Ozzy’s Book Club – March Book Discussion – There’s A Puppy In The House!

Posted on March 30, 2009

This month we read There’s A Puppy In The House! Surviving the First Five Months by Mike Wombacher.

First, I must say that his book is very well written and designed for ease of use and easy reading. It is quite easy to breeze through the pages while still gaining valuable information about the training of your new puppy. The summary lists at the end of each section and the timeline at the end of the book are particularly easy to use and ensure than you are able to find the information you need exactly when you need it. Wombacher states that his approach uses positive reinforcement and operant conditioning while channeling the dog’s natural drives and instincts, which proves to be true throughout the book.

I appreciated the different temperamental predispositions which were outlined at the beginning of the book. Understanding your puppy is an extremely important part of effective training and the approaches that you use will depend on your puppy’s specific temperament. For an Airedale puppy, and as Mike briefly discusses, there might be evidence of several of the temperaments within a single puppy. At one point your otherwise very confident Airedale puppy might display shyness and the next second the piranha will emerge. Understanding the varied personalities and how to deal with each along with which techniques are best for each personality are of great importance.

I wish that the fear imprinting stage was discussed in more detail in this book. While the advice is sound, I think that puppy owners could handle and be more successful during this stage with additional guidance.

There were several useful theories and guidelines presented in this book which are spot on with what we recommend and teach. For example, the avoiding codling of a frightened puppy is essential since at the best you will appear inconsistent to the puppy and at worst you will simply reinforce the unwanted behavior. Wombacher also stresses the importance of consistency and a structured environment and routine for your puppy as the most effective approach to training. Understanding your own behavior and tendencies will help you improve the training of your puppy. Also, avoiding the humanization of the animal is an important concept presented in this book.

There was a statistic that I found a bit startling. Wombacher states that, “From Chihuahuas to Great Danes, all dogs are genetically speaking approximately eighty five percent wolf.” I am going to assume that that number is scientifically supported and not just being tossed out there without qualification. It truly makes you think about how important understanding pack behavior and dynamics is to molding a well rounded puppy. It also supports the arguments about the ineffectiveness of those doggie DNA tests that have been made popular as of late and come back with varied results even for a pure bred dog. If all dogs are in deed 85% wolf genetically then there is no possible way that these DNA tests could come back with one particular breed. Further, how these DNA tests are being used to bully and eliminate the so called ‘bad’ breeds becomes ever more absurd since any dog is primarily wolf and should all be viewed equally as a danger. But I am getting off track…

The view of becoming your puppy’s alpha dog through non-violence is well described here. However, I do think that some of the methods of so called non-violence are a bit borderline and really required further discussion within the pages to avoid misuse of the techniques. In particular I felt the ‘scruff shakes’ and ‘muzzle grabs’ lie much closer to the violent side than I would like in a book preaching non-violence since these techniques do require you to lay a hand on the dog. The spray bottle technique while not necessarily violent should be used with great caution and only for specific reasons and on dogs with specific temperaments. Taking the spray bottle to a very shy, fearful puppy could be disastrous to their development. Unfortunately in the early chapter of the book where these techniques are set out there is no discussion of the appropriateness of each in specific situations which is a bit unsettling. I can easily see an owner grabbing hold of one of these techniques at the wrong time and effectively ruining a good dog. I do understand the point is to distract the puppy while they are performing a bad behavior and redirect in a positive manner, however, I feel this can just as easily be accomplished with a solid hand clap and a firm ‘no’ or other verbal command.

I heartedly approve of Wombacher’s theory on house training and his three pillars: confine, supervise, and regulate. Also his feeding guidelines are excellent, with a firm discouragement of free feeding. An owner who strictly follows this method should be extremely successful with housebreaking their puppy. I also appreciate his advice to reprimand yourself and not the puppy when you find an accident after it has taken place because it is you the owner who did not fulfill your end of the bargain and follow the three pillars.

The only portion of the housebreaking advice that I question is more to do with crate training and again back to the ‘non-violent’ methods that are recommended to quiet a fussing puppy. Again, I would go more toward a solid hand clap and a firm ‘no’ or ‘quiet’ command and even recommend ignoring the behavior in this one instance. Also, the strong reliance on the squirt bottle for early puppyhood training and obedience commands is a bit much in my opinion, although again an effective technique under the right circumstances.

The one bit of advice that I would have immediately struck from the book was the match in the butt technique recommended for owners who just don’t have the time to wait for their puppy to go. Again, the effectiveness and usefulness of the technique under certain circumstances is undeniable. However, it you are too busy to wait for your puppy to potty or too busy to bring the puppy into the house and try again in 10 minutes, then you are too busy for a puppy.

I do, however, agree that you should never give in to a crated fussing puppy by letting them out. You should only let the puppy out when they are being good (not barking or crying), unless you are sure the fussing is due to a need to eliminate. The entire book is focused around the standpoint that you are the leader and this is exactly as it should be. Another focus of the book is training the owner, which is key and so often the true problem behind many behavioral and training issues. In particular, the section about breaking a habit that has been reinforced since early puppyhood is a particular owner induced problem. Also, that too many puppies get ignored when they are doing the right thing and only scolded for doing the wrong thing when the training should be an equal mix of the two.

The only other bit of advice that I disagree with and find a bit misleading to readers is the spay/neuter recommendations. While yes, if you dog is a pet, it should be spay/neutered the issue is with the age recommendation here. The book leads you to believe that the risks of pet overpopulation should outweigh any negatives. The fact is that current research shows strong negative health consequences from early age spay/neuter procedures. The health of the individual dog should outweigh any other factors. Yes, your dog will enjoy health benefits from being spay/neutered such as lower risks of some cancers and tumors, but it should be an individual decision that you make with your Veterinarian as to what age is best. The 6 month recommendation made in this book is in my opinion too young.

If I were writing an early puppyhood guidebook, this is almost exactly what I would write. The very minor concerns I had about some areas of this book have less to do with the effectiveness of the technique and more to do with the possibility, and even liklihood, of misuse of the techniques which in the end is an owner problem which some good common sense should override. In all, it is as though the author of this book plucked the information directly from my own brain and I am therefore thrilled to make it our Number 1 top recommended book to our own puppy buyers as essential reading prior to bring home their puppy in conjunction with finding a good local trainer to help them through the non-standard training situations with additional advice and ideas.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this month’s book. Where there any particular techniques that you had thoughts or questions about? Did you find any advice questionable or missing? If you have used the book in the past, how effective did it prove?

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*Suggest a dog or pet themed book for Ozzy’s Book Club by emailing dogtalk@doggeddogdom.com and we will post your review of the selected book and you can lead the discussion on the last Monday of the month.