The Best Dog Training Books Reviewed

Written by Rick Allen

Training your dog isn’t necessarily something that comes naturally. You might be able to get ‘sit’ and ‘shake’ down on your own using a few tried and true training methods, and you may get them comfortable with going for walks and even housebreaking. However, to get much farther, you might be like many of those other dog owners who just need a little help. If you still want to work on it all at your own home, you might benefit from grabbing a book on dog training. Picking the right book, though, is definitely a must. 

Since not all dog training books are created equally, it’s usually best to stick to those books that already have a good reputation. Luckily, we’ve taken some of the pressure off of dog owners by doing the research for them. We’ve gathered up some of the best dog training books available today, with a focus on showing dog owners exactly how each book sets itself apart. If you’re in the market for a good dog training book, you’ll definitely find that for which you are looking here. They can also make a great gift for dog parents!

Best Dog Training Books In 2021

Dog training books generally have a lot of great information in them, but not all of the books have the information that every dog owner might need. Below are some of the best dog training books out there, each of which has a different set of ideas of how to train dogs. Take a look at how each works to figure out which one is the best for you. 

Training the Best Dog Ever: A 5-Week Program Using the Power of Positive Reinforcement

One of the hardest parts of training a dog of any age is the time commitment. As much as most dog owners would love to give their pets all of the time in the world, the truth is that most people just have a limited amount of time to teach their dogs. The best news, though, is that there are books that include methods of dog training techniques that take more modern schedules into account. One great method of training is that espoused by “Training the Best Dog Ever: A 5-Week Program Using the Power of Positive Reinforcement”.

This book really does a lot to make sure that readers will be able to complete the author’s program in just over a month. The time commitment during that month, though is even less than most would expect. At fifteen to twenty minutes per day, the training sessions espoused by the authors are short enough that anyone who has time to own a dog really will have time to properly train his or her animal. Though the training isn’t as in-depth as some might hope, it is a great way to get your dog on the right path.

What’s fairly amazing about this quick program is that it does hit a lot of different notes during the relatively short training sessions. From discouraging biting to basic commands, you’ll be able to help your dog feel more comfortable in and out of the house after a few short weeks. Though you won’t get into the deep psychology of dog training methods and you won’t really have time to address more unique circumstances, this book is a good fit for those looking to lay the groundwork for a more successful future. For all these reasons and more, we’ve selected Training The Best Dog Ever as today’s best dog training book.

Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution: The Complete Guide to Raising the Perfect Pet with Love

Zak George is billed as a more modern type of dog trainer, one who eschews most of the behavior training that’s become the norm in the field for something that has more of a psychological approach. Through positive reinforcement is still a big deal in his Dog Training Revolution book, this does represent a very new way of helping to train dogs.

Most of the information presented in the book isn’t new, but the way that it’s laid out does feel revolutionary. There is a definite tendency here to focus on individual dogs and their needs, both in order to help dog owners pace the training in a way that makes sense for their dogs and to put a greater amount of focus on solving very dog-specific problems. Rather than just looking at reactions, this book promotes the idea of getting to the root of why a dog might have problematic behaviors.

As one might expect, an awful lot of what’s in this book applies to grown dogs more than it does their younger counterparts. Though there is a fair bit of information that you can use to raise a puppy in this book, it’s the information about helping older dogs adapt that really feels like the selling point. Speaking of selling points, it can’t be overstated how useful the YouTube channel is that goes along with the Dog Training Revolution book. Simply being able to see some of the training behaviors can go a long way towards helping dog owners to achieve their goals. 

How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend: The Classic Training Manual for Dog Owners

There is a reason that this book from the Monks of New Skete has long been considered a classic. It’s not so much a training manual as it is a manual for living with your dog in a positive manner. While it does teach quite a bit about training, it’s perhaps more important as a book that can teach you more about being the best pet owner.

One of the things that really makes this book stand out is the fact that it puts a lot of emphasis on the relationship between individual owners and their dogs. The Monks of New Skete include a fair bit of rumination on the benefits of owning a dog and the spiritual connection between man and animals, something that you’re not really going to see in most other training books. Not everyone is going to find these musings useful, of course, but many people will find a bit of time spent here as a way to better connect with their dogs.

