The authors of the classic guide How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend now tell you everything you need to know about the crucial first months of your puppy's life. From the decision to adopt a pup through the practical steps of choosing the right breed, preparing your home, caring for your new charge, and practicing basic obedience exercises, the monks of New Skete offer clear, compassionate guidelines for raising a puppy.
The monks of New Skete in Cambridge, New York, dog trainers and breeders of German shepherds, here expand on their classic How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend . The excellent instruction begins with an in-depth examination of the puppies of one litter from birth through their eventual placements with new owners-- following their social and physical development, their needs, and clues to their emerging personalities. Proposing that the best way to forge a healthy dog-to-owner bond is to prevent problems before they occur, the authors soundly emphasize that a puppy begins its training ``the day it arrives home.'' They teach readers how to choose an appropriate breed and a promising puppy, and how to assume the position of ``pack'' leader from the start. Sensitive and unimpeachably humane, this handbook places equal stress on the time-consuming responsibilities of dog ownership and on its ultimate rewards. Photos. (Mar.)