Book Review: Sophie, The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog

I first read about Sophie in a news article, and when I learned there was a book I knew I had to read Sophie, The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog, by Emma Pearse. I like to think of this as a story that illustrates the toughness of cattle dogs. How tough are they? So tough they can fall off a boat in rough and shark-infested waters, swim to a tiny island miles away, and successfully hunt for food for five months before being captured.

Photo by Erin Koski

News articles got the basics down, but there's a lot more to the story. Enough to fill an entire novel? You bet! We start with the first time a member of the family laid eyes on Sophie in the window of a pet store, and go from there. Along the way we learn about Sophie's empty-nesting owners, how they met and what family life was like before and after Sophie entered their lives. We hear about their history of dog ownership, their first Australian cattle dog, and how their attitudes changed from "dogs belong outside" to "I guess she can sleep in the armchair in the living room since she looks so comfortable up there". By the time Sophie falls off the boat, we are very much aware of her place in the family and how her loss affected them.

Sophie's adventure itself is absolutely filled with amazing and agonizing little details. The small chain of islands where she washed up have their own fascinating history. St. Bees, the island where she was finally captured, is home to a population of koalas with some unique behaviors due to the lack of predators. Sophie was first sighted on a different island, and to get to St. Bees she had to swim through a particularly treacherous strait that has claimed the lives of several experienced seamen.

The most fascinating part of the story to me was the discussion on the tides and currents around the islands where Sophie was stranded. Based on tide charts and known currents in the area, it is estimated that Sophie was swimming for twelve hours, possibly even an entire day. Unlike people, dogs can't just float for a bit when they get tired. The place where she fell off the boat was five miles from the islands, and the ocean was quite choppy at the time. It's also worth mentioning that this all happened off the coast of Australia, so of course there were sharks everywhere.

I found this book to be extremely well-written, it was very readable and flowed nicely. The pace was nice, and I didn't get bored reading the backstory before the really dramatic bits. There was a wonderful amount of science, and Emma Pearse very accurately conveyed the emotions felt by Sophie's family. News stories had informed me that Sophie was successfully trapped and returned to her family, and that upon arriving home she promptly resumed sleeping on the couch like a dog that hadn't just spent five months hunting feral goats. Still, there was a delightful amount of suspense as I read about the various coincidences leading up to her return, and the urgency with which she was captured. To me, that's the mark of a good storyteller.

Book Review: Dinner Pawsible

Dinner Pawsible is a cookbook for people who want to make healthy and nutritious meals for their dogs and cats. It is a collaborative work between a veterinarian and a pet food safety advocate. Both have been using these recipes to feed their own animals for years, and they want other pet owners to understand how manageable that really is.

Photo by Erin Koski

I really like the premise of this book. Most people don't eat dried 100% complete and balanced food at every meal. We provide our bodies with all the things they need by eating a wide variety of foods over time. By not limiting ourselves to a narrow diet, we can avoid nutrient deficiencies and compensate for less-than-perfect foods.

It makes sense that we could do the same for our dogs, fellow omnivores that they are. All we need to do is provide them with enough variety, and things should sort themselves out, right? A lot of homemade pet diets are limited to just a few ingredients, though. Homemade pet food tends to be deficient in one way or another, whether it's calcium, phosphorous, or vitamins it lacks.

Dinner Pawsible is intended to take all the guesswork out of feeding your dog a homemade diet by providing an entire book of recipes made from a wide variety of ingredients. There are directions on how to choose, store, and prepare each ingredient, from fish to liver to carrots. Readers are advised to use as much variety as they can when planning meals for their pets. The book promises that not only will our pets will be healthier and happier eating real food cooked just for them, but it will also save us money.

We saw a squirrel.
Photo by Erin Koski

Before purchasing Dinner Pawsible, I wondered if there would be any recipes in there suitable for Brisbane and his chicken/turkey/duck/egg allergies. I went as far as emailing one of the authors, and was told that there was absolutely nothing wrong with substituting pork, lamb, rabbit, ostrich, or any other Briz-safe meats I could get my hands on. Cool.

My enchantment at this new, less expensive way of feeding my beloved dogs lasted until the book arrived and I began reading the ingredient preparation instructions. The book instructs us to use organic free-range grass-fed everything, and includes ingredients like oysters. Do you have any idea how much oysters cost?! Knowing that nutritionally the differences between organic and conventional foods are basically non-existent, I decided to stick with meats I could actually afford.

