Beyond Obedience: Training with Awareness for You & Your Dog

by Rondi Lightmark and April Frost

Book Overview

Beyond Obedience is a revolutionary new training program for you and your dog from one of our country's foremost animal advocates and holistic practitioners. The idea that your canine companion is a fully emotional being and acutely sensitive to your changing feelings and moods is the foundation of April Frost's original and highly effective training program. One of the most difficult aspects of training a dog is clearly communicating your intentions...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609804693
• ISBN13: 9780609804698
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Opened my eyes on lots of canine behavior

This was a remarkable book. I had to go out a buy a copy for reference. I keep going back to it. April Frost helped me help rescued dogs using her gentle, holistic methods. I learned so many new things from her and her stories of behavior modification with loving patience made me use my brain instead of harshness with dogs. There are no other books out there like this. I've looked. Read it and you won't regret it.

A new, holistic approach to dog training.

"Beyond Obedience" truly takes the reader beyond basic training methods. Ms. Frost introduces a new way of thinking about our dogs, their needs, and their intelligence, then guides us, through examples and exercises, to a higher understanding of canine psychology and personality. Only after helping us to gain that understanding does she tie this new-found knowledge in with "traditional" training methods, then teaches us how to apply both in the most effective way.Filled with stories from her years of experience, the book sometimes leaves you smiling at canine antics, sometimes teary-eyed at inevitable failures. Yet, in the end, readers willing to work through the exercises to "connect" with their pets will come away with a much deeper understanding and appreciation of their canine companions, and training sessions are bound to become a pleasure for both handler and dog. Using even just a few of the methods, I personally achieved much greater success in training a very difficult puppy.

This should be the first book you read about your dog.

April Frost and Rondi Lightmark's book not only taught me how to connect better with my two dogs, but also how to connect better with myself. I would highly recommend this book as the first book to read about dogs. The sections on the human-animal bond are so inspiring and the holistic medicines, massages, and flower essenses are educational. I laughed out loud and even teared in parts.

A potentially life changing book

This is the most amazing book about animals that I have ever read. I have quite an extensive canine library, including many books on dog training. No other book has given me such true insight into the human- dog relationship. While many of the author's ideas may be new to readers, or not resonate with them, you can't help but be touched by her great love for dogs. The stories in this book are amazing, and will often leave you in tears. I think the main thing I got from this book was the idea that dogs are teachers, as well as companions and friends, and they have a great capacity for love and deep communication with their humans. Her training techniques,while not that technically different from those ofother trainers, are always geared toward reminding the owner to respect and appreciate the dog they're working with. This book provided me with great insights into my past relationships with dogs, and gives me great hope and excitement for future ones. I can't wait to bring home my new puppy and put Beyond Obedience into practice.

Co-author Rondi Lightmark shares some thoughts

I am Rondi Lightmark, the co-author of BEYOND OBEDIENCE: Training with Awareness for You and Your Dog written with April Frost. I welcome the opportunity to say something about this unique book which after only three months is already in its second printing. Before I carry on, let me share a few reviews:USA TODAY, September 18, 1998: "A most compelling guide. Through a holistic, respectful and nonviolent approach, Frost teaches how to intensify relationships between humans and dogs -- with better results for each. Readers will want to sit and stay for this one. NEW AGE JOURNAL, December 1998: Recommended for holiday giving."An animal behaviorist illustrates how the training process can be a gratifying experience for both the owner and the dog."YOGA JOURNAL, December 1998: Recommended on holiday book list: "Animal behaviorist April Frost, aiming "to contribute something to people and animals that will empower both the fulfill their highest potential," has devised a training system based on "the development of love, mutual respect, and communication" between humans and canines. She's able to pull it off because she understands the two equally well. since she can't get your dog to think like you, she shows you how to think like your dog. that would be enough to make her book interesting; but then she adds spirited discussions of the chakras in humans and dogs, how our "energy fields" affect communication between the species, and the "heart connection" between humans and their pets. And just when you think she's getting too "woo-woo," she provides extensive, step-by-step exercises to make her ideas tangible and put them into practice." BEYOND OBEDIENCE: Training with Awareness for You and Your Dog is the book for the dog lover who believes that it is time to change our relationship to the animal world from domination to communication and mutual respect. Says Frost: "Dogs, in many people's minds, are here purely to serve our needs. Actually, this role for dogs is perfectly wonderful and nothing to feel guilty about, because they are very happy giving us their unconditional loyalty and love. However, when this gift is taken for granted, which it has been for thousands of years, then the animals suffer. Our language reveals a psychology of domination: we "own" "pets," we are their "masters," we "command" them to "obey," and "discipline" when they don't. We have to find a new language that supports a more enlightened point of view and aids communication. My animals are my teachers, companions and friends. I own the responsibility for my animals, but I don't own my animals. This is why I no longer call myself an animal trainer; it's too one-sided a term. My goal is to open the lines of communication and understanding between species; both have to do this learning together. So, I like to call myself a "animal communication facilitator." Old-style dog training was mostly about physically forcing an anima