Susan wrote:
My experience thus far is the best trainers refuse to produce books and
DVDs because books and DVDs are inferior to qualified in-person
training. However, that leaves those of us who don't have trainers
available in our area with nothing to go on but what IS being published.

Some here say it is unwise to get anything from Sullivan and Milan. I
don't think they are perfect, both do some things with which I disagree.
However, both push good basic points that inexperienced dog owners *need*
to learn: exercise, consistency, avoiding mindless repetition, not
allowing aggression to escalate, and so on.

It's *hard* to produce good training materials for novices. You are
speaking to a huge and diverse group you know little about, who all have
different dogs with different needs, who all come in with different
misconceptions about the process, through which they are going to filter
everything you say, while trying to reach different training goals.

If there's someone better out there producing affordable materials of
better quality for people who don't have access to trainers, I want to
know about it! However, I'm yet to see any such thing.

Do any of you out there know of quality training materials *FOR NOVICES*
that I haven't seen? I'd love to know about them.

--Susan

Dr Patricia McConnell has a few books that
are excellent for the beginner.

Training the Family Dog is one I used to
recommend quite a bit.