Nate Schoemer's Dog Training Manual: Animal Planet's Dog Trainer Shares His Dog Training Secrets

I’m really happy with this purchase. Rather than this manual being about how to raise a dog, or talking about dogs and their psychology, or instructions for how to teach a dog specific things (like _how_ to teach a dog to sit), it is a MANUAL that teaches YOU how to BE a dog trainer.Once you’ve read it and you start training Nate’s YouTube channel has oodles and oodles of how to training videos where you can look to see how to teach a specific command if you need any help there. Then you can combine those instructions with the training that you received on how to BE a trainer from this manual and have excellent results!I recommend reading the whole thing before putting any of the new knowledge into practice because it all ties in together. If you have a dog with a great temperament and no real issues then sure, read and train at the same time. But chances are you are considering buying this manual because you either have a tough dog or you are brand new to training and really in that case I say read it first in order to avoid inadvertently reinforcing bad behaviours by doing something you didn’t realize you shouldn’t do because you didn’t get to that part of the manual yet.It’s a pretty quick read. I read it over 4 baths, complete with high lighting and re-reading important sections.The manual starts with two chapters that define words and phrases. The first chapter defines training words, such as “terminal marker” or “positive reinforcement” that are used throughout the manual. I found it very helpful because I could easily go back and read the definition again when the word came up. I recommend you read this chapter before jumping into the meat of the book because just reading the definitions will improve your training knowledge. The second definition chapter defines common training tools. This one is less important to read in advance if you’re really eager to get into the book. I would still recommend reading it first but unlike the first this you can use purely as a reference. The information in the first I consider part of what you need to learn… or at least what you want to learn if you are buying this book.The manual goes on to explain training psychology, different types of training, rewarding vs praising, ways to increase food or toy drive to be able to use those items as rewards, and takes some time to remind reader’s that you need to adjust the way that YOU train for a dog’s personality and skills (I like this because never once does it imply that a dog can not be trained, only that it is up to you the trainer to adjust to how the dog will learn best).Reading these chapters confirmed some things for me which was really helpful. I have a dog with low perseverance and it makes training very very very…very…slow. I bought this book primarily because I have started doubting myself but reading these chapters I have seen I am doing things right. Most things. Reading these chapters also showed me some mistakes I have been making, and confirmed my suspicion that in some cases my dog is performing an incorrect action in order to suffer through the correction because she knows there is a reward after she does it correctly again (spoiler: Nate says don’t reward when the dog does the action correctly after a correction, only praise, to avoid this happening).After these initial “how to be a trainer” type chapters the manual goes on to address specific behavioural challenges such as different types of fear and aggression, dogs that fake an aggressive behaviour to get a reaction from the owner when they aren’t actually being aggressive (such as a puppy growling - or grumbling as we call it in ours - when you try to move them off the couch), low confidence, and dealing with an unsocialized dog.There is also a chapter at the very end about getting a puppy, bringing it home, and general puppy raising as well as a small chapter on food and nutrition. I think these are important to include to make this an all around guide, and you should read them even if your dog isn’t a puppy anymore, but they’re not as important.I hope this review helped and I hope the manual helps you. I don’t have a single negative thing to say about it. Some people might be upset to discover this is not a “how to” book showing you how to teach to sit, or down, or what have you. But all of that kind of content is on Nate’s YouTube channel, available for free (or a thousand other channels). What this book has instead is the philosophy and psychology of being a trainer. It will set you up for success, giving you the foundations to understand how to teach ANY dog to do ANY command.Happy training!

Good intro to the Why and how behind training a well behaved dog. The layering of training tools and types of commands, lures, and equipment. And the need to keep going back and repeating basics. Lots of positive reward ,praise, play BALANCED by using the leash for negative reinforcement and reprimand followed by praise and reward when the dog exhibits the desired behaviour.

This is a very quick read, this book is almost a reference manual for the very basics of dog training. I bought it as a supplement after I had watched all of Nate's videos on youtube on obedience training.It's a fantastic resource. Would I recommend the book as the only resource for someone who is new to dog training? Probably not. The videos go a long way in visualizing the details and breaking down everything step by step, and you won't get that same benefit from the book -- or any book for that matter. You definitely get a better learning visual from the videos. That said, the book is a great add-on and something to grab off the shelf real fast when you need a recap and don't feel like digging through videos.Everything is well explained and broken down. I'm new to dog training and had great success with all of Nate's resources.

Rundum zufrieden, endlich mal ein Hundetrainingsbuch, das nicht vom Urknall erzählt und von der Geschichter der "Hundwerdung" , um dann in der Praxis ins Schwurbeln zu geraten.Nein, hier wird klar erklärt, praxisorientiert, strukturiert, transparent wie und warum auseinandergesetzt und wenn man sich dann dazu noch die kostenlosen Video auf dem allseits bekannten Kanal anschaut, hat man mal richtig was Brauchbares ind er Hand. Ich bin voll zufrieden!

Nate is one of, if not the best. His balanced technique is healthy for your dog and helps to build a wonderful relationship with you new best friend. The book helped me to understand all of the terminology and how to implement some really good clear instructions for my puppy.