Review: A Guide to Living With & Training a Fearful Dog

I have been stalking following Debbie Jacobs through her blog, website, and Twitter for a long, long time. I love that she not only is she a positive trainer, she focuses her work on fearful dogs.

I had the pleasure of meeting her at BlogPaws, and she so generously gave me a copy of her book A Guide to Living With & Training a Fearful Dog, which I devoured in one sitting.

In summary: I wish I had this book four years ago when we first brought Lucas home.

For one thing, many people labeled Lucas as “aggressive” instead of fearful. It crushed me and John as we struggled to help Lucas navigate the world. Debbie’s book lends that understanding, empathetic voice that I so needed in those early days.

Honestly, I can’t say what was the most useful part in the book because I marked it all up with notes to myself and places to return to again and again! Even though we’ve spent years, worked with several trainers, read a library’s worth of books, Debbie’s book gave me a ton of new ideas to keep working with Lucas.

The book includes a useful glossary of terms commonly found in training books and a super-helpful resources section for further reading.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. It’s full of practical advice, reassuring words, and tips and tricks that will help any dog owner – even those without a fearful dog – develop their bond. This book is going to take up permanent residence on my shelf because, as all of us who love a fearful dog know, there are days when training doesn’t go as well or our dog experiences a set back. I plan to dip into this book each and every time we face something like that for the patient reassurance that Debbie gives her readers!

I can’t wait to see what Debbie works on next!