Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 31-35 of 47
 The best yet on this topic! September 28, 2005
Star Tulip (Seattle, WA)
80 out of 80 found this review helpful
I have an 18 mo old dog-reactive German Shepherd. I've read many of the best trainers: Jean Donaldson, Pam Reid, Pamela Dennison, Emma Parsons, Linda Tellington-Jones, Karen Pryor, Trish King. My dog and I have taken private lessons from a couple excellent dog-reactive specialists. We can now attend certain dog training classes if they're small enough and there's enough distance between the dogs.
I've been working on this problem for over a year, and I'm seeing progress, but some of the approaches from the author trainers seem unrealistic for anyone other than a trainer who has access to a variety of dogs on a daily basis. There are steps and steps and steps and steps and steps and then more pages of steps and steps to take. Then you turn to the next chapter to find out you've got more steps to take. Even the most committed dog owner (me) can get overwhelmed. And with all these steps, you need different dogs at different times of the day with different owners, etc. Or you need 20 friends to come knocking on your door 3 times a day 6 days a week. OK, an exaggeration, but it seems that some of the authors have immersed themselves so much in dogs that they have forgotten what life is like for people who don't have easy access to many people willing to work with them and share their dogs with them. For many of us, that just isn't the case. McConnell gives us 5 steps to work with. That's it, and it's enough. She says in 5 easy steps what others take 28 steps to say and by then I'm so confused I just go throw the kong in the backyard with the dogs rather than go to Petco for some desensitization training.
However, Pat McConnell gives realistic, succinct, clear and direct advice in her little booklet. Others have complained about the booklet's length, and I didn't buy the booklet until recently because I felt 30 pages couldn't do this topic justice, either. I learned that, indeed, 30 pages was just right. McConnell has a gift in conveying complicated information in clear, concise, very easy to understand language. And she recognizes that sometimes your very carefully laid out plans to set your dog up for success don't always work out.
Where she differs from many other trainers I've read is in her advice about what to do if your counterconditioning/desensitization session in public goes awry. Every other trainer I've worked with or read recommends something like not beating yourself up, get the dog into a sit, remain calm, and get the dog away from the scary thing, and try again next time. That's it. I always left frustrated knowing I'd screwed up yet again, why didn't I foresee, etc...
McConnell goes much further and says that if you leave the scary thing that suddenly surprised your dog, then the dog might learn that lunging and barking makes the scary thing go away. She says to leave, yes, but to go only as far as the dog can stand to remain calm, making sure the dog can still see the scary thing. Then have the dog sit, and when calm, rub his chest in circular motions (t-touch here?), then feed treats, all the while the dog sees the scary thing.
What I got out of this is a save for the unexpected, rather than a mistake. I've had this happen so many times I hate to admit it. I simply don't have enough vision, intuition, perception to be able to foresee everything, and sometimes we get caught unawares in public. How wonderful to have someone suggest something that actually continues learning in a situation that is going to happen sometime whether I like it or not.
When I take my dog where other dogs might be (which I HAVE to do if we are to master this fear), then sometimes I'm not going to be able to predict every possible dog rounding a corner. McConnell, rather than saying, don't let this happen to you, says if it does, here's what to do and make it a better experience, too, and a learning one as well. This is where she goes into detail, gives reasonable workable advice. I think McConnell has kept in touch with the average person and dog, can still remember what first grade was all about and how she felt.
Thirty pages is sufficient, for McConnell seems to have synthesized the most important points of the authors mentioned above into a simple, easy to read and follow manual. She introduces the points, how to do them (doesn't just talk about them), and then gives scenarios, then summarizes the points at the end. She gives several personal examples to illustrate, and what I liked especially - she doesn't only include success stories. She's encouraging, but completely realistic. And her advice it simple, so easy to follow.
This booklet is worth every penny.
One complaint: this is a 2005 second edition. I would have liked to see the errors removed from the text. I find it irritating to read "...the animal learns to operate on it's environment..." It's irritating to see its editing done so poorly. I found other similar errors. But that's what happens with self-publishing.
 Cautious of this book on canines September 8, 2005
Sage girl (Michigan, USA)
I don't feel this book has a workable solution to the problem. It is a method that requires much more than most people can give to the problem. The book is actually a booklet and the cost was too much for what it offers.
Nice Magazine Article August 14, 2005
Nikon Fan (Kailua, HI USA)
13 out of 33 found this review helpful
I guess I should have noticed the "29 pages" in the description. It's 15 pages of 8x10 paper folded in half, two staples, and a cover. That works out to 19.83 cents per page. Amazon's paperback "War and Peace" [$10.46] at 1472 pages would cost $291.95 if published by Dr. McConnell.
Calling this a book or booklet seems a little much. Perhaps "pamphlet" is a better descriptor.
The Cautious Canine June 26, 2005
Lesley E. De Clerck (Singapore)
43 out of 43 found this review helpful
Brilliant little book. Did not teach me anything new in the way of sit, down, stay but gave me a plan to follow with my 2yr old abused, re-homed (for the third time) Rottweiler. With in 7 days and many treats she gave me her first glance when one of her many 'triggers' (other dogs, running children, fast bikes, strange men) came close. A sure sign we were going in the right direction. If you have a dog that will not listen to you while on your walks and lunges for other dogs YOU NEED THIS BOOK!
Great classical counter conditioning book! June 24, 2005
David R. Willson (MD USA)
This is a great book. I am working with an animal behavioralist to socialize my 6 month old shepperd-husky mix Janey. She was a pound puppy and had no socialization at all when we got her from a local rescue.
With our trainer's help and with the suggestions in this book Janey is rapidly gaining confidence and flowering into a happy little girl.
A suggestion - Try baby food: turkey with veggies or poultry. Baby food is easy to swallow in stressful situations. Having a cautious canine choke on the positive association is counter productive.
Good luck!
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