I actually read the entire book cover to cover in a few days, just to see what sort of substitutions I would need to make. I knew I could pretty much swap any meat for any other meat, but what was a good substitute for eggs? Next I wandered over to the book's Facebook page, where several other people had similar questions. The general attitude of the authors was that any vegetables would do, eggs could be left out or added in all willy nilly, and that following the recipes to the letter wasn't really in the spirit of the Dinner Pawsible.

"Wait a minute," I thought to myself. "If any meat and vegetables in any amount will do, what's the point of even having recipes? I thought this stuff sort of mattered a little." Still, I was determined to cook for my dogs. When I went to actually select a recipe, I realized something I had missed on my first read-through. The recipes in Dinner Pawsible are VERY carbohydrate-heavy. They are all based on either rice, pasta, or beans. For those who wish to avoid grains, the authors recommend substituting sweet potatoes. The ratio of these to actual meats just feels wrong, though. These recipes generally have something like 2-3 cups of cooked rice/past/beans/vegetables and maybe half a cup of meat.

I've been feeding my dogs mostly grain-free foods since I discovered raw feeding over a decade ago. While I've softened my stance on grains and their place in canine diets, it's tough to shake the feeling that a decent portion of their food should be meat. Dinner Pawsible wants me to feed one part meat to six parts starches and veggies, and that feels wrong. No, I have nothing to back this up other than a gut feeling.

Between the unappealing idea of feeding my dogs rice with a little meat mixed in, and the number of substitutions required to make the recipes suitable for my allergy dog, I can say my enthusiasm for Dinner Pawsible has waned significantly. I will still spice up my dogs' dinners with raw and cooked meats, cottage cheese and yogurt, cooked vegetables, and maybe even oysters, but this wasn't the book I needed to make the jump into cooking entire meals for my dogs on a regular basis.

Do you ever cook for your dogs?

Book Review: When Pigs Fly

Jane Killion's book When Pigs Fly is about training dogs that don't really want to be trained. A lot of dog sports and activities are geared towards biddable dogs that actively want to do whatever their handlers desire of them. This book is about training my least favorite types of dogs.

Photo by Erin Koski

Scenthounds, sighthounds, and terriers have been bred to pursue their own agendas, independent of humans. This contrasts sharply with herding dogs, which have been bred to focus on humans and actively attempt to figure out what they want. I love herding dogs. A lot. Other breeds just don't compare. Brisbane can very nearly read my mind, but I've found that even herding dogs I've never worked with before can astound me with their perceptiveness.

I have mixed feelings about When Pigs Fly because the author spends a fair amount of time putting down my beloved biddable dogs. Jane Killion breeds and trains bull terriers, which are among the most ridiculous dogs out there. Over the years she has successfully overcome a variety of very different problems in order to train her dogs to not only behave themselves, but also succeed at a variety of sports. Hence the name of the book, and also the glorious picture on the front of a bull terrier soaring over an agility jump.

The basis of this book is clicker training, and controlling resources. With enough control, you can teach your dog that you are the gateway to their favorite things. With clicker training, you can teach them that figuring out what you want is the puzzle they most solve to get their favorite things. The trick is to make it their idea.

I think the major weakness of Pigs Fly is that it relies heavily on the author's experiences with her own dogs, while only touching lightly on dogs that are equally difficult but in a different way. Thus this book is phenomenal for training dogs that are highly motivated by something, but not for lazy, unmotivated dogs. When discussing motivators, the author briefly mentions the difficulty in working with dogs whose chief pleasures revolve around napping in various places, but does not offer any sort of solution for these dogs. Ru's absolute most favoritest thing in the world is sleeping in his heated bed on the couch, I have not yet found a way to use this as a training motivator.

The other issue I had with applying When Pigs Fly to my own situation is that the author recommends constant management in all situations. The least applicable is the advice to teach loose leash walking at home in the yard and not trying to walk the dog down the street until they have mastered this skill, so they don't have the opportunity to practice pulling. This is fabulous for people who have fenced acreage in which to exercise their dog, and utterly useless for people like me who have a 20' wide yard. There's absolutely no way I can provide enough exercise in my tiny yard for however long it takes us to master loose leash walking. I have this issue with a lot of dog training books though, by now I'm almost positive that an enormous, grassy yard is a prerequisite for writing a dog training book.

