Animals in Translation & Animals Make Us Human
Both of these books are brilliantly written by a woman with a deep insight into animal behavior. As a successful scientist and author, Temple Grandin reveals scientific principals and applications to improve the lives of both animals and humans. Although neither of the books focus primarily on dog behavior, both books encompass explanations of the behaviors of both animals and humans and their relative associations and outcomes within the tightly woven relationships of our species with other animals. As an extremely high functioning autistic scientist, teacher, author, and animal behaviorist, Temple reveals many elements, components, and examples of how we interact with our animals in both positive and negative ways.
Her descriptions of cruelty may or may not match what you have previously embraced. If you own a dog, a cat, a child, a pig, a horse, a cow, or any other living creature, it would serve you well to read both of Temple’s books. You will change the way you view your animals and your children. I believe the information that Temple provides will advance your thinking within the animal kingdom. She writes with a level of professionalism, ease, honesty, and clarity that offers scientific information and principals even to those who don’t consider themselves scientific. She writes with heartfelt compassion and offers the reader the opportunity to make changes that will benefit both you and your loved ones…all species included!
Inside of a Dog
Sometimes when I visit homes to work with clients my head fills with perfumed scents and other in home cleaners and masking odors that make my eyes water and my head hurt. I immediately think ~ what must the dog(s) in this household be enduring to survive the onslaught of sensory overload. No one describes this response better than the author of Inside of a Dog. With years of scientific research and knowledge into the nose of your canine companion, Alexandra Horowitz will reveal the distress you are inflicting on your dog’s senses.
With Winning in Mind
With Winning in Mind by Lanny Bassham is not a book about dog training. However, it is a book about preparing your mind to achieve winning status in dog training, agility, sheepherding, losing weight, golfing, etc. Most of the winning that takes place is achieved not by those with the best physical game but by those with an excellent physical game and an even better mental game.
Canine Nutrition
Canine Nutrition by Dr. Lowell Ackerman is an in depth look at canine nutrition. It is also an exciting book because he addresses the complete nutritional picture of the canine companion. The Forward and Preface were enough to capture my attention as the author makes it extremely clear that proper nutrition is a critical element in providing our dogs with the healthiest lives possible. Since I choose to feed a raw diet to my dogs, what goes into my dogs’ bodies is of great importance to me. I have worked closely with veterinarians and canine nutritionist to provide the most complete diet possible. Canine nutrition is very interesting to me and I often spend time reading articles and books about the subject. Dr. Ackerman’s book is definitely a book I will keep on the shelf as a reference and a guide. If I had found his book sooner, my life would have been a little easier!
Clicker Training for Dogs
As Karen points out, clicker training is a very creative field of study and training. Karen’s book, Clicker Training for Dogs, is a unique, step-by-step approach to beginner clicker training. The author does an excellent job explaining “conditioned reinforcers” in terms that can be understood by rank beginners. She also takes the time to carefully explain how to control misbehavior with positive reinforcement techniques. It is my experience as a trainer that children around the ages of 10 to 12 years old catch on to the clicker game very quickly. Adults tend to take longer as they are inhibited from previous experiences in life and they don’t want to look silly if they get it wrong. Kids lack this inhibition and learn very quickly which is something that the dogs really appreciate! The 101 things to do with a box game has always been a hit with my beginner students. However, I do believe both beginners and advanced trainers enjoy this game and the dogs seem to enjoy it too. I appreciate that Karen addresses how to put a behavior on cue as this is a very important part of the training process. She ends the book with questions and answers to help the beginners overcome common problems that usually arise.
The Other End of the Leash
Patricia McConnell’s The Other End Of The Leash is clearly packed with insight, scientific theory, and formidable applications of behavior modification and interpretations. The information in the book is presented with a “collective” approach for application and understanding the complicated, and often misunderstood, interactions between humans and canines. In addition to reading this book in the present, I have read this book before. I have witnessed Dr. McConnell’s seminar on aggression. Because I find her information use, helpful, and fascinating, I also own her DVD sets for The Other End Of The Leash and the DVD set from the three day aggression seminar. One might say that I became a sort of “McConnell junkie” during my beginning and progressive years of owning Emma Jean, my husky-JRT mix. Emma Jean came with loads of fear aggression that seemed to manifest itself in “general aggression” across the spans of the behaviors. Subsequently, as I began to work with more and more dogs in my dog training business, the information that I learned from Dr. McConnell became invaluable.
Canine Body Language
I completed Brenda’s book a few weeks ago just prior to going to the National Sheepdog Finals. I had no idea I would get such a “practical education” so soon after completing Canine Body Language. So, I spent 5 days at the National Sheepdog Finals watching the “best” sheepdog handlers in this country work their dogs and do absolutely phenomenal feats on the sheepherding field. I have no reservations saying that these individuals are amazing sheepdog handlers on and off the field. However, their dog management techniques and practices were appalling to me….at first. Let me explain.
Jumping from A to Z
Jumping From A to Z is a comprehensive jumping approach designed to guide and facilitate success with a jumping program. When I started training dogs, I was looking for the parallels and the differences in the equine and canine athlete with respect to structure and mechanics. The beginning of the book addresses canine structure and mechanics using a paradigm that lends itself to the comparison of horse structure and equine mechanics. Since I began dog training after several years of riding and training event horses, the information pertaining to form and function presented in a comparison contrast form has been invaluable to me. The authors are quick to point out that dogs are “superior” athletes when compared to horses using the example of how dogs can jump twice their wither height compared to horses that have never achieved a height of 1 ½ times their own wither height. Further comparisons point out that dogs have more limb angulation, more muscular legs, and that dogs also have a separate radius and ulna which provide the dog with exceptional flexibility compared to that of a horse. A dog can land and turn at the same time compared to a horse that must land and then turn because the horse lacks the separate radius and ulna leaving it without the flexibility on contact to the ground surface.
Ruff Love
Ruff Love by Susan Garret definitely offers excellent strategies to improve the canine/human relationship. Lucky for me, I had the opportunity to learn many of Susan’s management strategies early in my career as a dog trainer. So, for years I have practiced her methods with my own dogs and shared the same methods with countless others. I never cease to be amazed at how well the methods work for every single dog that has an owner that will remain committed to the program.
Don’t Shoot the Dog!
I am personally and emotionally wrapped around much of the information written by Karen Pryor in Don’t Shoot the Dog! I have read this book multiple times from cover to cover over the last almost 20 years.
My first exposure to this book was in the late 80’s when I was a student at Kansas State University. A friend of mine, who was also a Professor at the university, suggested I give the book a good read. He knew that in addition to going to school that I rode and trained horses for a living, and that I was very interested in learning theory. So, my first introduction to Karen Pryor was a long time ago. I would never have believed that one book could change my training style so dramatically.
