# Monks of New Skete Books



## DL (Jan 13, 2003)

Are any of the Monks of New Skete Books good reading?


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## TheShadow (May 8, 2008)

i guess for entertainment. i've been at their place in upstate NY twice. they had no time to talk to me but they are in very popular demand with general OB training. They charge a bit too much for training and I think its all because of their TV show they had last year. They also breed GSDs and there was another forum that had a complaint about them.

You can get their books at the library i am sure. Their newer book that reviews their tv episodes are good entertainment but...


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## Good Dogs (Nov 1, 2005)

IMO the books are very good for anyone who has not raised a dog from puppyhood, or had bad luck with the process. And if you like reading about dogs and dog training they're a good read. They won't take you past basic obedience and socialization, but that's the foundation for anything else.


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## DL (Jan 13, 2003)

Thanks for the replies. I found another book on Amazon that might be good, "For the Love of the Dog". I'm going to give that one a try.


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## Guest (Jun 19, 2008)

the monks of new skete, at least their first series (I have it on tape), are well worth the reading/listening. There is some great information on behavior specific to raising puppies that you may not find anywhere else. I learned a lot from it, agree with pretty much everything on there. Some real good bits of information... I would highly recommend it in terms of BEHAVIOR and natural stuff. It DOES relate to retriever training, but not in terms of how to train a retriever -- just in terms of understanding how and why to do particular things to raise a puppy that's confident, secure, courageous... etc.

-K


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## DL (Jan 13, 2003)

I haven't seen any of the TV shows yet. I did manage to win one of their books on ebay for a $1.00. Its not a bad read. The idea of living in a monostary and each monk getting a dog is kinda neat. I kinda like the book. I have the one called "Be Your Dogs Best Friend". 

I also got the book, "For the Love of the Dog", which I mentioned in an earlier post. It is too much of a labor to get through that so far.


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## SusanF (Jul 24, 2005)

I LOVED their one book that had the three appendices/stories from owners. I bought this book when I brought home my first *working* dog. I will never forget the story, told by Maurice Sendak, about his GSD. He said that these dogs that come into our lives..."they *become* the dogs of our dreams". I have always reminded myself of this when I bring home a new puppy who is vexing me, who *isn't* (fill in the blank) like my previous dog, etc. I remind myself that this dog will become the dog that I *need* and will be my teacher for the next stage in my life.
________
Tigerblood


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## DL (Jan 13, 2003)

After reading some more of the book, I've noticed some of it is the same thing as Caesar Milans book "Be the Pack Leader" only it was written 30 years ago. I'm talking about the stuff about people being out of touch with nature, and dogs being a connection between man and nature. It is not a bad book. My version must be before crate training came about, because there is no mention of crates in it.


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## Guest (Aug 14, 2008)

Not in agreement with the entertainment value post.
I found their first book at a flea market and thought what the heck.
They breed German Shepherds, but puppy development is the same. 
As breeders we only have the pups for 7 - 8 weeks and need to make the most of it so the pups we produce are a good as we can offer.
I have modified (slightly) the apptitude test to fit retrievers.
I've only been doing this since 1992 so I'm no expert. I can say that since we started to socialize our pups as the book explains we have never had a customer say they got the "wrong pup". We ask all our clients to get the first book so they can understand what we have done and hopefully continue. 

Mike C


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