Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Wolf lore.

Read this article on the flight back from Moscow. Apparently the book 'In defence of dogs ' has become a best seller in the US. Liked the insight into wolves . Wilf certainly isn't an American timber wolf.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jul/17/dog-training-john-bradshaw-animal-behaviour?INTCMP=SRCH

8 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for telling us about this book. I will be ordering and reading. I have always said...let dogs be dogs. I don't make my dogs do anything. I enjoy seeing them be happy and not too controlled. I teach them to go outside to potty and other than that....they can do as they wish. They are a happy bunch. I feed them bits of people food all the time....dog food companies want us to feed dog food only. There is no reason they can't have good healthy people food. So much of what we are told about dogs is made up stuff.

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  2. I heard the author interviewed on National Public Radio, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am very fortunate that I found a trainer about 7 years ago who already espoused most of Bradshaw's views in training and dog psychology. It makes it much more fun to train a dog!

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  3. We were kind of hoping that you had flown to Washington to provide a little sanity...

    Thanks for the article link. The book has been discussed here.

    xxx Joan

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  4. @KB -I listened to the same interview. It was the deciding factor for me to read the book; tidbit: after wrapping medicine in cheese or whatever, hand it to the dog with the opposite hand (the one NOT smelling of medicine!). HA. Thanks for the link and reminder, Angus. Bradshaw exhibits a lot of common sense, similar to Wilf's PONders.

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  5. Very interesting Angus, thanks for sharing! I think that the world of dog training and dog ownership is rich in myth and short on facts and this seems to have brought some science to the understanding of dogs. I also think that those that get most or all of their information from TV and dog trainers are going to have a few surprises when they read this!

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  6. Lisa and Cherry the PONJuly 21, 2011 at 7:59 AM

    I guess the analysis may be different for a herding dog. There's really no getting around the fact that our PON is bossy. We watch Cesar Millan here in Tokyo on Saturday nights, and as soon as she hears the music that plays at the end of the show, she leaps up to herd my son to bed - as forcefully and loudly as is, in her view, necessary. I am sure that Cesar would not approve, but it is her job and she takes it very seriously.

    I am so glad that Wilf will have his flock together again.

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  7. Interesting article, thanks for sharing it. I wanna read that book now!

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  8. Thanks for the link to an interesting article about the book "In defence of dogs". I tried to find the book but there isn't that title in NZ - however I did find a book by John Bradshaw (published in NY, May 2011) that is available here called "Dog sense : how the new science of dog behavior can make you a better friend to your pet". I'm guessing it is the same content - with a title marketed to different audiences - which is also a sign of how we view our dogs!

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