Book Review: Perfect Puppy in 7 Days

Dr. Sophia Yin's Perfect Puppy in 7 Days is my absolute favorite book for bringing home a new dog. It's not just for puppies either, the schedules and training ideas she has work just fine for adult rescue dogs as well. Be warned though, it's a pretty intense method for training.

Photo by Erin Koski

My favorite dog training books all involve stories and anecdotes about the author's own dogs. This book is about Lucy, an Australian cattledog puppy. Dr. Yin was a cattledog lover, and part of my love for this book stems from it being written about my favorite breed.

At the beginning of the book, Dr. Yin tells about her father, the cattledog he used to have, and how he decided he wanted a new puppy. His daughter being an expert in dogs, dog training, and dog behavior, he asked her to find him a breeder and pick out a puppy. Knowing that her elderly father was unlikely to throw absolutely everything into training his new puppy, she decided to keep the little one at her house for a week of training to start her off on the right foot.

There is a lot in this book about early socialization for puppies, especially before they are ready to leave their mother. It was fascinating to read how many new experiences Dr. Yin recommends for baby puppies to help them learn that the world is a safe place. It also made me just a tiny bit sad, because I know that I didn't do anywhere near that much socialization with Brisbane. I did quite a bit with Ru when I got him at 14 weeks, but not nearly as much as I would have had I read this book. While it's important to drive home the message about early socialization and exposure to new experiences for anyone raising a litter of puppies, I think it's also important to forgive ourselves for not doing as much as we could have before we knew better. We can't go back and fix this learning period for our adult rescue dogs, and that's ok.

Photo by Erin Koski

Dr. Yin's week of training involves a whole ton of impulse control exercises, which aren't as much as rowdy playtime but definitely make for a liveable dog. Perfect Puppy provides plenty of different games to play, explains how to play them, and then includes them in a daily schedule. The daily agendas are pretty puppy-intensive, especially if you work full time. Were I to bring home a new baby puppy, I'd hopefully take a week off work. Otherwise, I see nothing wrong with modifying the schedule to fit my own life.

I think the main focus of Perfect Puppy is on controlling the environment so the puppy has minimal opportunity to make incorrect choices, and at the same time teaching the puppy to default to the correct choices. It's much easier to teach an enthusiastic puppy not to jump up on people when she's had a week of intensive training to sit every time she meets a new person. I think a lot of people don't think to use a leash in the house to keep their new dog from wandering out of sight and into trouble.

This would be my favorite book to recommend to new dog owners, but a friend has pointed out that it is pretty intense for someone new to the training world. There's a whole lot of information in there, and it's easier to absorb when you already have a working understanding of behaviorism. It's definitely the first book I'd recommend to other dog nerds, or nerds in general. Like knowing how things work? This is an instruction manual for puppies.

Book Review: Awkward Family Pet Photos

As advertised, Awkward Family Pet Photos is filled with awkward family pet photos. Book delivers.

Photo by Erin Koski

It probably says something about me that I failed to find the awkwardness in many of the pictures in this book. Sure, some of them are incredibly dated and positively reek of the 80's or 90's...and also happen to have an animal in them. For many of these, the pet is a minor detail. I think including pets in family photos says a lot about those pets and the way their family feels about them.

Other pictures...the possum elevates the redneck family portrait from "mundane" to "art". I'm pretty sure the addition of a possum or a skunk automatically makes any studio photo awkward.

I particularly love the historic pictures, they illustrate how pets have always been important to people.

I get a big kick out of this book, and I've been a fan of the Awkward Family Photos site since before blogs like that became mainstream. My mother is also a fan, and deemed the picture to the left to be awkward enough to send in. Apparently authors Mike Bender and Doug Chernack deemed it to be awkward enough, because you will find said photo in the collage at the back of the book.

No, I didn't get paid to have my picture in the book. I did have to sign a bit of paperwork allowing them to use it. It's from the summer of 2010 when I first dyed Ru pink, and was taken in a classroom at the elementary school where my mother teaches music. Hopefully this explains the row of presidential portraits at the very top.

Book Review: Behavior Adjustment Training

I love, love, LOVE Behavioral Adjustment Training by Grisha Stewart. I've been using treats and toys as motivators for years, but until now I had no good way to help dogs that aren't that into those things. Grisha Stewart has a magical combination of a writing style and a training style that both resonate well with me. Rather than bringing a radical new approach, or explaining what I've been doing wrong all these years, she built on things I already knew while giving me new ways to use them.

Photo by Erin Koski

I love Grisha Stewart's writing style, it feels so familiar and conversational. Reading BAT was like having an animated conversation with a new friend. Sometimes I read a dog book and feel like a knowledgeable professor is impersonally handing down their wisdom from on high, being sure to tell me everything I'm doing wrong in the process.

The biggest idea introduced in BAT is the idea of functional rewards, rewarding a desired behavior by doing something the dog wanted to do anyway. Like pretty much everything in this book, this was not a totally novel concept. I had already been using functional rewards with Brisbane and cutting his nails, I just didn't have a name for it. Years of desensitization attempts have been unsuccessful, but I figured out a couple of years ago that if I wrestle Briz down and cut one nail just a tiny bit, I can reward him by immediately stopping everything and ending that day's torture session.

Behavioral Adjustment Training uses the release of pressure as a reward. Reactive dogs that bark at people/dogs/life don't really want to attack those things so much as they want them to just go away. BAT uses no pressure at all, properly done it looks pretty much like someone casually walking their dog on a long leash. What is actually happening though, is that the dog is being allowed to encounter their trigger at a distance that allows them to observe without panicking. The handler waits for them to disengage via sniffing or looking away, marks that behavior, and then walks away from the trigger as a reward. There are no food treats involved, and ideally the dog works in a regular harness on a long line to avoid leash pressure entirely.

Removing pressure is a huge part of Grisha Stewart's training methods. Her book is absolutely brimming with different ways to use this. I loved the page on training a dog to enjoy wearing a muzzle, it starts with hiding the muzzle, bringing it into view, marking and rewarding the dog for looking at the muzzle, and then hiding it again. Further on, the process involves continually moving away from the dog so that they want to go toward it for their reward. This is less threatening than putting it into their personal space, and gives them the opportunity to avoid an unpleasant experience if they choose not to interact.

Probably my favorite part of the BAT book is hearing about Grisha Stewart's dog Peanut, how she tried to socialize him as a baby puppy without knowing precisely how to make every experience a good one. How he led her to develop the entire BAT method via his extreme reactivity and behavior issues. It reminded me so much of my experience with Brisbane, and how he has driven me to learn as much as possible in my quest make him happy and secure.

Book Review: Dog Food Logic

I'm pretty sure that Linda Case wrote Dog Food Logic: Making Smart Decisions for Your Dog in an Age of Too Many Choices for me. I am a skeptic, and I want proof. I don't trust marketing claims, I want studies, and not just any studies. I want peer-reviewed studies published in scientific journals, and then I want meta studies of those studies. I read the SkeptVet blog on a regular basis, and I think I'm the only person I know who doesn't give my dogs joint supplements because there's no compelling evidence that they work and plenty that they don't.

Photo by Erin Koski

I am also absolutely fascinating by marketing, and the human psychology behind it. There's just so many fascinating and just plain weird things to learn about the human mind. Dog Food Logic introduced me to a phenomenon called anchoring, the tendency for the subconscious to remember numbers and silently compare them to subsequent numbers. This sounds completely bizarre and yet appears to be something that people do without ever realizing. Anchoring occurs when a person thinks     about any number for any reason, the brain will then use this number as a starting point when estimating whether other numbers are high or low. A person who works with large numbers all day might find themselves calling a $30 lunch reasonable, while a person teaching basic math to first graders may feel like a $10 lunch is pretty steep. The numbers do not have to be related to each other at all, even a little bit. Studies on anchoring effects include having people spin a number wheel or write the last two digits of their social security number before asking them to guess or estimate something totally random. It's weird, it's real, and everybody does it. 

Other things Dog Food Logic introduced me to are the specific industry-defined terms food companies can use on their packaging, and the reality of co-packing. Many large dog food companies employ other facilities to actually manufacture and package their food, which is why a problem at a single packaging plant can manifest as a recall that hits multiple brands of food. Diamond produces their own food, Diamond Naturals. They also use their dog food factory to make food for Taste of the Wild, Wellness, Apex, Solid Gold, Canidae, Costco's Kirkland brand, and many others. A problem at the Diamond food plant in 2012 really exposed how very intertwined many pet food brands are. 

What's the difference between Beef Dog Food, Beef Recipe Dog Food, and Dog Food with Beef? What does "complete and balanced for all life stages" actually mean? Has anyone actually studied raw diets scientifically? Can dogs digest grain efficiently or not? When I read "chicken" in the ingredients list for my dog's food, does it mean chicken meat like I buy at the store, or some other definition? Dog Food Logic didn't just answer the questions I had about the dog food industry, it raised entirely new questions and then answered those too.

This book does not give concrete answers as to what dog food to feed my dogs, but it does give the colorful history of the dog food industry, definitions for almost everything printed on a bag of dog food, an explanation of the dog food manufacturing industry today, and the science behind dog nutrition. I am perfectly capable of thinking critically, identifying marketing versus fact, and understanding the nature of the dog food industry, and Linda Case has given me the information to do just that.

Book Review: Control Unleashed

By Leslie McDevitt, Control Unleashed is a fantastic read for anyone who has a dog that sometimes looks at things, or barks at things, or otherwise does things they wish it didn't do in public.  It's primarily for agility dogs, but it pretty much works for every handler and all but the most mellow dogs. Actually, there's some stuff in there for the mellow guys too.

Photo by Erin Koski

I think my favorite part about this book is that all of the exercises are explained as games. Whenever you are training your dog, the two of you are engaging in a fun game. It's voluntary and enjoyable for the dog. The result is supposed to be a calm, confident dog that can focus on his handler in any circumstances, because he has learned that certain situations are cues for happy fun time. 

This is a massive difference between this and a different book, Susan Garrett's Ruff Love, which also offers to help turn your dog into a calm, confident, focused working partner. The difference is that Ruff Love instructs readers to remove all opportunities for the dog to "self reward", the program begins with several weeks of keeping the dog in a covered crate at all times unless it is actively being trained. Don't come when called? Go back in the box. The author has since been quoted as saying it isn't meant to be an isolation program, and she has no idea why people lock their dogs in boxes continuously for several weeks when she instructs them to lock their dogs in boxes continuously for several weeks. I'm told that she holds multi-day training workshops where people start their dogs on the Ruff Love program, and that by the second day everyone was crying because it was so difficult to put their beloved dogs through this.

Needless to say, Ruff Love isn't for everyone, or really anyone except people who want to win at all costs. Still, it is often recommended to aspiring agility handlers who wish their dogs were more focused and are willing to brainwash their dogs via extreme isolation. Control Unleashed is exactly the opposite. Control Unleashed is for people who love their dogs and want to engage in dog sports as a way to bond and have fun with their beloved companions. Leslie McDevitt obviously feels this way, because one of the first stories in her book is about a dog that didn't really enjoy agility, so she stopped making him do it. 

Right up there with Bones Would Rain from the Sky, Control Unleashed is by someone who sees her relationship with her dogs the same way I do. They aren't clay to moulded, our dogs are dance partners and we need to teach them the steps while listening to their music. Control Unleashed is filled with games to play with dogs to teach them how to work with us, but it's also a story about Leslie's dog Zip and his journey from being an overstimulated pile of nerves to a calm and confident dog.

The thing I use the most from this book is called the Look at That! game. Brisbane sees things and gets very excited about them, particularly skateboarders and squirrels. Often he is concerned about the thing he sees, so training him to stop looking at it is difficult. I can click and treat him for looking at me, but he will still feel highly concerned about the thing, maybe even more so now that he is looking at me and not watching for impending doom. Control Unleashed taught me to click and treat him for looking at the skateboarders or squirrels. Right away, his focus shifts to me and the food, and the skateboarders become the cue to play this fun game. This has been extremely successful when he can see the skateboarders or mailman, we're still working on not losing our minds over hearing skateboards.

Control Unleashed is filled with these silly games that work amazingly well. Teach the dog to remain focused on playing with the handler by refusing to play with the dog. Teach the dog to stop freaking out about squirrels by letting him chase the squirrels. I lend this book out a lot, but not as often as some of my others because it's slightly expensive and somewhat troublesome to replace. I'm told there is a sequel about puppies that is equally universally applicable, but I haven't read it yet.

At face value, this book appears to be a manual for teaching a remedial agility handling class using very specific equipment in a very specific setting. In sunny California I have never seen or heard of an indoor agility course, I don't know anybody who has ring gates, and I still found this to be the most helpful book I've read so far for my reactive dog-beast. I recommend it for reactive dogs, lazy dogs, easily distracted dogs, stupid dogs, and anyone who wishes their dog was a bit less or a bit more fill-in-the-blank-here. It's a manual for changing the way your dog does stuff in a way that is fun for the dog, and will never make you cry.

Book Review: Dogs Are From Neptune

Jean Donaldson's Dogs Are From Neptune is the sequel to The Culture Clash. The first book was aimed at destroying the myths our society holds about dogs as moral beings, and explained how dogs do what they do because they recognize good things happening for dogs. Culture Clash offers obedience training advice broken down into simple steps. Dogs Are From Neptune explains how to deal with behavior problems.

Photo by Erin Koski

When I first brought Brisbane home, I thought I knew a whole lot about dogs and how to train them. I knew all about socialization and basic obedience. What I didn't know was what to do when things didn't go as expected. Dogs Are From Neptune is a wonderful book because it is all about various common behavior problems.

This book is actually a compilation of answers to questions submitted to Jean Donaldson's website. Each answer was so thoughtful and detailed that she decided to put them in print. The solution for each problem is not at all simple and straightforward, and Donaldson gives a number of options for each case. She stresses over and over that the root of nearly all behavior problems is fear and stress, or simply a lack of training. A dog reacts aggressively toward certain people because it is afraid. It jumps up on people because it has not been taught to greet politely. The underlying reasons are simple, but addressing the issue is often very complex.

The first half of the book is about aggression, which is easily the most severe behavior problem in my opinion. The very first question is about a dog who is aggressive toward men. I really like how Jean Donaldson explains classical conditioning, that the dog can learn to feel less fearful around men by having good things happen when he sees men, regardless of his behavior. I often hear people chastising others to not reward bad behavior when classical conditioning would help tremendously. At work I frequently pet and praise dogs that are barking, humping, or engaging in other stress behaviors. Typically the dogs gradually relax and the frequency of the undesirable behavior decreases.

Dogs Are From Neptune is a great read for anyone that works with dogs. Owners of well-behaved dogs can prepare themselves for potential issues and add some behavior management tools to their arsenal for future problems.

Book Review: The Culture Clash

The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson is one of my favorite books about dog behavior because it works very hard to dispel myths and misconceptions about dogs that many people don't even realize exist. She begins by describing the myth of the Disney Dog. This is a dog that thinks just like a human, and should "know better" than to do things like chew shoes or knock down toddlers. The Disney Dog knows how to behave itself, and problems with "dominance" or "poor leadership" cause him to forget what he knows.

Photo by Erin Koski

Jean Donaldson, along with every dog that ever existed, knows that the Disney Dog is pure fiction. Like every other creature on the planet, dogs do things that they find rewarding. As Jean Donaldson puts it, dogs recognize "good things happening for dogs". They come pre-programmed with certain instinctive behaviors, along with their own disposition and personality. Everything from housetraining to walking on a leash must be taught, and if the dog does not behave as expected it simply has not been taught well enough.

In The Culture Clash, Jean Donaldson begins by examining why we hold these myths about dogs. As humans we value intelligence, and we especially love to hear about brilliant dogs. This leads us to give our dogs impossible riddles and set them up for failure. We assume that our dogs learn right from wrong when we scold them for what we consider bad behavior, and then when they continue this behavior we assume that they are making a conscious choice to behave badly. Many people also misinterpret appeasement signs (I like to call them "please don't kill me" signs) as guilt.

The internet is filled with pictures and videos of "guilty dogs" that "clearly know they did something bad". To someone with experience in dog behavior, these are always heartbreaking because they showcase so many dogs that have learned to expect punishment. I can credit The Culture Clash for Brisbane's apparent lack of guilt or shame, he does not "act guilty" because he does not feel the need to appease me.

This isn't really a dog training book, so much as it is an owner's manual explaining how dogs work. Preventative training is a big part of the book; so many people try to raise their dogs by teaching them what not to do when they haven't taught them what to do in the first place. Many owners punish their dogs for pulling on the leash, but few begin by teaching their dog how to walk nicely in the first place.

I particularly like Jean Donaldson's explanation of the bite threshold. This is a concept that is explaining via graphs that demonstrate how various stressors add up to make a dog stressed enough to bite. I have used this many times to explain Brisbane's behavior to friends and family. His stressors include noise, crowds, clutter, various people he likes but also gets very excited about, and people walking through doorways. This explains why he is normally ok meeting a new friend on a calm day in an empty house, but can't handle parties.

In the last chapter, the author explains the training theory behind various behaviors like stays and heeling. She begins with a "kindergarten" section for each, how to get started with a dog unfamiliar with the concept, and finishes with a "college" section for gradually teaching the dog how to do it better, faster, longer, harder. Brisbane has a college-level stay in the absence of serious distractions like the mailman or squirrels. (He'd be better at squirrels if I could find them reliably so we could practice.) Foster dog Ulysses has a kindergarten stay, he's just beginning to get the hang of not squirming around when he doesn't get rewarded immediately and continuously for sitting. Uly is a smart boy, he knows I want him to do something and is determined to figure out that thing. He is not used to getting paid for just sitting there and not doing anything. Despite being my dog for the last four years, Ru still has an elementary school stay because I am a lazy dog trainer and he isn't nearly as quick or rewarding to train as my Einstein cattledogs.

I think every dog should come with a copy of The Culture Clash so I wouldn't have to see so many "guilty dog" videos on Facebook.

Book Review: Bones Would Rain from the Sky

The full title of this book is If a Dog's Prayers Were Answered...Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships with Dogs by Suzanne Clothier. Right on the cover is a quote by Jane Goodall, "All dog lovers will want to read this book." She's right, this is definitely a book that changed my perspective on my relationship with Brisbane. I love my dog dearly, and I want a relationship with him based on mutual respect and trust, rather than obedience.

Photo by Erin Koski

I had grown up reading about dominance theory, and watched training philosophy change to something that appeared kinder and gentler by comparison. Still, the trainers I talked to on internet communities echoed things that were almost, but not quite, "You must get dominance over your dog. You must be alpha."

Instead, it was "Your dog must see you as the leader, he must respect you. Obedience is a sign of respect." We had thrown dominance theory out the door, and replaced it with a slightly watered-down version I call leadership theory.
People who openly mocked the Dog Whisperer also said that the first step to solving behavior problems was to force the dog to respect the handler by not allowing it on the furniture, not allowing it eat before the handler or walk through doorways first. Some people even made their dogs always walk behind or beside them, never in front, even on leisurely walks. Body harnesses were considered bad because they gave the dog too much freedom to make choices, head halters were the preferred way to attach a leash to a dog, even a dog with spinal issues.

Photo by Erin Koski

Bones Would Rain from the Sky is full of stories about dogs that Suzanne Clothier has worked with, and how they taught her something new. One of the stories that has stayed with me for years after reading the book is about a puppy with a bone in her mouth. The author notes that there were several adult dogs that very much wanted that bone, but as long as the puppy had it in her possession it was hers to keep. The adult dogs would not violate her space or take the bone by force no matter how tempting, because taking resources by force is unacceptably offensive in the dog world. Old-school training theory would tell me that my dog should unquestioning relinquish any resource I demand from him because I am "dominant" or "the leader". Mutual respect says I should not demand that Brisbane give me anything, instead I should teach him that giving me his bone is a fun game. I only ask him for the bone when I have something better to offer. I respect him enough to not break his own social code.

Another Bones Would Rain from the Sky story that has stuck with me was about a foster dog that Suzanne Clothier was working with. Her own dogs don't normally wear collars at home, and she does not lead them around by their collars. This new dog has jumped up on a bed and was guarding it, she went to grab his collar to drag him off the bed and the dog reacted badly. The author realized that she was not treating this dog with the same respect she gave her own dogs, and that day she removed his collar. She taught him how to get off the bed on cue, and taught him what she wanted him to do instead of correcting him for guess wrong or doing what he had always done.

The central point of Bones Would Rain from the Sky is that my dog is an individual with his own emotions and desires. He loves me and wants to be with me, and he wants to do what I want him to do. When he does not obey, it is because I have not taught him what I want, or because he is incapable. He's not ignoring me because he doesn't respect me or see me as a leader, he's ignoring me because he is too stressed to give me his attention, or because I haven't taught him how to successfully ignore squirrels yet. I don't need to correct him and tell him that he is wrong, I need to remind him of what I want, or move him further away from the squirrels until he can focus.

Suzanne Clothier doesn't write that we should spoil our dogs, they should have rules and limits and structure. All she asks is that we view things from the dog's perspective, understand how they learn and what our world looks like to them, so we can work together with a mutual bond of trust. I love Suzanne Clothier's training methods because they not only work, but they feel good. When I use her methods I never feel angry, guilty, sad, or like I'm depriving my dog, or being mean to him.

