For The Love OF A Dog

Animal behaviorist, dog trainer, syndicated radio talk show host and prolific author on all things canine, McConnell (The Other End of the Leash) presents a compelling combination of stories, science and practical advice to show how understanding emotions in both people and dogs can improve owners' relationships with their pets. This is more than a simple dog-training book: much of what McConnell discusses concerns how dog owners can learn "the language" of dog by recognizing important signals and reading them correctly. She provides numerous helpful examples of how owners can observe dog behavior, especially differences in posture and facial expressions, in order to help dogs be better behaved and help dog owners to be better handlers; her discussion of the meaning of a dog's "tongue flicks" is alone worth the price of the book. Her overall goal is to help owners provide their pets with "a sense of calm, peaceful benevolence," and she skewers current dog-training fads that emphasize "dominance" over a dog. "Don't fool yourself: if you yell at your dog for something he did twenty seconds ago, you're not training him; you're merely expressing your own anger." (On sale Aug. 15) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

In her Ph.D. dissertation, animal behaviorist McConnell (zoology, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison; Puppy Primer) discussed the possibility that "acoustic signals can be used to influence the response of receivers to the sender's advantage." Her scientific research provided a solid foundation for her considerations of everyday interactions between animals and their humans. Her book focuses on the signals that humans can "read" ("talking" eyebrows, wrinkles, body shape, tongue flicks) in order to understand their dog's internal state. She also includes information on the relationship between the brain and how the dog reacts to its environment, incorporating the genetics of fear, the biology of anger, the programming that early development implements, and the effect that learning and experience have on the dog's response to stimuli. Using vignette examples of human-canine interactions, McConnell offers sophisticated explanations to account for different types of behavior, as well as insight into how bad behavior can be prevented. Extensive resource lists for each chapter include pictures of the facial expressions and postures discussed. Highly recommended for all public libraries, especially those subscribing to Dog Fancy Magazine, and academic libraries with zoology departments. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/06.]-Cleo Pappas, Lib. of the Health Sciences, Univ. of Illinois, Chicago Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.