Training Your Labrador Retriever

Since Cocoa arrived I've been reading about labs and dogs in general. Three books I enjoyed this week were Training Your Labrador Retriever by September B. Morn, The Guide to Owning a Labrador Retriever by Richard T. Burrows, and Cesar's Way by Cesar Millan.

(As I read these books I enjoyed Diet Coke Plus - with vitamins and minerals! - the perfect beverage to accompany books about actively training dogs...)

Training Your Labrador Retriever was full of useful information about the breed: the history, the physical characteristics, possible health issues, how to care for the dog, how to train, tricks to teach, how to teach it to hunt and retrieve. It also had lots of good pictures.

The Guide to Owning a Labrador Retriever earned a special place in my heart and library as being the best pet manual that follows Strunk & White's admonition to "Omit needless words." It contains much the same information as the first book, but in a slimmer, trimmer package. And it still has lots of good pictures.

I've seen The Dog Whisperer maybe half-a-dozen times, but each time I've sat mesmerized, amazed at what Cesar Millan is able to accomplish with misbehaving dogs. Refreshingly honest - he asserts that a dog is a dog, not a person with four legs and fur - he establishes his place and the dog's place, and everyone is happy in the end. His book is very interesting, and we've been using a lot of his information to good use with Cocoa.

I'm enjoying this immersion into dog training - I only regret that I didn't read these books before we got the puppy. That way I would have been prepared and ready to start, instead of playing catch-up.