This book sounded like just what the Doctor ordered. I checked it out of the library and waited days for it to come in. The first chapter described the author's standoff with his dachsund who thought he was king of the castle, and then the dog's behavior was equated with that of a strong-willed child. It is about letting your kids know who is boss in order to make them obey. It is extremely different from the "positive behavior corrections" we are encouraged to use now in child-rearing. It is more "old school" in its approach to disciplining children and making them follow rules. While I agree in some cases that a child needs more intervention than "touch the kitty gently" instead of my mother's choice of words to me, "If I ever catch you hitting that cat on the head with your shoe again, so help me, you won't see daylight for a week..." Needless to say, my mother put the fear of God into me. I am 31 years old, have never been in trouble, never got a single detention in school, always listened to the adults, never talked back, and did what I was told, and my mother still scares the bejeezus out of me. There needs to be some balance to my mother's (which is also the same as Dr. James Dobson's approach) and the "be nice" approach of redirecting bad behavior so children don't grow up in fear of their parents. While the "iron fist" approach may have worked for my mother on a child like myself because I wasn't as "strong willed" as some, it definitely has not proven to work on my 5-year-old, and has only increased the daily fights and arguments.