|
|
|
|
|
|
Under The Tree ~ Book Reviews by Lynn Tatro ~ Published in the Australian Cattle Dog Club of America Quarterly 2003 With my toddler and homeschooling teenager in tow, I didn’t think I had much time for reading. We won’t mention the other dozens of irons in my fire. Seems every spare moment is spent dog training. My friends continually mentioned two books in particular. I thought, “Yea, another book on dog training, dog behavior, competition….I just don’t have time.” One day, Fed Ex unexpectedly turns down the drive. Assuming most of you have ACDs, you know the driver never needs to knock on the door. A book! Someone must sure want me to read this book if they sent it Fed Ex to Alaska. Under the Christmas tree – another book. So, when the weather turned cold and blustery, I flipped through the pages deciding maybe I could read a little now and then. Both books were very interesting, informative, readable, and not at all what I expected.
The Other End of the Leash by Patricia B. McConnell Ph.D.
Patricia is the co-host of Calling All Pets, an animal behavior advice show syndicated to one hundred public radio stations, and was the animal behaviorist on Animal Planet’s Petline. She is an adjunct assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a certified Applied Animal Behaviorist. She specializes in treating aggression in dogs and speaks around the country. But, the best part is that Patricia lives with three Border Collies and a Great Pyranees on her sheep farm outside of Madison. She KNOWS herding dogs and herds with them. Now, she has my attention. The focus of this book is “why we (humans) do what we do around dogs”. Every observation and explanation is delightfully presented with stories of experiences with humans and dogs. She addresses auditory, visual, scent, and tactile communication. If you’ve ever been to dog training classes of any kind, you undoubtedly have noticed the effectiveness of body language and signals over verbal cues. How natural it is for the human being, a primate, to walk straight ahead toward a dog while making loud repetitive noises, gesturing wildly, and bending toward them to try to elicit the behavior they have in mind. How natural it is for the canine in question to feel threatened and react or cease all reaction. Patricia also describes why it is so difficult for humans to deny their natural instinct and do something totally “backward” to elicit the response they wish from their dog. Throughout this book Patricia demonstrates how even the slightest change in your voice and in the way you stand can help your dog understand what you want. Once you start to think about your behavior from your dog’s perspective, you understand why much of what appears to be doggy disobedience is simply a case of miscommunication. Have I not heard that over and over and over again out in the herding arena?? Obedience ring?? Agility course?? Usually we get exactly the behavior we request. Dogs do want to please us and they do what works for them. I KNOW that; yet, I am just as quick as any human to follow my natural human instinct rather than think “dog”. Patricia describes why it is so difficult for us to bridge that gap and offers some very specific behaviors to help throughout the book “After all, although humans and dogs share a remarkable relationship that is unique in the animal world, we are still two entirely different species, each shaped by our individual evolutionary heritage. Quite simply, humans are primates and dogs are canids (as are wolves, coyotes, and foxes). Since we each speak a different native tongue, a lot gets lost in the translation.” Specifically, Patricia describes how you can get you dog to come when called by acting less like a primate and more like a dog, how dogs and humans share personality types – and why most dogs want to live with benevolent leaders rather than “alpha wanna-bes”! I especially enjoyed her description of teaching four Border Collies to “mind their manners” at the door, come directly when called even off stock, and sit without a second cue. I’ll give you a hint: you snooze you lose. The book is also nicely organized with clear section markings, a marvelous reference section, and masterful index. Patricia’s website is www.dogsbestfriendtraining.com Aggression and dominance, being Patricia’s area of expertise, are the meat of the book. She specifically addresses “alpha-rolling” and punishment based training. Her recommendations focus on working with our natural instincts and communication abilities to address these issues. Patricia writes with a keen sense of humor; many times I laughed at loud at her tales. She can also make you cry with few words. Her writing skill is top-notch not at all dry, dull, or boring. The very end of the book addresses love and loss “when your dog needs another home and you need a hug”. “Love is not understanding….. the problems most people have with their dogs and most dogs have with their people are a matter of misunderstanding.” By improving our communication skills and understanding we can work from love to have more meaningful lives together. In some cases, the understanding bring us to realize both the human and dog would benefit from resituating the dog in a new home. Patricia tells various stories of separation and how to handle the grieving process and transition. Truly a “heart” book to be re-read. Fear No More:
Competing with Confidence Me fearful? No. No way. I am NOT fearful. I don’t need this book. I gave up being “afraid” a couple years ago when I heard myself saying to myself, “I’m afraid my dog won’t sit, stay, drop on recall….” and, decided if I was afraid of anything at all I was going to train away fear so the dog wasn’t afraid of me and I wasn’t afraid of their behavior or my own in competition. Good. A plan! Then, we were in competition. No fear. Didn’t hear myself think anything fearful. But, I did hear myself thinking, “why in the world is the dog acting like he doesn’t even know me? What is he going to do today?” We would walk out into the pasture and he would beautifully run out and bring the stock. He might have easily decided to just look at me like he hadn’t a clue what I wanted him to do or why. No fear. Frustration ? You bet! I was contemplating the purchase of a microchip wand to see if I indeed had the same dog in training that I had in competition. I’m sure he had similar thoughts. Along come Barbara and Gerianne. They have been titling in various competition with their dogs since the late 70’s. To their credit they have titled everything from Basset Hounds to a Golden Retrievers mostly Papillons and Border Collies but there is even a Lowchen sporting 8 titles listed on the dedication page. (of course they dedicated the book to their dogs past and present) I grabbed the book and flipped to the back. There I found a whole chapter of “quick fixes”. I read every one of them deciding I might just try most of them and maybe I would scan the first chapter to see what else they have to say. It’s not the kind of book you can’t put down. It is more of a resource text for continual reference. The opening chapter is “Understanding Fear”. Already deciding I was NOT afraid, I reconsidered after reading the Preface; after all this book is specifically written for those of us in competitive dog sports by fellow competitors. Excerpted from the Preface: You can find out in less than a minute if you need this book by asking yourself the following questions.
If you answered yes to any of these questions, we have just the book for you! Make competing with your dog the enjoyable experience you’ve always wanted it to be. Needless to say, the book is quite well written with a good amount of humor and an amazing abundance of detail. It offers methods for calming you and your dog through breathing, alternative therapies, behavior modification, visualization, herbs, even hypnosis just to name a few. I especially enjoyed the detailed chapter on Canine Acupressure. They tell you how to eat, drink, and sleep around competitions and how to set goals for your training and competitions. This book is jam packed full of suggestions and methods for improving our performance. At the bottom of each page is a different quote from a wide variety of authors, historical leaders, scientists, and artists to inspire and uplift. The quotes add an aesthetic touch to the otherwise “manual” variety of writing. Comics can be found throughout the book adding levity. The authors also include an excellent Resource/Reading List so the reader can easily go into more depth exploring the various techniques and ideas documented. Truly a nab, read, put-down, nab, read type book. I imagine it will find its home in my training gear as a companion book this year.
07/30/2006 08:40 PM - last updated |
.gif)
