I have made it a personal mission to read as many training and dog-relevant books as humanly possible, so that I can offer recommendations to my new puppy families as well as my followers on this humble little blog.

 

Perfect Puppy in 7 Days by Dr. Sophia Yin DVM, MS

Let me start off my saying what an utter delight this book was to read! After struggling through so many duds this book was a breath of fresh air! Dr. Yin provides over a hundred of beautiful photographs so that you can see exactly what she is talking about. Even better still she provides an entire library of fantastic training videos for free on her website. The kindle-version of this book contains many links, which are incredibly convenient and useful.

 

Dr. Yin is engaging and downright entertaining. She is a veterinarian and an animal behaviorist. Yet despite her advanced education she lacks the condescending tone common to many of her peers. Dr. Yin is likeable and relates to her audience well. You can read her passion for animals and her good natured personality on the page and she is genuinely likable. She is someone you’d love to have as your personal veterinarian and she makes learning enjoyable and simple.

 

On top of the book being engaging and interesting to read, full of photos and to-the-point instructions Dr. Yin trains in a style that is scientific and (most importantly) works. Of course, I’m biased because she trains using the exact same methods that I use personally, but I know these methods to work and work well (and quickly). Despite having experience in training I learned lots from Dr. Yin’s book and her online video library.

 

I particularly recommend her article called The Dominance Controversy. It is wonderfully written but even better it is filled with videos that show you exactly how well her methods work. No movie-magic needed. The videos speak for themselves.

 

I found the book Perfect Puppy in 7 Days to be well worth the read and for the low price found on Amazon (at the time of this post the Kindle-version is $9.99) I highly recommend this book to anyone with a dog.

 

This book is not limited to new puppy owners alone. This book can be used for older pups, new rescues or an older dog that is ready to be taught new manners. As I said I learned quite a lot and it inspired me to do a lot more learning from Dr. Yin. I strongly encourage all new-puppy seekers or owners to read this book!

 

I recommend reading Dr. Yin’s book in chunks; in an as-you-go manual. It is so to-the-point that it can be overwhelming. It is a good idea to start slow and practice one behavior at a time so that you don’t feel like you’re trying to learn too much all at one time. The exercises she discusses really only take a few minutes to learn, so if you read them without trying them it can seem overwhelming. Read through the beginning chapters about the early development of a dog (this helps you understand your puppy or dog) and then take each activity one at a time with your pooch. As you go through you’ll realize it is all very easy and simple. This book encourages amazingly good habits and if you’re starting off with a new puppy this book will start you right.

 

My only gripe with Dr. Yin involves nutrition. Like most veterinarians (who attend schools sponsored by dog-food manufacturers) she recommends poor-quality commercial kibble and even seems a bit down on fresh real-food diets created using cook-books written by veterinarians. The pet nutrition schools in the US are full of studies funded by the commercial dog-food industry and are therefore skewed, inaccurate and otherwise not to be trusted. There are valid studies to be found but they are not being taught in veterinary schools.

 

I give Perfect Puppy in 7 Days

 

 

 

 

 

3.5 paws (out of 4)

Highly recommended