George Alston, an expert dog handler for more than 30 years, teams with author Connie Vanacore on The Winning Edge: Show Ring Secrets. Combining sports psychology and dog showing, topics include psychocybernetics, the making of a show dog, learning from the competition, and etiquette and sportmanship. The Winning Edge: Show Ring Secrets is "an essential for every dog exhibitor's bookshelf."


From Library Journal
An experienced professional dog handler, Alston offers tips on showing in either conformation or obedience rings. His advice on canine health, training, etiquette, and ring preparation is sound, helpful, and very concise. While much of this information is covered in other books, Alston's handbook provides quick reference and some new ideas; his frank discussions of campaigning and the psychology of showing also help make this a unique and contemporary addition to collections needing a book on handling. Beginners looking for basic "secrets" on training, grooming, breeds, or special handling situations won't find them here. Instead they should turn to Mario Migliorini's more basic Secrets of Dog Show Handling (Prentice-Hall Pr., 1982. 2d ed.), which this complements. The Winning Edge has value as a specialized guide to showing and should be considered for patron audiences that include large numbers of dog show exhibitors.- Carolyn Alexander, Technical Information Ctr., Ft. Hunter Liggett, Cal.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
George Alston has been one of the country's preeminent professional handlers for over thirty years. Now, the secrets of his success are shared with every dog fancier.

The Winning Edge is the very first book to apply sports psychology to dog showing. Here, serious exhibitors, including the seasoned veteran, will have the opportunity to develop and polish the skills necessary to take a place in the winners' circle. With award-winning author Connie Vanacore, George Alston shows us all how to gain consistent success in the only sport in which amateurs compete directly with the professionals. Chapters focus on the advantages of being an amateur and underscore the necessity for the mental preparation and psychology that are essential to every exhibitor's success.

The authors cover every ingredient in the recipe for show ring success, with chapters on the perfect handler, the making of a show dog, psychocybernetics, where and how to focus when in the ring and learning from the competition.

The Winning Edge, an essential for every dog exhibitor's bookshelf, now makes George Alston's professional know-how available to everyone with the desire to win.A Howell Dog Book of Distinction

FROM THE PUBLISHER

For the amateur exhibitor who needs to develop and hone his or her skills, George Alston's thirty-five years of experience teaches how to train both mentally and physically, to size up the competition, and turn being an amateur into an advantage.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal