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Reviewers’ Corner skills, conflict resolution and appropriate dog park behavior for both humans and canines. Readers can practice their skills by reading various scenarios and deciding what they think is going on between the dogs, honing their skills before leaving the house. Cheryl even gives advice on what to wear, entering and exiting the dog park, and what to do while you’re there. What I enjoyed most about this book is its sense of balance. Readers are often reminded that they are part of the equation when it comes to dog park enjoyment and safety. Rather than an opinion-laden commentary on dog parks, Cheryl offers a common sense, straightforward and amazingly complete description of the pros and cons, choices, considerations and all-important preparation involved in taking one’s dog to play off leash at the park. Cindy Bruckart owns and operates The Puppy Playhouse Dog Daycare & Training Center in Sherwood, OR. She is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer, and a member of both the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. She is also a certified Canine Good Citizen evaluator and provides CGC testing to Project POOCH, a program that pairs homeless dogs with incarcerated youth. Her regular blog contributions can be read at Dog Star Daily, www. dogstardaily.com. Cindy lives in Oregon with her husband, five dogs and four cats. Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide by Brenda Aloff Dogwise Publishing, 370 pages, 2005, $39.95 Aloff A has written one of the first really comprehensive books on dog body language. She is building nicely on the foundations laid by experts such as Abrantes and Rugaas. I would say this book is going to be of particular interest to owners, dog professionals such as groomers and pet sitters, and novice trainers. I like the overall layout of the book and the fact that Aloff uses a lot of pictures to demonstrate her points. I particularly admire her ambition in undertaking such a daunting project! This is a timely topic and, to my knowledge, there was no other book on the market that could even come close to this at the time it was published. It has a lot of very useful information, and is a useful book for reference. There are many ways a book on body language can be ordered; the order Aloff has chosen is a useful guide for most people interested in dog body language. She has categorized the various body language signals into six sections: Expressions of an Emotional State, Calming & Negotiation Signals, Neutral & Friendly, Space Invaders, Predation, and Play. She has a final section named “Quiz,” in which the reader can test and improve their knowledge. Each section begins with commentary. She uses plenty of actual photographs to demonstrate the postures she is discussing, and most photos have a useful list of the specific body language features that make up the overall posture. Unfortunately, the photographs are of mediocre quality, at best—many of them are not even useful. To be fair, some of the photos are really great; however, in a book demonstrating body language, all of the photos should be good enough that the features being discussed can be seen. Within the sections she also has a variety of tips, which are enclosed in a box. She categorizes the tips according to their purpose. Many of the tips are useful and serve as clarification for the actual postures. My preference would have been to stick with the “paradigm tips” and leave out the “training tips.” This is not a training book, but a book on body language, and the training tips are not comprehensive enough to be of much use. Unfortunately, the editing of this book was very poor. Aloff uses capitalization very inappropriately; I understand that she is trying to emphasize certain concepts, but the capital letters disrupt the flow of reading to the detriment of the book. A good editor would have pointed this out. Additionally, there is awkward phrasing, unfinished sentences, mis-numbering of photos, inconsistency of formatting, and text overflow away from the photo which is unnecessary. I hope that these niggling problems are corrected in the next edition of this book. A glaring omission is that there is either no mention or just a brief mention in passing with little to no explanation of numerous important behaviors which dog owners and professionals should be aware of. Some of those missing behaviors are: mounting, T-position, agonistic pucker, grab and hold, muzzle punches, piloerection, and others. In the play section, there’s a picture of a dog mounting another dog; this would have been a perfect opportunity to mention mounting, but it is completely skipped over with a comment about the dog taking the “predator role.” To my knowledge, mounting is not a part of the predation sequence, at all! Aloff’s writing style is free-flowing and light. It’s amusing to read her descriptions of the interactions between the dogs, and makes for a very pleasant and fun read. I do, however, wish she had refrained from interpreting the dogs’ intentions and thoughts. I am a proponent of describing the behavior rather than intention. Behavior, all by itself, speaks volumes! She also liberally uses a term that has come into vogue lately—“hind brain”—which I’ve also heard described as “the dog is not operant.” Aloff, like many others, falls into the trap of using a neuro-explanation which is far more complex than this usage indicates and doesn’t really add to the book or our understanding of the behavior. This book has a lot of really great qualities and a few problems. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and recommend it. I would love to see Aloff revise the book for the next edition —correct the editing problems, replace the unacceptable photos, leave out the subjective commentary, add some behaviors and turn this into a more scientific endeavor. Susan Smith’s business, Raising Canine, www.raisingcanine. com, provides remote education opportunities for animal > 50 w The APDT Chronicle of the Dog w November/December 2008 www.APDT.com
ehavior consultants, as well as business and marketing products to help their businesses. Sue is also the co-author of the book Positive Gun Dogs: Clicker Training for Sporting Breeds. Sue is certified through CCPDT, IAABC and the SFSPCA. She is on the CCPDT Board, a professional member of the APDT, former Chair of the APDT Member Relations & Communications Committee, moderates the APDT list discussion group, and was named APDT Member of the Year in 2004. The Puppy Whisperer by Paul Owens and Terence Cranendonk with Norma Eckroate Adams Media, an F&W Publications Company, 285 pages, 2007, $14.95 Available from www.raisewithpraise.com I have never said this before but in this case I’m just going to say it: for its genre, this is basically a “perfect book.” There are three authors, Paul Owens, who is known as the “original dog whisperer,” author of The Dog Whisperer, and is a leading proponent of nonviolent dog training; Terence Cranendonk, who apprenticed with Mr. Owens and now is both a CPDT and CDBC, and Norma Eckroate, who writes on the holistic care of humans and animals. The book explains itself as “A Compassionate, Nonviolent Guide to Early Training and Care,” and “everything you need to raise a happy, healthy, well-behaved puppy!” And that’s exactly what it is. The Puppy Whisperer is a medium-sized paperback with glossy covers and an eye-catching color photograph of a row of adorable puppies staring out at you on the front cover. Inside the pages are basically plain with bold black headings and cute little doggy bones used as bullets. There are several black and white photographs which are well-chosen in depicting what is being discussed. A little color within the book could have “spiced it up” a bit and perhaps made it just a tad more “reader friendly” for those who might have trouble reading a lot of text—however I don’t see this as a significant issue at all. The book says that it will be a “compassionate stepby-step guide to all things puppy,” including how to: evaluate temperament; choose the right pup; monitor diet, play and exercise; train and problem solve; provide early socialization and positive training; potty train; and ensure safety and health care. The authors start right off asking, “Are you ready for a puppy?” and go on to explain that, along with how wonderful it is to get a new puppy, there will also be those difficult moments and the necessity of changing your lifestyle to accommodate the new family member. The authors state, “These early growth stages can get to be a tad stressful for the typical family, so … consider your financial situation, your physical capabilities, the size of your home, how physically active you are … the size, age, and temperaments of your children.” So true, and so important. What amazed me about this book is how detailed and complete it is, in every aspect. I can’t emphasize enough that this book includes nearly every detail that a new www.APDT.com owner should consider and learn before they get a new puppy and how to raise that little individual once he is home. The only caveat I must mention is that the authors are using clicker training and that might put off some owners—however the techniques and philosophy stand alone whether using a clicker or not. In just the first few pages the authors cover: how to evaluate puppies; temperament tests; hypoallergenic breeds; breeds and mixed breeds; size considerations; climate considerations; exercise needs; where to get your puppy (shelters, rescues, breeders, pet stores); breed-specific legislation and more! The book goes on to cover all aspects of socialization; getting the puppy to be okay alone; beginning obedience commands; exercise; fears (getting the puppy used to the vacuum, for example—something so many owners have trouble with); and a detailed guide to diet and nutrition. Near the end the book covers teaching basic command exercises, and does so in an easy-to-understand format. It breaks down an exercise into “kindergarten level” and “grade school” level—making it easy for the owner to grasp what the puppy should be able to do at each juncture. The exercises are divided into clear steps, and each section includes a “Having Problems?” set of questions that cover nearly anything that could go wrong when teaching a behavior. I would strongly recommend this book to all beginning trainers and as a guide to families who are considering getting a new puppy—with this knowledge there should be many more well-adjusted canine companions and far fewer dogs being relinquished to shelters. This book is an admirable accomplishment. Valerie Pollard has been training dogs professionally since the last 1970s and has always been interested in understanding and working with behavior issues. Valerie Is a professional charter member of the APDT; endorsed by NADOI and also a Certified member of the IAABC. She has titled her own dogs in AKC obedience and attained the Schutzhund III title with her beloved German Shepherd “Bodie.” Currently Valerie lives in Southern California with her family, horses, two pugs and “Chester,” a German Shepherd. Attention APDT Members! Dogwise gives active APDT members a discount. Go to www.dogwise.com for more details! November/December 2008 w The APDT Chronicle of the Dog w 51 Reviewers’ Corner
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