The Dog Behavior Institute Blog
The Puppy Book Review Round-Up
How can it be January again?! Although each new year is different, when it comes to dog training and behavior consultation one thing is fairly consistent from year-to-year: January is the month of the new canine family member. Whether their new dogs or puppies are from breeders, rescues, and shelters, it can be overwhelming for people to sort through the wealth of information out there on how to raise their new family member the best way possible. We get a lot of questions about integrating a new furry family member at this time of year. As a result, we wanted to start the year off with a Puppy Book Round-up to get you off to a great start!
Book Review: Pit Bull: The battle over an American icon by Bronwen Dickey
I cannot imagine a more thorough and thoughtful book on literally any topic than this one. Dickey provides a comprehensive history of pit bulls (and quickly dispels the myth that pit bull is a particular dog breed), giving consideration equally to the people who love them, and the people who fear them. If you’re going to read one dog-related book this year, Pit Bull should be it!
Why we don’t do “one size fits all” training
We decided to take some time here to clarify: what makes poor training advice? In our opinion this comes down to two main things that I’ll outline in more depth below: 1) broad advice applied to any dogs or all dogs of a specific type, and 2) recommendations for the use of aversive procedures.
Book Review: Meet Your Dog by Kim Brophey
I found the information about specific interests and hobbies as well as lifestyle advice to be interesting and helpful when determining how to best support dogs in their homes. This may help guide families in selecting a dog that will be most suited to their specific lifestyles. However, for me, Meet Your Dog fell short when describing why you might need professional help for your dog and how to best educate him.
Book Review: Separation Anxiety in Dogs by Malena DeMartini-Price, CTC
DeMartini-Price’s approach to separation anxiety is one that I would love to see replicated across other types of canine behavior problems. It is firmly based in science but individualized to the specific needs of the dog and caregiver(s). Whether or not you are a caregiver who has a dog experiencing separation anxiety, or you are a trainer who takes on separation anxiety cases, I urge you to read this book for a beautiful model on how we can work toward resolution of behavior problems and increase the welfare and quality of life for our dogs.