Published in California by Phantom Publishing
RRP $USA24.95
AUTHOR Nicole Wilde is a certified pet dog trainer working from southern California. She works often with wolves and wolf-dog mixes, and has six books to her credit. She hosts a radio show and presents seminars, and is very concerned with fearful dogs, what has made them so, and what can be done to help them.
How often have you heard a dog trainer of the "old school" - one who has not kept up with modern techniques - advise the owner of a fearful dog to "just put it in the middle of whatever makes it fearful and it will soon get used to it"?
This is the kind of dumb blunder that Nicole is trying to put right in her latest book, by following the path of gentle, calm understanding and by slowly showing the dog, at its own pace, that there is nothing to be afraid of.
This author is a firm follower of writer Turid Rugaas (What do I do if my Dog Pulls? and Calming Signals) and suggests that all dog owners learn the calming signals and use them to find out how their dog is feeling at any given moment, and how intense its stress level is. Like many modern trainers Nicole has realised that more often than not, it is the owners that need training rather than the dog. If owners keep reinforcing the dog's bad habits or behaviours then training is a futile project.
On aggression, the author points out that most aggression is not from alpha dogs - they are usually calm and sure of themselves - but from fearful subordinates. If a dog near you growls in your direction ask yourself what it is afraid of ... it could be that you are approaching and you are a stranger, or any one of a thousand reasons, but the dog is likely to be more fearful than you are.
If you attempt to pat a dog or take something from it and it snaps at you, causing you to quickly pull your hand back, you will perhaps say "lucky I got my hand out of the way in time". But Nicole points out that a dog is very much quicker than any person. If it had wanted to bite you it would have done so. What you received was merely a warning. Dogs do not, in ordinary circumstances, bite without having given ample warnings. If you do not respond to those warnings the dog has no other option available to it.
I love the layout of this book - especially the Tail End wrap-up at the end of each section. If you can remember only the points in these section summaries, then so much more can be recalled as you expand on the list. An easy system to help you take in more than you thought you were learning.
The language is easy, clean and concise - don't be put off by the 414 pages - with shaded panels pointing out important facts and many pictures and drawings along the way to make it more visually interesting. Chapters cover subjects such as the face of fear; nutrition; physical exercise; sound sensitivity; veterinarian visits; alternative therapies; and many more.
If you are looking for a good book that will give you a head start towards treating your dog's fears with kindness and understanding, then this is the one for you. But keep it nearby at all times - you will find yourself consulting it often when you are not sure how to react. A really worthwhile purchase. It can be ordered through www.phantompub.com and is also available on Amazon.com. - EP
