If you could recommend up to 3 books which you would not want to be without when owning a dog, which would they be? These can be about training, nutrition etc, I'd love to hear why you think the book is so good too if you can spare the time too.

Thanks in advance! :)

Rachel x

tom lonsdales raw meaty bones-brilliant for a nervy new raw feeder!

If you bought no other book on dogs ever, The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson, because it is amusing, non jargony and gives most people a new perspective on how dogs think.
Don;t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor cos it gives you advice on how to best handle dogs, husbands, employees and bosses
Ultimate Nutrition by Kmythy Shulze, non jargony, non poliitcal accessible information on raw feeding.

Book of the Bitch, The Culture Clash, and any one of my Cavalier breed books, possibly the Sheila Smith one.

Not having owned a bitch I purchased The Book of the Bitch a long while back and its brilliant and worth every penny.
What ever your breed always find a good book written by a breeder/owner in the breed - worth their salt

Tricks of the Trade by Pat Hastings - brilliant book on how to find the perfect puppy for the show ring.

I have the Book of the Bitch, several Pat Hastings publications + DVD as well as some old books on breeding I got from Amazon, the trick is finding something you can read without being sent to sleep and you can understand.

Anything by Jean Donaldson to be honest although the Culture Clash is a favourite.  Control Unleashed by Susan Garrett and a huge book I have that is all on dog body language with loads of piccies but cant think what it is called.

Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats, The Book of the Bitch (obviously :-)), can't decide on a third though!

I do like the Book of the Bitch and it's very good on everything to do with - well, the bitch! However the training advice is not always very good. For example somewhere in there, it refers to punishing a dog who has been sick. I find that pretty horrible myself. However it's mostly very good, certainly for breeding etc.

I like books by Gwen Bailey, Jean Donaldson, Pam Dennison, Sarah Fisher, and James O Heare. And "Click for Joy" by Melissa Alexander - excellent book for clicker trainers! :)

I love 'Work Wonders with Raw Meaty Bones' by Tom Lonsdale. It has been a great intro to me and really eased some doubts. Did, however, at times think it was slightly propaganda-ish and almost political (for want of a better word) in its ways. If you can overlook that at the heart of the book is some really good information. Considering the other book by him- is it worth it as a supplementary book to the 'Works Wonders' one?

Other than that I have 'German Shepherds for Dummies' and have really not been impressed with it so far. I've got 'Puppies for Dummies' on order too so hope it's better as they are all written by different people.

Just as a heads up - I can't recommend it as I haven't read it!- if you have a branch of The Works bookshop near you, I noticed this week they have Gwen Bailey's "How To Train a Superdog" for £4.99.

The Book of the Bitch
Tricks of the Trade by Pat Hastings

I have both of these and they've been living at the side of my bed for over 2 years :), I just plough in whenever I have a minute to read, reread and reread.

I was about to order the new edition of Dogsteps--has anyone read this/would you recommend it?

Ooh lots of good suggestions, thanks! I've ordered a few which have been suggested to begin with :)

Just ordered some Gwen Bailey books after reading the recommendations in this post!

Parrysite ,ive got his other book,like you say,as a supplementary book. its good,a lot deeper,but really,all the info a newbie needs is in the raw meaty bones one,imo.

Thanks Pam, from other reviews I've read it sounds like the Raw Meaty Bones one is a bit more scientific. I'll probably buy it once I've had a bit of raw feeding experience.

The Culture Clash - Jean Donaldson
Click for Joy - Melissa C Alexander

sorry,of course i meant"work wonders,feed your dog raw meaty bones"in my first post,and was referring to "raw meaty bones promote health"as his "other book"which I considered deeper,sorry for any confusion,thatl teach me to look at the titles instead of relying on a bad memory,sorry!