This is a great guide for the beginner; either the guardian of a pet dog or someone starting out wanting knowledge of dog training. Simply written, understandable, positive. A great guide to get you started.

This book does contain good instrction, but I was hoping for more help in teaching obedience to my German Shepherd.

Pat Millers, "The Power of Positive Dog Training" is quite possibly the most recommended and lent out book on my shelf. I come from a different background than a lot of the reviewers, I do not own a dog training academy or raise many dogs. I own one Boston Terrier. I purchased Miller's book prior to his arrival in my home and I have never been let down. Millers book is interesting, descriptive, and concise. I look to it often to solve little problems in curving behavior or to get ideas for new tricks. I began with her methods on day one when he was nine weeks old, potty and crate training. I can now say that I have one of the best behaved dogs that I know. He knows many of the commands and tricks in the book (plus some.) The best ones are not the amazing ones, but the ones that go unnoticed. Potty training, Leash training, Stop, Come, Stay, and Heel are big ones. I chose this book because I choose to reinforce the good behavior and do not believe in hitting my dog. Everything that Miller states made sense to me, and it is for that reason that I chose to raise him via her methods. A friend just got a new puppy. My first recommendation...

I recommend this book to all of my beginning and intermediate dog training clients. Intelligent, funny, and easy to read, it walks the student through basic dog training exercises step-by-step-by-step. Good pictures, too!

I have a home library positively stacked with books on the human-dog relationship, the different methods of dog training, and every basic training book imaginable-- Pat's is the best to get you started.

Her writing methods are clear, concise and down to the point. She effectively breaks down tricks and commands so that any dog can easily be taught. My only objection was the breakdown of the six-week course . . . . I thought the order of the tricks was somewhat obscured, and that some commands would be mastered so quickly as to make the six-week schedule useless.

Granted my fancy is one of the easiest to train-- the Australian Shepherd, but I was still amazed when my dog Karley was able to excel through Pat's six-week course in less than two weeks. I've trained a lot of dogs, and a lot of Australian Shepherds-- and Karley is no more obedient naturally than any other. I attribute her amazing learning curve to Pat's advice.

I would reccomend this book to anyone, but particularly any novice looking to get the basic obedience started on the right foot.