Veterinarian and animal behaviorist Dr. Ian Dunbar once had a Malamute puppy.

And it’s a good thing for the rest of us that he did….

When he couldn’t find a training class for young puppies anywhere in the San Francisco bay area, he created the Sirius Puppy Training classes.

And a new era in puppy training began: Ian Dunbar’s emphasis on kind, positive approaches — based on what dogs are really like — has revolutionized the field.

His work extends to every aspect of dog training. He’s created many dog training books and videos. I describe some below. He has given hundreds of workshops, hosted TV shows, and won numerous awards.

Dr. Dunbar once ran a behavior clinic for biting and fighting dogs, and he was a founder of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, an organization with thousands of members.

All these credentials are impressive, but what strikes me so much in his videos is the warm, caring, and humorous approach he has. There is a moment in one of his videos where he says to a young child that he’s a kid too. She doesn’t think so, but I do!

You could immerse yourself in the works of Ian Dunbar, and it would be to the good. Every time I dip into a book of his or watch a program again, I learn something… and get more inspired. There are few people — if any — who have had a more beneficial effect on dog training than he has.

Some Dog Training Resources with Ian Dunbar

Starting with the reading material, two puppy training ebooks are available at no cost. They are BEFORE You Get Your Puppy and AFTER You Get Your Puppy, and they are in PDF format. They can also be read online here. Very good info.

I reviewed his book How to Teach a New Dog Old Tricks here on this site.

See more at the site that features his work and is run by his family : Dogstardaily.com

That site also has some of his videos and those of other good trainers, all free to watch. His Sirius Puppy Training program is here.  Scroll down on that page to watch each segment, or you can download the whole thing. Back in the day when this website was new (umm, over 10 years ago) I sold many copies of this program. Now he’s making it available at no cost.

He has videos on YouTube and I’ve got some of them here on this site with my comments:

Ian Dunbar One-Minute Video: Clever Way to Crate Train a Puppy

Dr. Ian Dunbar Dog Walking Training Tip: Reward When You See Children