Talking Dogs Scentwork is about teaching your dog to find a specific scent. It is a free flowing search style that allows the dog to cover complex areas efficiently and effectively. The handler works to support the dog and ensure the whole area has been cleared.

Service dogs play an important role in society, assisting their handlers in leading independent, fulfilling lives. These amazing dogs are trained to work with a wide range of disabilities, from visual impairments to PTSD, and come from a variety of breeds and backgrounds. Some service dogs are custom bred and trained by large charities, while others are rescue dogs of indeterminate breed, trained entirely by their owners. Disability knows no bounds and can strike anyone, at any time, leaving us alone, scared and confused, with many of us wondering how feasible it would be to integrate a service dog into our lives. This is a practical guide, written from the perspective of an ordinary dog owner turned service dog trainer, following her own need for a service dog. It covers everything from service dog breeding and selection, how to acquire a service dog, basic training, and public access work, to your dog's eventual retirement. Chapters also detail the day-to-day realities of living with and loving a service dog.

Dog training methodology is an increasingly hotly contested topic. A number of vocal trainers insist that dogs should be instructed through exclusively positive reinforcement, and that training should be totally force-free. Popularized through social media, the force-free training movement has grown into a lucrative, billion-dollar industry, but the consequences may outweigh the positives. This book examines the current state of dog training and discusses ethical alternatives to force-free methods. Chapters cover the history of dog training, common myths, equipment, and the merits of balanced training methods that don't dogmatically avoid occasional force.

Celebrating the unique, individual characters of dogs, and how they choose to spend their leisure time. The terrific dogs pictured in the book have not been asked to perform tricks; they are simply demonstrating their zest for life, oblivious to the click of the camera.

Everything you need to know to maximise quality of life for your older dog. Offering advice and ideas for mental, physical, and emotional support as your dog ages and his needs change, including the latest research, and designed to help you create a bespoke care plan for your dog.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An incredible, revolutionary true story and surprisingly simple guide to teaching your dog to talk from speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger, who has taught her dog, Stella, to communicate using simple paw-sized buttons associated with different words. When speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger first came home with her puppy, Stella, it didn’t take long for her to start drawing connections between her job and her new pet. During the day, she worked with toddlers with significant delays in language development and used Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices to help them communicate. At night, she wondered: If dogs can understand words we say to them, shouldn’t they be able to say words to us? Can dogs use AAC to communicate with humans? Christina decided to put her theory to the test with Stella and started using a paw-sized button programmed with her voice to say the word “outside” when clicked, whenever she took Stella out of the house. A few years later, Stella now has a bank of more than thirty word buttons, and uses them daily either individually or together to create near-complete sentences. How Stella Learned to Talk is part memoir and part how-to guide. It chronicles the journey Christina and Stella have taken together, from the day they met, to the day Stella “spoke” her first word, and the other breakthroughs they’ve had since. It also reveals the techniques Christina used to teach Stella, broken down into simple stages and actionable steps any dog owner can use to start communicating with their pets. Filled with conversations that Stella and Christina have had, as well as the attention to developmental detail that only a speech-language pathologist could know, How Stella Learned to Talk will be the indispensable dog book for the new decade.

As a drug detector dog handler with HM Customs & Excise, Pam Mackinnon searched all over the UK, from oil rigs to cruise ships, postal depots to airports and vehicles to houses. Combining her detection skills with her work as a dog training and behaviour consultant, Pam developed the UK's most successful scentwork training programme that teaches all dogs to become detector dogs. With almost 30 years' experience, you and your dog are in safe hands as Pam takes you through each stage of scentwork, beginning with introducing your dog to a specific scent, through starter searches, and on to advanced work, indoors and out. Aided by illustrations and full colour photographs of many different breeds at work, this manual will open up a whole new world of activities that you and your dog can enjoy together.