Decoding Your Dog

If you're like me - and if you're reading this blog I think we can guess that you are - we are among the more than 90% of owners who consider their dog a member of the family. This is wonderful except it does come with a caveat: dogs are another species, speak a different language, and try very hard to learn our language. They are masters at learning our body language. The human animal has not been as proficient at learning theirs and in the past have trained them with choke collars, prong collars, electronic collars, pushing them around, hitting them, a veritable litany of what amounts to animal abuse. Many of us have long since moved forward to a kinder, gentler and certainly more effective world. As much as we know, there is always more to learn. Certainly there are things to learn about dogs before you bring one home. 

To facilitate this learning, Veterinary Behaviorists, the Board Certified members of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, have compiled a book for everyone who has, or plans to have, a dog. Whether you've had dogs all of your life or are about to acquire your first dog, there is something here for everyone, written by veterinary specialists in the field.

Mahalo and his Parrot friend, Gala, kissing. Photo courtesy
Loren Jensen-Carter

Editors Debra Horowitz, DVM DACVB and John Ciribassi, DVM DACVB and Steve Dale have compiled an easy-to-read volume of information and step-by-step ways to help you and your dog get through behavior problems such as separation anxiety, house training and much, much more in 14 chapters that you will read and read again.

Positive training plays a big part in this book. There is research to back up their information. 

It is appalling to think that more dogs die of behavior problems because they are relinquished to shelters, than any single disease. Go ahead, read that sentence again.  It's important. It's far better to work out the issues in a positive manner and build the human-animal bond rather than break it.

Karma in the Snow
Photo Courtesy: Veronique Schejtman

This book should be on every dog owner, or potential dog owner's shelf. 

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in January 2014, it is 384 pages filled with information you and your dog need.  It is reasonably priced in your choice of Hardcover, Paperback or e-book. Personally, I prefer to have a "real" book edition of a reference book so I can hold it in my hands and flip through the page or use the index to find what I need long after I've read it from cover-to-cover

If you can't wait another minute to read it, here's a link to the book on Amazon:

amzn.to/1zyAb9n

NOTE:  I received only a review copy of this book. I have NOT been monetarily compensated. The review is my own based upon reading the book.

New "Give Litter" Campaign and Our Chaser Contest Winner!!

World's Best Cat Litter™has launched its newest "Give Litter" campaign and voting will be running through Monday.

It would be wonderful if you would get involved and vote in this worthwhile cause.  Share it with your friends so they will vote, too.  Even if the shelter you vote for isn't near you, you'll know that you'll be helping kitties who really need it!

Here's the link to the voting area of the website:
http://www.worldbestcatlitter.com/givelitter/

World's Best Cat Litter also has a Facebook page where there is a voting area:
https://www.facebook.com/worldsbestcatlitter/app_450722531630543

And now for the news you've been waiting for!  We've had some wonderful entries in the contest this week to win a copy of CHASER Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words by John W. Pilley with Hilary Hinzmann, published by Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt who are providing the winner's copy of this wonderful book.

I wish everyone could win a copy but, alas, no such luck.  Only one winner could be chosen. And that winner is:

Hombre McClanahan

Please contact me via my Website: http://www.darlenearden.com.  There is a link there to contact me directly. I will e-mail you the form that you will have to fill out for the publisher so they will send the book directly to you.  Congratulations!

Positive Training and A Special Contest!

Dear Readers,  you know me well enough by now to know that I only subscribe to positive training. I see no reason to break the human-animal bond.  On the contrary, I believe in building and solidifying that bond.  Whether you particular companion prefers to work for treats, toys to play, there is a positive reward to suit every pets.  

I was in a rather upscale pet supply store tonight picking up food and special fortified treats when I was horrified to see a woman checking out with a prong collar.  I don't know which was worse: the fact that she bought it or the fact that this allegedly enlightened store sold such an item.  It made me sad.  I wanted to leap across the counter and pull it out of her hot little hands.  I wanted to save her dog and their relationship.  I often do try to convince people to try something else, something better.  This was not my night.  You just can't win them all, no matter how hard you try.

We'll be talking more about positive training in future blog posts but right now I want to tell you about a try exciting contest.

If you remember, I had the pleasure and the honor of reading an advance copy of Chaser, Unlocking the Genius of The Dog Who Knows A Thousand Words.  Chaser's relationship with his owner, Dr John Pilley, is quite special and I deliberately slowed down my reading so that I could enjoy every single moment, every word in the book.

I'm excited to announce that the Publisher, Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, is allowing me to give away a copy of this book to one winner in the United States.  I can't wait to share this wonderful book with a lucky reader! Chaser works for play and to see positive reinforcement at work, to see the intelligence of this dog at work, is a joy beyond description!

Here's how you can enter to win a copy  Just leave a message on this blog post by Friday, November 22nd.  That's it.  One winner will be chosen and will, hopefully, have the book by the holidays.

What do you have to lose? If you love dogs, love dog training, this book is right up your alley!

So, enter and Good Luck!

CHASER; Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words

Those of us who have had and loved dogs have known how smart they are. We don’t really question that our dogs understand what we say. We know that eventually we have to spell words like c-o-o-k-i-e and w-a-l-k.  And after awhile only the first couple of letters of the word will elicit a response. That’s the way we pet owners discuss it, anecdotally.  But scientists demand far more proof that the dog actually knows and understands the words that are spoken.  Enter John W. Pilley, psychology Professor Emeritus at Wofford College and his Border Collie, Chaser, whose experience is shared in Chaser Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words by John W. Pilley with Hilary Hinzmann.

Chaser entered Pilley’s life in 2004 when his wife decided her husband needed a puppy for Christmas. Chaser was acquired from a dedicated breeder whose dogs are known for their herding skills. From the day Chaser came home with Pilley and his wife, Pilley began talking to her, somewhat in the way a parent would talk to a small child, which is how children learn languages.

While teaching Chaser the basics of obedience, using positive reinforcement, all of Chaser’s learning has been the result of positive reinforcement using play. Pilley began teaching her the names of her toys. Adding to them, and building problem-solving situations into each new level. She has learned the names of over one thousand objects. Yes, you read that correctly.

A study of another Border Collie, Rico, in Germany was not as comprehensive. Rico only knew about a hundred words and the scientists picked apart the study. Pilley, while allowing Chaser to be a wonderful, happy companion, also used games to teach Chaser and to build a scientific study that ultimately could no longer be challenged.  How he accomplished this is carefully laid out in the book.  As a Certified Animal Behavior Consultant, I was intrigued but the nice thing is that this is written in such easy style that any pet owner can read it, enjoy it, and relate to Prof. Pilley and Chaser.  And they can try the same things with their own dog.

Chaser has been seen on television, has been the topic of news reports, but here you get to meet the dog up-close and personal, to see the love and the bond between dog and owner that will be so familiar to dog owners. 

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, there’s no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I think you’ll agree. I highly recommend it. It will be available on October 29^th.

See the Book Trailer here: http://bit.ly/13l4Had

See more about Chaser and links to buy the book here: http://www.chaserthebordercollie.com

You can find Chaser on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chaser-the-Border-Collie/11260276882

And you can follow Chaser on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChasertheBC

You are invited to participate in a special #BlogPawsChat on Twitter where you’ll have a chance to win a copy of the book. I hope you’ll join us there on October 22 at 8PM ET.

NOTE: This is a sponsored post for CHASER in cooperation with BlogPaws (‪http://network.blogpaws.com/) however, the opinions expressed in this post are my own.