The Dog Listener
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Jan Fennell and Monty Roberts describe how they have developed a training method based on wolf behaviour without resorting to having to physically dominate the dog in any way. It is possible to get dogs to do what you want them to do without the need for any harsh punishment or even bodily manipulation. Her anecdotal tales seem to all be based on the sole idea of relieving the dog of its duty as pack leader. Whether her wolf theory is accurate or not her practical approach seems to work wonders for the dogs she handles in a humane way.
She tells personal stories throughout the book whilst trying to explain how her method helped the dogs in question. She obviously loves dogs and had plenty of experience with them. I distictly got the impression, however, that she believes that all the problems we encounter with dogs come from exactly the same place and can be rectified with the same method for all. There was no mention of any alternative reasons for some of the dogs’ behaviours.
Talking to a friend of mine who has a “distubed” spaniel we discussed the merits of her method but my friend simply said that no matter what the book said, or however many trainer/behaviourists she talks to (and there have been a few) her dog will always be aggressive to other dogs as she actually is poorly. Something in her brain, a little like a mental illness, preveents her from being comfortable around other dogs despite years of therapy to counter-act it.
All Jan’s methods are kind and the book is easy to read and for that alone the book will be popular. Jan said that she developed her ‘method’ by studying video footage of wolves. Recent research has debunked a lot of the wolf/dog similarity theory and although a lot of Jan’s practical advice would be useful and beneficial, some of it falters and sounds distinctly old fashioned. All the outcomes are good for her and she makes it all sound simple which of course is rarely the case in reality.
Bruce Fogle explains the processes that occur within the brain of the dog shedding light on the meaning of certain unwanted behaviours and gives remedies for those behaviours. He explains, through genetic theory, how breeding for behaviour is less successful than breeding for morphology and the behaviour aspect of the dog is more successfully controlled through early learning. The book demonstates clearly why it is crucial not to treat a dog like a human but to be very aware of its own “dogginess”.
Raymond and Lorna Coppinger. “Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution”. This is a really great book that makes you question all your assumptions about dogs, wolves and how we interact with them. It dispels myths an cliches and gives a “world view” of the dog and its history. It provides a fascinating insight to the world of puppy-hood and how a dog’s behaviour in later life is manifested in the first few critical weeks of learning after birth. It takes a healthy, critical look at the dog breeding industry while relating to the reader via anecdotal stories of the authors’ own dog ownership and interactions.
J.M. Evans & Kay White’s “Doglopaedia: A Complete Guide to Dog Care” is a matter-of-fact guide book for dog owners. There are a lot of charts and “What if…” questions to help owners figure out how they can cope with some of the more unpleasant aspects of dog ownership. It’s a sort of casual reference book and handy as it is small sized. Written by a vet and an animal-loving journalist in 1994 some of the ideas of dominance training seem a little old fashioned and heavy handed to me after reading about modern techniques of reinforcement training but nevertheless it is a useful book that has in depth sections on anatomy, physiology, training techniques, first aid and a lot more, offering the caring dog owner an easily accessibly guide.
This is my first ever “dog book” and I enjoyed reading it. For me it opened my eyes to training with positive reinforcement and Prior made a great case against punishment for any creatures as a training method. To me it seems tempting and obvious to scold a dog or child for doing something you don’t want them to do but this book made be re-think that mindset. Stop telling people and animals off and start thaking them and praising them for all the “right” things they are doing! This is very powerful and a really nice way to change your own behaviour.
Themocracy