Pardon me if I gush a bit, but this book was a breath of fresh air when it comes to dog behavior and training books! This was an incredibly compassionate and insightful book that contained a lot of really useful information. It was easy and enjoyable to read. It made the clear connection between how behavior problems develop and why obedience training is an integral part of the solution. The author clearly discussed dog psychology and human psychology side-by-side to illustrate how our human behavior (however well-intentioned) and our emotionally needs often contributes to dog behavior problems. Andersen explained the concepts eloquently and used engaging stories of her past clients to illustrate the ideas.
This is definitely not a “how to train your dog” book. It contains explanations about why dogs behave a certain way, but doesn’t give enough detail about obedience training to actually teach the owner how to effectively train their dog on their own. I would highly recommend this book for a prospective dog owner to help them avoid common mistakes and pitfalls, as well as to anyone experiencing behavior problems. In fact, I’d like to make this required reading for any prospective clients of mine! The following topics are covered in detail:
- How dogs communicate (refers to it as “dog speak)
- Separation anxiety
- Pack dynamics
- Strong leadership as it pertains to setting boundaries and not getting caught in a situation where the dog trains the owner rather than the owner training the dog
- Crating your dog
- Selecting and obtaining a dog
- Aggression
- Spoiled dogs
- Emotions getting in the way of improving your relationship with your dog
There were several insightful, quotable nuggets in this book. I’ve included some noteworthy excerpts below:
“In a world where indulgence is often mistaken for love, and where dog training has become synonymous with discipline, many dog-loving people are struggling to find the balance between the kind of love that makes us feel good versus the kind of love that is good for our dogs.”
In reference to the pack: “Without a leader there can be no followers; without rules, there can be no order. So, it’s not so much the family you belong to that matters as much as how the family members behave towards one another that really counts. This is the single most important element of understanding dog behavior. Knowing this, and only this, will change the way you “parent” your dog and will instantly make you a better dog owner. The alternative–not accepting that your dog thinks and needs to live like a dog–is simply poor dog “parenting.””
“Research has shown us that dogs are social creatures that seldom survive when alone. The fact is, without a common means of communication between you and your dog, the dog actually is alone–alone in his struggle to interpret messages you might not even realize you’re sending.”
“While loving a dog can never be perceived as inappropriate, sometimes the way in which we are loving our dogs has begun to straddle the boundary between love and need.”
“A dog is never unhappy being a dog: in fact, it is a far easier job than that of any human. It is only when we inappropriately elevate the status of our dogs to that of humans that we unwittingly transfer human responsibilities to that dog as well. A dog is not emotionally equipped to handle human responsibilities.”
All in all, a very valuable read for dog owners and dog trainers alike, well-written and engaging. I only wish she had mentioned in the “what kind of dog to get” chapter that some folks may want to seriously consider a CAT instead! The logistics and psychology of a cat, being more independent and less interactive/reactive (i.e., we can’t mess them up as much with our poor animal parenting skills because they’re not as tuned in in the first place), is a much more healthy choice for a person who is prone to anthropomorphizing their dog to an unhealthy degree or who can’t deal with the responsibility of caring for a dog.
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