The Cautious Canine-How to Help Dogs Conquer Their Fears
by Patricia B. McConnell
List Price:
Our Price: $3.35
You Save: $3.60 (52%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.24 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Patricia B. McConnellEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-06-01
ISBN: 1891767003
Number of pages: 30
Publisher: McConnell Publishing, Ltd.
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9781891767005
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Book Reviews of The Cautious Canine-How to Help Dogs Conquer Their Fears
Book Review: The best yet on this topic
Summary: 5 Stars
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 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 exercises.
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.
Summary of The Cautious Canine-How to Help Dogs Conquer Their Fears
So many behavioral problems in dogs result from fear, but fear-based problems can become worse if treated incorrectly. This booklet provides a step-by-step dog training program of desensitizing and counter classical conditioning. It can help you solve minor dog problems and prevent serious ones, whether your dog's fears include the vacuum cleaner, people with hats, or the stranger at the door. Covered are the oh-so-important details related to identifying exactly what triggers your dog, creating a step-by-step treatment plan, monitoring your progress, and why you need to treat the fear and not just your dog's reaction to the fear. This booklet is on the "Top- Ten" of Dogwise's Dog Training Book Catalog, and has helped thousands of dogs and their owners around the country.Dogs Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Dogs Books
The Seven Ages of Your Dog: A Complete Guide to Understanding and Caring for Your Dog from Puppyhood to Old Age. Jan Fennellby Jan Fennell
HarperCollins Australia; Published: 2005-08; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Collins Gem Dog Training: How to Educate Your Dogby Gwen Bailey
HarperCollins UK; Published: 2004-05-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops:
Collins German Shepherd: An Owner's Guide (Dog Owners Guide)by Peter Neville
Harpercollins Pub Ltd; Published: 1999-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Collins Dog Owner's Guide Pb (Collins Dog Owners Guides)by Peter Neville
Harpercollins; Published: 1996-06-06; Hardcover; Book
For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friendby Patricia McConnell
Ballantine Books; Published: 2007-08-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.08
Price in other shops:
Marley and Meby John Grogan
HODDER & STOUGHTON; Published: 2006-06-29; Hardcover; Book
They Moved My Bowl: Dog Cartoons by New Yorker Cartoonist Charles Barsottiby Charles Barsotti
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2007-05-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops:
Living a Dog's Life, Jazzy, Juicy, and Meby Cindy Adams
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2006-03-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Every Night, Josephine!by Jacqueline Susann
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2004-11-30; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.22
Marley & Me tie-in: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dogby John Grogan
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2008-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide Interpreting the Native Language of the Domestic Dogby Brenda Aloff
Dogwise Publishing; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $26.29
Price in other shops:
Family Friendly Dog Training: A Six Week Program for You and Your Dogby Patricia B McConnell Ph.D., Aimee M Moore
McConnell Publishing, Ltd.; Published: 2006-12-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.62
Price in other shops:
Love Has No Age Limit-Welcoming an Adopted Dog into Your Homeby Patricia B. McConnell Ph.D., Karen B. London Ph.D.
McConnell Publishing, Ltd.; Published: 2011-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.87
Price in other shops:
Do Over Dogs: Give Your Dog a Second Chance for a First Class Life (Dogwise Training Manual)by Pat Miller
Dogwise Publishing; Published: 2010-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.21
Price in other shops:
Feisty Fido: Help for the Leash-Reactive Dogby Patricia B. McConnell Ph.D., Karen B. London Ph.D.
Mc Connell Publishing, Ltd.; Published: 2003-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.37
Price in other shops:
I'll be Home Soon: How to Prevent and Treat Separation Anxiety.by Patricia B. McConnell Ph.D.
McConnell Publishing, Ltd.; Published: 2000-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.88
Price in other shops:
For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friendby Patricia McConnell
Ballantine Books; Published: 2007-08-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.08
Price in other shops:
How to be the Leader of the Pack...And have Your Dog Love You For It.by Patricia B. McConnell Ph.D.
McConnell Publishing, Ltd.; Published: 1996-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.05
Price in other shops:
The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogsby Patricia B. McConnell
Random House; Ballantine Books; Published: 2003-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.40
Price in other shops:
On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signalsby Turid Rugaas
Dogwise Publishing; Dogwise Publishing; Published: 2005-12-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.45
Price in other shops: