A review by mformato
The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson

4.0

I read this book as part of the curriculum for a dog training apprenticeship program.

This is an excellent book for anyone who just got a puppy. Donaldson does a great job at dismissing outdated and inferior training methods while providing proper explanations and alternatives. She goes over many different training exercises which are essential to having a well behaved dog and explains how to go about them without losing the dog's interest and/or your patience.

I do wish she spent more time talking about rehabilitating older dogs (such as rescues or just untrained adults) but considering many people get a dog as a puppy this is still a great book.

I also wish her final note, to get a dog neutered/spayed wasn't just dropped in one sentence on the last page but instead giving more space and explanation why. She spent the rest of the dog going over in great detail how to have a well-behaved dog but barely touched on de-sexing. If this is someone's only book with dog training I can see how having little explanation on that point would not be enough to sway then towards the procedure.