Surprisingly, though, the more metaphysical bent doesn’t really get in the way of this book being great for dog training. It does get into the psychology of dogs a bit and talks about things like pack dynamics, information that can help virtually anyone to better get into the heads of their dogs. There’s a very good reason why so many dog owners have come back to this book again and again, so it’s definitely worth a look for anyone who really wants to forge a better connection with their dogs. 

The Power of Positive Dog Training

There are many different ways to train a dog. In recent years, many trainers have started shifting away from the idea of punishment being an effective dog training tool and towards positive reinforcement. While this often takes the form of clicker training, it can be hard to figure out what comes next on your own. Fortunately, that’s really where this book tends to shine.

The popular focus on positive reinforcement is here, but not just in the form of giving your dog treats. The dog training book does a great job on that account, of course, but it also spends a lot of time talking about how to respond to your dog’s body language and how to use positive reinforcement in ways that go beyond the clicker. Perhaps most importantly, this is a book that talks about the steps you can take to move away from clicker training and towards something that might have more long-term potential.

This can also be the best book for those who like to track progress. It includes a great section for keeping a journal, which can be the best way to record how your dog is doing and to keep track of what is and is not working with your dog. Though the solutions here may not be perfect for every dog owner, it’s definitely best to stop and take a look at whether they can work for your dog. This well-regarded book is a great next step for many dog owners and one that can actually provide help for dog owners who are looking for more than just foundational help. 

Puppy Training for Kids: Teaching Children the Responsibilities and Joys of Puppy Care, Training, and Companionship

Getting a dog can be a huge responsibility for anyone. For a child, though, it can be the kind of right of passage that determines much of what their relationships with animals will be like in the future. Though many parents claim that the dog will be the responsibility of the child, the truth is that most kids get to enjoy only the easiest parts of raising a new puppy. The more difficult responsibilities, such as grinding your dogs nails, often fall to the parents. If you are looking to help your child get a little more involved with dog training, you’ll need resources geared specifically towards children. This book is definitely one of the better choices in that category.

This friendly, easy-to-read book takes puppy training down to its absolute basics. Though it’s not going to pace a child through the process of training, it will give children knowledge of all the steps necessary to train a puppy. This is a nice how-to guide for those who have never been around puppies or who haven’t ever done any training, with easy language and plenty of pictures to help out children of any age. It’s a nice book that really can get kids started along the right path when they are trying to learn how to be more responsible. 

The book’s basic focus is on obedience training but it does do a lot of work to help put things in terms that kids can understand. Many of the basic training exercises are staged as games, which is not only a good way to keep kids interested but is something that’s also really best for puppies and will keep them busy. There are also guides in the book about the types of games that puppies like to play and the types of toys that puppies like to play with, so that does make a good all-in-one puppy raising guide. This is a really good choice for any child who is serious about taking responsibility for a puppy. 

How to Raise the Perfect Dog: Through Puppyhood and Beyond

Every field has its rock stars. These may not be the people who do all the research or put in the most work, but they’re the people who connect the most with the audience. If you’ve kept up with the world of dog training at all, you’ve probably heard of Cesar Milan. Not only did he have a hit television show, but he managed to be the kind of television personality that seemed like he could actually help others. His book, “How to Raise a Perfect Dog: Through Puppyhood and Beyond” helps to reinforce that idea, especially among those who have younger dogs. 

Milan’s book puts most of its focus on raising puppies, which is absolutely only going to be a fit for those dog owners who aren’t dealing with ingrained behaviors. The good news, though, is that the book does do a lot to help with problematic puppy behaviors that can tend to grow into even worse dog behaviors. This is the type of book that you’ll use for a lot of preventative measures, as well as one that you’ll use to learn a little bit more about the inner working of a puppy’s mind. It’s not exactly cutting-edge behavior research, but it’s an easy read that does make a lot of sense. 

This book does go into a fair bit of detail on topics that aren’t necessarily related to behavior. You’ll learn a lot about nutrition, for example, as well as general dog health care. You may not agree with everything that Milan has to say on the more general topics but it’s easy to see where he is coming from most of the time. At the very least, this is a really good book for those who are looking to train puppies that will grow up to be very well-behaved, well-adjusted dogs in the years to come.