Prayer is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

No wonder that this book ranks so highly…

It’s not another training manual, although it does have plenty of training advice.

Rather, it’s a book about understanding dog behavior, written by an academic with a a heart. She discusses many of the ways that we humans use body language in different ways than dogs do,  with the resulting misunderstandings. She tells us how we can better understand our own actions and dogs’ responses.

Since the book is written in a very personal and often amusing way, it’s a very good read. Patricia McConnell has worked for years as an animal behaviorist and has trained many dogs that their owners were about ready to give up on. She has done a lot with aggressive dogs.

If you were only going to buy one book on the behavior of dogs, make it this one. I’m sure you won’t be sorry!

Just click on the image or the title, The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs, to find out more at Amazon.

On  that dog training best seller list at Amazon: four of the top ten books were by Cesar Millan, three by Patricia McConnell, and three by other people. I am not much of a fan of Millan’s, though his emphasis on exercising dogs is good. An excellent analysis of his methods is at McConnell’s blog: http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/cesar-millan-and-merial/ — it gets more interesting as it goes along, and I found some of the comments very well thought out too. I read this blog regularly, and recommend it to you, even if you aren’t interested in that particular article.

The Other End of the Leash is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

I am a big fan of the writing of Marta Williams. I’ve read her first book several times. So I was delighted to get an email from Carol Upton with this review of a new book by Marta Williams.  — Rosana

Ask Your Animal: Resolving Behavioral Issues Through Intuitive Communication

By Marta Williams, Foreword by Vanessa Williams, New World Library, 2008, Soft Cover, $14.95, ISBN: 978-1-57731-609-1, Available at www.martawilliams.com

Reviewed by Carol M. Upton

Like almost everyone else in the world. I started out believing that being able to communicate intuitively with animals was pure science fiction. ~ Marta Williams

Around the world, people are starting to see how communication with other species enhances all life. Whether you want to enrich your relationship with one pet or plan serious study of animal communication, Ask Your Animal will deeply inspire your direction.

Prior to becoming an animal communicator, Marta Williams worked as a wildlife biologist and environmental scientist. Intrigued by the idea of intuitive communication with animals, she set out to learn all that she could about the subject, a path which led her to become a full-time animal communicator.

Ask Your Animal outlines the author’s insightful approaches to more rewarding relationships with animals. Williams believes these are skills we can all cultivate. Woven throughout the book are heartfelt anecdotes of the myriad ways people have tapped into the information animals offer to us. Pet lovers will recognize these situations – from the horse that won’t trailer load to the rescue dog that attacks other animals to the cat that refuses food when her owner is away.

Each section includes simple instructions designed to help resolve the challenge and nurture confidence in the apprentice animal communicator. Williams encourages readers to listen, gain fresh perspectives, and discover creative new paths to success. Included are tools to calm a distressed animal, resolve negative behavior, such as jumping up on people or digging, eliminate aggression, and teach a hypersensitive or fearful animal to accept and even enjoy being handled.

There is an entire chapter devoted to using intuition to find a lost animal and another on coping with death, two situations that owners find particularly distressing. One of the more unique features of the book is the final chapter, focused on new ways of relating to the wild creatures with which we share the planet.

Ask Your Animal is a vital resource deserving of a permanent spot on the bookshelf. No animal lover will be the same after reading it.

Marta Williams, author of Learning Their Language and Beyond Words, lives in Northern California and travels internationally to lecture and teach. She consults by phone and email with people and their animals throughout the world. Visit Marta at: www.martawilliams.com.

Thanks again to Carol Upton for the review. She is a writer, editor, dream chaser and publicist at Dreams Aloud Promotions – http://www.dreamsaloud.ca.  When not in front of her computer, she can be found playing with horses or following her dog along the beach.

Ask Your Animal is at Marta Williams’ website listed above. It’s also at Amazon:

Ask Your Animal! is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

Like a lot of businesses throughout the country, the current recession has impacted us as well. For Dogwise, cutting edge training and dog care books and DVDs continue to be in hot demand (thank goodness and thank you!).

What we have seen, however, is that certain items – which in a strong economy we would expect to sell at a good pace – have slowed down significantly. Books that keep sitting on our shelves don’t do us a lot of good, even if we think highly of them.

As booksellers we have two choices, one being to return them and the other is to offer to them to you at a steep discount.

We have chosen the latter, and if you head to our clearance section (there is a tab on the top of our home page) you will see that we reduced prices on clearance items dramatically, most are now selling for well under 50% of their suggested price. So take advantage! All clearance items are first come first served and will not be reordered.

I’ve been in the book trade for decades, as librarian, writer, and publisher, and I was impressed with their choice to sell their books off rather than return them. Book publishing is an unusual industry in that bookstores and wholesales have the right to return books that don’t sell to the original publishers. When I was running a small press publishing company, that part wasn’t fun. Kudos to Dogwise for taking the high road.

And here’s a great chance for us to get some great bargains! While you are there, check out their 2010 dog breed calendars!

Clearance Sale at Dogwise is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

The subtitle is “Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend.” McConnell writes with emotion herself, and some of my favorite parts of the book were stories of her dogs and her small sheep ranch. She is also a scientist, complete with a Ph.D. in zoology. Add to that over seventeen years of working with clients and their dogs, specializing in aggressive dogs, and there is a lot to learn from this book.

I expect to be blogging about ideas I got from the book, and re-reading my marked-up copy regularly, but now here’s a summary of what’s in For the Love of a Dog:

It begins with a discussion of emotions: what they are, and why there is so much controversy among different schools of (human) thought about what emotions animals feel. I love how McConnell weaves stories and reports of scientific studies together. (Enough of the academically correct last name: since I read her blog regularly, I think of her as Trisha, and so shall she be here.) I held my breath as her beloved border collie Luke was threatened by another dog and Trisha was frozen with fear. That had me hooked, and I read on into the night.

She discusses the expression of emotion in the second chapter, which is well illustrated with photos of dog and human faces showing similar expressions. This chapter alone is worth the modest price of this paperback book, and I plan to blog about the topic soon. I’ve been paying much closer attention to the body language of both my dogs since reading this chapter. I came up with some surprising results.

Emotions and the Brain is the third chapter, and just to give you a bit more of the flavor, here are the chapter subheadings:

• Use It or Lose It
• the Importance of Touch
• Cleanliness is Not Enough
• Sesame Street for Dogs
• We All Have Our Limits
• Brain Basics
• The Hungry Brain
• Two Kinds of Traffic
• Navigating the Brain
• It’s Midnight. Do You Know Where Your Toes Are? (Your Dog Does!)
• The Sport of Dog Training
• It’s Good for Old Dogs to Learn New Tricks
• Emotion Central
• We All Produce Our Own Reality Shows
• Through Your Nose Only

Fear, anger, and happiness each get covered thoroughly. I thought this would be a book to dip into, but I found that I gobbled it up in about a week, and now I can dip back in!

Highly recommended to anyone who likes to read and reflect on humans and dogs!

You can get For the Love of a Dog at Dogwise.com or click on the image to go to Amazon, which has the book too. When I was there, they had a lot of used copies at good prices.

For the Love of a Dog is a post from: Training Dogs Blog