'Book Description:

Brand, a Labrador retriever the size of a professional linebacker, takes his owner on a "Nantucket sleigh ride". Kit, for all his diminutive size, knows he’s the King and not about to give up his throne, not even for the woman he loves. Bonnie, a Border collie whose world is a terror-filled place, is miserable. These are real-life anecdotal stories of dogs brought to Susan Overfield, a professional behavioral obedience trainer, for help.

They, and the other dogs, have one common problem - their owners don't have a clue as to how to communicate in order to make a dog happy and well-adjusted so that it wants to behave for its human. The dogs are training the owners - and it’s getting ugly.

Each dog has a different issue. Each owner has a different challenge. Each pair learns how to develop the relationship that we all long to have with our dogs - that of a trusting, loving companion.

For over 35 years, Susan has taught dog owners about the physical & psychological

well-being of their dogs, and pups, ages 8 weeks & older. Her unique, groundbreaking

method--created for the average person--teaches dog psychology & behavior

so that owners may be more successful, confident partners to their dogs. The media has

dubbed her "Montana's dog doctor", as she often delivers a perfect--or
at least improved--pooch with less than an hour of training.” Susan’s shares her

"dog whisperer" technique throughout the United States, showing owners how to

utilize dog psychology to train their dogs without using choke chains, pinch collars

or treats. Whether through general obedience classes, a private in-home consultation,

a Dog Camp, or a “Psych-O” Clinic, for fund-raisers or private groups, Susan’s clients are

advocates of her proven method. To read about her method and learn how you can arrange a

clinic in your area, contact Susan Overfield at  stockdog@3riversdbs.net 

Advance Praise:

The recent history of dog training is one of ever-greater sophistication in the use of rewards and punishments, in conformity to the general processes of animal learning. The greatest breakthroughs have been made in the realm of handler-dog communication—The use of conditioned cues to mark target behaviors for reinforcement and punishment. But some of us are in danger of neglecting what psychologists have called “the contribution of the organism,” the specific, evolved properties of the dog that dictate how it learns and from what cues it learns best. Susan Overfield’s work is noteworthy in that she focuses our attention on the dog’s behavioral properties, on its social identity. Adopting a relationship-oriented training approach rather than a process-oriented approach, her contribution is to remind us that, at the end of the day, successfully living with a dog is not a process of rewards and punishments, it is a relationship, a collaboration between two social animals with some things in common and some remarkable differences, and the outcome depends on the dog owner’s degree of insight into what it is that makes a dog a dog.  Stewart Hilliard, PhD, one of the world's leading authorities on Canine Psychology, Behavior and Training, Co-Author of Schutzhund: Theory and Training Methods

"The wonderful stories are the stories my rescue dogs have experienced . I do rescue for American Brittany Rescue and because of the wealth of common-sense information, the dogs and I now communicate easily and this knowledge has literally saved dog's

 lives "  David Powers, MT. Coordinator, American Brittany  Rescue      www.americanbrittanyrescue.

Ratings Guide

*****Outstanding

****  Recommended

***   Okay, but not great

**     Disappointing

*      Poor
*****Must read for new dog owner
D. Goff, A reviewer, 04/20/2008 

All you dog lovers out there pour yourselves a glass of wine, settle in by the fireplace and enjoy this delightful book. Overfield's vignettes from her years of dog training are irresistibly hilarious, witty and poignant. Her love of dogs and shrewd understanding of the canine and human psyches is evident in every page...Can't wait for a sequel...

*****If you have a dog, you must read this book
Jennifer, human companion to Briggs, 04/20/2008

Susan Overfield has an amazing insight into the behavior of our canine companions. She doesn't care a bit about our excuses for why we allow problem behavior to continue her only concern is the health and well-being of our relationships with our pets--and is not afraid to let us know about it. I've been to her place on those Saturday mornings, and I know her methods work. This book is not a 'how-to' so much as a dog expert sharing her knowledge of canine psychology, which ultimately gives the reader his or her own starting point for building a great relationship with that special furry someone.

*****A reviewer
Janel N, A reviewer, 04/16/2008

Susan Overfield does an outstanding job of relaying her stories of both dog and owner in this hard-to-put down, laugh-out-loud book. Every time I picked up the book, I got so absorbed, I felt like I was out there with them on a Saturday morning in Montana. Highly Recommended.

*****The answer to your dog crisis and what you're doing to cause it!
Camille Wills, Dakotas' re-educated owner!, 04/21/2008

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