This book offers good advice. It uses rewards and not punishment or other negative feedback.

It's structured around solving specific issues, and the author is honest about how there is as much work to be done by the human as by the dog!

The instructions are clear and direct.

It matches well with the techniques that we were taught, and our dog -- a rescue with some problems -- responded well to them.

I would suggest that dog owners read the book straight through before beginning the techniques, even though they will be very tempted to jump right in! ( )

This was an excellent book! I've been involved in dog training for about 10 years (for my personal dogs, I'm not a trainer) and I agreed with a lot of these methods and what was said in the book! I liked that they promoted that a dog only has a window to eat. I'm not a fan of free feeding. I also loved the part that mentions not using treats for training for certain types of dogs. Both dogs I have had, I didn't use treats, but just praise and that worked perfectly. Treats are great for "fun" training like rollover or playing dead. But when it comes to obedience, I wanted them to rely on me. And they were both overly motivated when the treats came out and would go through every trick they know without listening to me at all! Although cute, not helpful when I needed them to do something. The training methods in the book are positive, but while still letting the dog know right from wrong. It's not what I call "fu-fu" training, where you just throw treats at the dog constantly and then they never listen to you without a treat or you feed them at the wrong times and reward the wrong behaviors. I also thought there were some great reminders in here and the advanced section. I feel like this book is for everyone. Someone who is new to dog training or has little experience. Or someone who has been around it for years. There are definitely things I forgot and more advanced ones I can work on it. It's easy to get to a great place with your dog and not continue on to the more advanced activities. Very glad I got to read/review this book and I'll definitely keep it on hand for any future dogs as well! ( )

This book is fantastic. It is well written with detailed explanations for everything. The language is clear and concise while being informative. It has a lot of information that other resources leave out when talking about dog training. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a new pup that hasn’t trained one before or someone who has trained but couldn’t get the training to stick. It even has some advanced training at the end of the book. Very useful information from start to end.

Mental Exercises for Dogs is an introduction to canine character and behavior. Swanson's great contribution is the reassurance that intentional work training a dog using positive reinforcements and consistency can modify bad behaviors of a bored or anxious dog. The exercises are standard training activities that will engage or renew connection between trainer and animal, and stimulate the intellect of both. Her step-by-step instructions make clear the essentials of consistency and attention to the animal. The agility section is a basic introduction that provides guidance for those new to the sport. The book can be improved with editing of run-on sentences, comma splices, and missing words and turns of phrase. I received this book as an early review. ( )

I received this ebook as part of the Early Reviewer's program, but that in no way has influenced my perceptions of the book. I have fairly extensive dog training experience and currently have a very smart, active young dog that I have begun to train in several different sports. Based on the book's title, I had hoped for a book filled with various games and suggestions on how to keep a dog's mind busy throughout the day. Instead, I read a nice, short and very basic book on dog training. The chapters are very brief and assume that the reader has a very cooperative dog who picks commands up quickly. I next thought that perhaps the QR code or web link at the end of the book would offer ideas that went more with the title of the book. However, both the code and the link lead to a site that has not yet had any content added to it.
So, if the reader wants a brief, basic book on dog training that includes some background on how dogs learn, they might find this book helpful. Anyone looking for games for mental stimulation or more advanced dog training methods would be advised to look elsewhere. A helpful bibliography is included that will lead to some dog training websites. All of these sites focus on positive dog training methods. Anyone looking for alternatives will need to search elsewhere.
It's a nice book but not quite what the title promised. ( )