Book Review: Don't Shoot the Dog

Far more than just a dog training book, Karen Pryor's Don't Shoot the Dog is an amazingly thorough introduction to the concept of behaviorism. It explains the science behind why all creatures do what they do, and how their behavior can be altered.

Photo by Erin Koski

Karen Pryor is a former dolphin trainer, and this is the field in which she originally developed the concept of clicker training that can be applied to any animal. Traditionally, dogs were trained through force and intimidation. Cesar Milan uses traditional force training and flooding exercises,  along with a nebulous concept known as "leadership" that is somehow supposed to solve behavior problems. However, the Dog Whisperer's methods can only be applied to animals that can be controlled or forced. Dolphins cannot be forced to do things they do not want to do, so clicker training was developed as a way to teach them what their handlers wanted.

Don't Shoot the Dog does discuss dogs and how to train them, but it also describes the behavioral concepts behind how and why these training methods work. Knowing the science behind the training allows prospective trainers to alter their methods as needed to fit a particular situation. When Brisbane was a puppy with spinal disc issues, he used to growl at people who sat next to him on the couch, anticipating them touching or moving him in a way that hurt. Conventional training, and the Dog Whisperer would have had me revoke his furniture privileges, or attempt to "be a better leader" and see if this somehow taught him that the couch did not belong to him. Don't Shoot the Dog taught me to train an alternate behavior, I taught Brisbane to get on and off the couch on command. When he growled, he was told to perform his getting-off-the-couch trick, and praised for complying. Very quickly, Briz learned to leave on his own when he didn't want to sit with someone. What could have been labelled a "dominance" issue or sign of poor leadership was simply a matter of teaching Brisbane a better way to handle a situation that made him uncomfortable.

One of the most delightful parts of Don't Shoot the Dog is the way it applies the behavior concepts to humans. The science of behavior is universal across species, we all do things we find rewarding and avoid things we find unrewarding. Don't Shoot the dog explains how to use various training methods to training yourself to stop biting your nails, to get your roommate to pick up their dirty laundry, to get the kids to be quiet in the car. It gave me a whole new view of human behavior, and changed the way I interact with other people.

I highly recommend Don't Shoot the Dog to anyone and everyone. I think the world would be a better place if everyone read this book. I think it should be a required text in high school, maybe in science class, where everyone could try training each other.

Book Review: How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves

How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves, by Dr. Sophia Yin, is my favorite book to lend. I am on my third copy now because I keep loaning it out and it keeps not coming back. I think one copy moved to Texas with some friends of my parents, another was left with neighbors before we moved. Anytime I hear someone claim their dog is being "dominant", ask me my opinion of the Dog Whisperer, or mention some troubling behavior, I rush to get this book into their hands.

*eyeroll*

Dr. Yin is a veterinary behaviorist, meaning she is a veterinarian who specialises in behavior and training. How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves is a book about scientific dog training, known as behaviorism. At its most basic, behaviorism is the science of why things do what they do, and thus the principles of behaviorism can be applied to everything from dogs to horses, amoebas to brother-in-laws.

The book begins with an introduction to dog communication, explaining things in simple terms to help people understand what their dogs might be feeling. My favorite part of the book is the table of dog body language, and the accompanying chart for dog owners to fill in. The chart asks the reader to record various aspects of their dog's body language and behavior in various circumstances to help them learn when and where their dog feels confident, shy, pushy, confused, or relaxed.

After explaining behaviorism and how it works, the book goes on to explain how to train some basic behaviors and solve some common issues. I love the way Dr. Yin offers multiple methods to train each behavior and solve each issue. Not every training strategy works for every dog, and having multiple avenues to the same result helps budding dog trainers learn to be flexible in their approach.  Dr. Yin also describes games that can be played to help dog and owner work together better, and help the dog fully understand what he is being asked to do.

Dr. Yin continues to be one of my favorite trainers, behaviorists, and authors. She has a whole lot of material available online for free, and teaches concepts like "low-stress handling" to veterinarians and their staff. Sometimes I feel the tone of her writing is a bit brusque, but not in How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves. Dr. Yin is also an Australian cattledog lover, she is pictured on the dust jacket with two of her cattledogs. This makes me love her even more.

How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves is a book for everybody. New dog owners, people with problem dogs, veteran trainers, and especially anyone new to the concept of behaviorism. I particularly love the title, as it reminds us that we are training our own dogs at all times.